Spatial planning and land use management by-laws for climate resilience in South African cities

Abstract

Climate change is a significant threat that results in uncertainty and vulnerability. It poses the concomitant challenge of unpredictable weather patterns that are likely to lead to increased rainfall or temperatures, as well as extreme heat waves, sea level rise, floods, and droughts. The direct and indirect effects of climate change can be devastating, especially in developing countries, such as South Africa, that are more vulnerable. The vulnerability stems from compounded hardship as a result of widespread poverty and informality, severe spatial inequality, vast and continuing urbanisation, rapid population growth, unplanned and often unsustainable urban development, overexploitation of limited resources, and strain on overburdened and outdated infrastructure. The status quo, therefore, demands urban climate resilience. This ability of complex systems (such as urban areas) to withstand, recover from, and adapt to the effects of climate change and its challenges can arguably be strengthened through a strong law and policy basis for decision-making and planning. This should ideally be situated at the local government level, given the role of cities as actors in climate governance, their unique proximity to communities, and their need to create locally tailored and targeted responses to climate change and enhance urban climate resilience. South African law carves out the executive and legislative roles and authority of local government. It determines the rights, duties, functional areas of competence and accountability of municipalities. In the context of urban climate resilience, municipal planning, as a local government competence, emerges as an encompassing cross-sectoral competence of direct relevance, as it comprises spatial planning and land use management. This thesis uses a mixed research methodology consisting of both a literature review and empirical research in the form of semi-structured interviews. The method is used to generate insights to inform the extent to which spatial planning and land use management by-laws can enhance urban climate resilience. The thesis explores the meaning of urban climate resilience in general and for South Africa, and further ventures into an analysis of the role of the law and the scope of local government's legislative authority to enhance urban climate resilience through municipal planning by-laws.