Translating Disaster Resilience into Spatial Planning Practice in South Africa: Challenges and Champions

Abstract

Well-run cities can be among the safest places in the world from the impact of disasters, but in reality many cities in the world are the most dangerous places on earth. It is highly likely that hazards and extreme climatic events will in future occur more frequently and will become more severe, increasing the vulnerability and risk of millions of poor urbanites in cities in developing countries. Poor households that are concentrated in increasingly unsafe spaces bear the brunt of the disaster losses as they find themselves on the wrong side of the growing risk divide. Disaster resilience aims to reduce disaster losses by equipping a city to withstand, absorb, adapt to or recover from external shocks. In South Africa issues of development take precedence over issues of sustainability, environmental management and disaster reduction. This is illustrated by the priority given to ‘servicing’ spaces compared to the opportunities offered by ‘transforming’ spaces through post-apartheid spatial planning. The City of Durban’s quest in adapting to climate change hypothetically demonstrates that if disaster resilience were to be presented as an issue separate from what planners are already doing, then planners may become more aware of it, but would see it as insignificant compared to addressing the many developmental backlogs and challenges. If however disaster resilience is regarded as a means to secure a city’s development path while simultaneously addressing sustainability and resilience, then it is more likely to be translated in spatial planning practices in South Africa.