Abstract
The city of Durban, also known as eThekwini Municipality, is located in South Africa’s KwaZulu–Natal province and situated within the Maputo-Pondoland-Albany “biodiversity hotspot,” one of just 35 such hotspots worldwide. Durban’s population has grown by 1.1 percent, or 660,000 residents, since 2001. More than 70 percent of the population is African, and large numbers of them are afflicted by poverty.
Durban Basics
Municipal population: 3.4 million
Municipal area: 2,297 square kilometers
Population density: 1,498 inhabitants per square kilometer
Source: See endnote 1.
This City View is based largely on two articles: Debra Roberts et al., “Exploring Ecosystem-based Adaptation in Durban, South Africa: “Learning-by-doing” at the Local Government Coal Face,” Environment & Urbanization 24, no. 1 (2012): 167–95; and Debra Roberts and Sean O’Donoghue, “Urban Environmental Challenges and Climate Change Action in Durban, South Africa,” Environment & Urbanization 25, no. 2 (2013): 299–319.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Notes
- 1.
Population data from eThekwini Municipality, eThekwini Municipality Annual Report 2009−2010, Chapter 1: Mayor’s Foreword and Executive Summary (eThekwini Municipality, Durban: 2010).
- 2.
eThekwini Municipality, eThekwini Quality of Life Household Survey 2010−2011, A Survey of Municipal Services and Living Conditions (eThekwini Municipality, Durban: 2011). Hotspots are areas with a high number of endemic species (i.e., more than 1,500 species of endemic vascular plants) and where at least 70 percent of the original habitat has been lost; see Conservation International, “Hotspots,” www.conservation.org/How/Pages /Hotspots.aspx. Population from eThekwini Municipality, eThekwini Municipality Annual Report 2009−2010; poverty and unemployment from eThekwini Municipality, Draft Economic Development and Job Creation Strategy 2012 (eThekwini Municipality, Durban: Economic Development and Investment Promotion Unit, 2012).
- 3.
David Satterthwaite et al., “Adapting to Climate Change in Urban Areas: The Possibilities and Constraints in Low- and Middle-income Nations,” in Jane Bicknell, David Dodman, and David Satterthwaite, eds., Adapting Cities to Climate Change: Understanding and Addressing the Development Challenges (London: Earthscan, 2009); Stanley W. Burgiel and Adrianna A. Muir, Invasive Species, Climate Change and Ecosystem-based Adaptation: Addressing Multiple Drivers of Global Change (Washington, DC and Nairobi: Global Invasive Species Programme, 2010).
- 4.
Temperature projections from Golder Associates, Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change in Durban, report prepared for eThekwini Municipality (Durban: 2011); rainfall variations from eThekwini Municipality, eThekwini Municipality Integrated Development Plan, Five-Year Plan: 2011−2016: 2011−2012 Plan (eThekwini Municipality, Durban: 2011); disaster impacts from Golder Associates, eThekwini Municipality Integrated Assessment Tool for Climate Change, prepared for eThekwini Municipality (Durban: 2010).
- 5.
Debra Roberts, “Thinking Globally, Acting Locally – Institutionalizing Climate Change at the Local Government Level in Durban, South Africa,” Environment & Urbanization 20, no. 2 (2008): 521–37; Debra Roberts, “Prioritizing Climate Change Adaptation and Local Level Resiliency in Durban, South Africa,” Environment & Urbanization 22, no. 2 (2010): 397−413; JoAnn Carmin, Debra Roberts, and Isabelle Anguelovski, Planning Climate Resilient Cities: Early Lessons from Early Adapters, prepared for the World Bank 5th Urban Research Symposium: Cities and Climate Change: Responding to an Urgent Agenda, Marseille, France, June 28–30, 2009.
- 6.
Andrew A. Mather, Debra Roberts, and Geoffrey Tooley, “Adaptation in Practise: Durban, South Africa,” in Konrad Otto-Zimmermann, ed., Resilient Cities: Cities and Adaptation to Climate Change. Proceedings of the Global Forum 2010 (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 2011), 543−63.
- 7.
eThekwini Municipality, “Durban Metropolitan Open Space System FAQ,” www.durban.gov.za/City_Services /development_planning_management/environmental_planning_climate_protection/Durban_Open_Space /Pages/MOSS_FAQ.aspx; 2013 area from Debra Roberts and Sean O’Donoghue, “Urban Environmental Challenges and Climate Change Action in Durban, South Africa,” Environment & Urbanization 25, no. 2 (2013): 299–319.
- 8.
Nicci Diederichs Mander and Debra Roberts, Greening Durban 2010: Summary Review of the eThekwini Municipality’s 2010 FIFA World Cup Event Greening Programme (eThekwini Municipality, Durban: Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department, 2010).
- 9.
Greater Capital, Social Assessment of the Buffelsdraai Landfill Site Community Reforestation Project, prepared for the Wildlands Conservation Trust (Hilton, South Africa: 2011).
- 10.
Durban CEBA website, www.durbanceba.org.
- 11.
Josh Foster, Ashley Lowe, and Steve Winkelman, The Value of Green Infrastructure for Urban Climate Adaptation (Washington, DC: Center for Clean Air Policy, 2011).
- 12.
Durban Adaptation Charter, “About the Charter,” www.durbanadaptationcharter.org/about-the-charter, and “Signatories,” www.durbanadaptationcharter.org/signatories.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Worldwatch Institute
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Roberts, D., O’Donoghue, S. (2016). CITY VIEW: Durban, South Africa. In: State of the World. State of the World. Island Press, Washington, DC. https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-756-8_28
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5822/978-1-61091-756-8_28
Publisher Name: Island Press, Washington, DC
Print ISBN: 978-1-61091-569-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-61091-756-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)