Urban transformation at a local level? The case of Durban's 100 resilient cities campaign

Abstract

This thesis aims to explore the interdependencies between the concepts of urban transformation and urban resilience, enriched by an interrogation of the practical use of these concepts at a local level. It discusses the problems in finding conceptual clarity and in implementing these concepts in the city of Durban. Transformative and resilient urban management is viewed as the key driver for sustainable solutions to urbanisation challenges such as socio-economic pressures and environmental degradation. The important role cities play in this process has recently been highlighted by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 11, which is devoted to making cities “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. The concepts of urban transformation and urban resilience are increasingly used in academic literature as well by practitioners, but there is little academic literature available about the interrelation and interdependency of these two new concepts. This research explores what exactly is meant by the “new paradigm” of urban transformation and what role the concept of urban resilience plays within it. To achieve this aim, a theoretical research into the current application of the two concepts is being conducted and enriched by a practical interrogation of the use of the two concepts at a local level. Here, the city of Durban and its 100 Resilient Cities project was selected as an African city to explore and interrogate the municipality’s aim to activate a process of urban transformation with this project. The research includes primarily an intensive literature-review, a document analysis of current approaches and of given path-dependencies, and new concepts in the urban development debate. These findings are interrogated against the outline and the implementation of the 100 Resilient Cities campaign in Durban. After a detailed documentation of the implementation of the project, additional interviews conducted with experts in the field contribute to the findings and analysis of the data. The research recommends new governance models for cities, given their emerging political power. It shows that “resilient” approaches are needed for any urban transformation process and identifies the benefits of city networks and international exchange in this context. With its findings, the research aims to create new knowledge, for academia and practitioners concurrently, by providing conceptual clarity about the interdependencies between the concept of urban transformation and the concept of urban resilience, and its practical meaning within a concrete project context in a very large city in South Africa. This knowledge feeds into the emerging and currently developing academic literature and policy debates.