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Buchcover - Urban Transformation at a local level? - ISBN 978-3-86293-888-9
Backcover - Urban Transformation at a local level? - ISBN 978-3-86293-888-9
Urban Transformation at a local level?
The Case of Durban´s 100 Resilient Cities Campaign
von Tilmann F. FeltesThe 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. Tilmann Feltes explores these interdependencies between the concepts of urban trans-formation and urban resilience. He discusses the problems in finding conceptual clarity and in implementing these concepts in the city of Durban, South Africa. 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.
This study explores what exactly is meant by the “new paradigm” of urban transformation and what role the concept of urban resilience plays within it. The city of Durban with its participation in the 100 Resilient Cities campaign was selected as an African city to explore and interrogate the municipality’s aim to activate a process of urban transformation. Included is a literature-review, a document analysis of current approaches and of given path-dependencies, and of new concepts in the urban development debate. After a detailed documentation of the implementation of the campaign, additional interviews conducted with experts in the field contribute to the 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 study by Tilmann Feltes aims to create new knowledge for academia and practitioners concurrently by providing conceptual clarity about the interdependencies between the two concepts. The practical meaning within the context of a very large city in South Africa is that vision and political action must go together to prepare African cities now for the massive urbanisation challenges they will face in the next few decades when Africa´s urban population will double.
This study explores what exactly is meant by the “new paradigm” of urban transformation and what role the concept of urban resilience plays within it. The city of Durban with its participation in the 100 Resilient Cities campaign was selected as an African city to explore and interrogate the municipality’s aim to activate a process of urban transformation. Included is a literature-review, a document analysis of current approaches and of given path-dependencies, and of new concepts in the urban development debate. After a detailed documentation of the implementation of the campaign, additional interviews conducted with experts in the field contribute to the 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 study by Tilmann Feltes aims to create new knowledge for academia and practitioners concurrently by providing conceptual clarity about the interdependencies between the two concepts. The practical meaning within the context of a very large city in South Africa is that vision and political action must go together to prepare African cities now for the massive urbanisation challenges they will face in the next few decades when Africa´s urban population will double.