The open-air arena in the township of Galeshewe in Kimberley, South Africa, is being transformed under the Cities CHALLENGE 2.0. The centrepiece is a new “Informal Traders Hub” offering a safe, sustainable, and gender-responsive environment for local female traders.
Sustainable building approaches are not only more environmentally friendly than conventional building methods – but they may also teach people how to avoid waste. Peter McIntosh, the founder of the Natural Building Collective, highlights the advantages through the example of Ulwazi Educare in Cape Town.
How can architectural solutions contribute to increase liveability in informal settlements? Alfredo Brillembourg portrays how the process of blocking-out facilitated the empowerment and upgrading in the informal settlement of Khayelitsha.
The bicycle hub in Cape Town's township of Langa started as a small community initiative that delivered medicine to bedridden people in the neighbourhood. Within just two years, it developed into a local enterprise that shapes mobility patterns in Langa. Founder Mzikhona Mgedle shares a story of success.
While online learning may not be the panacea for problems caused and amplified by COVID-19, it’s certainly a great place to start, writes Lindiwe Matlali, Founder and CEO of Africa Teen Geeks.
Fiscal transparency and public participation play a vital role in building more democratic spaces and fostering trust between people and their government. However, this requires the fostering of genuine multi-stakeholder collaboration, argues Zukiswa Kota.
Urban climate action is essential for global carbon neutrality. A study by the German Development Institute has assessed the importance of stakeholder involvement, financing, and impact assessment for urban zero-carbon transformation.
African cities need to develop unique, context-sensible conceptions of public space, argues Ayanda Roji.
Urban planning during the apartheid regime specifically designed cities to displace and separate. Ngaka Mosiane, Mamokete Matjomane, and Avhatakali Sithagu argue for a concept of spatial culture that captures this particularity of South Africa's resilient urban history.
Why tackle challenges alone, when there is so much to be gained from working together? How global peer learning strengthens cities in their role as leading actors of urban change. By the South African – German City Peer Learning Network.
Tshwane, South Africa, wants to encourage walking and cycling among its residents. Michael Kihato from C40 Cities Finance Facility outlines challenges and solutions in one of the country's three capitals.
URBANET's latest infographic series takes our readers to South Africa, offering interesting facts and figures about urbanisation in a country with a turbulent history.
The waste produced by cities does not need to be dumped – but instead can become the starting point of a new production cycle, argues Nick Jeffries from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
If urbanisation drives climate change, then mitigating the dangerous effects of global warming must address how we plan, build, and live in cities. Implementing bold national plans requires active cross-sector coordination and collaboration between the local, regional, and national governments.
Enabling participatory democracy is the goal of South Africa's online platform Grassroot, where community members get together to change their municipalities for the better – with considerable success, as Katlego Mohlabane, outreach and campaigns coordinator at Grassroot, illustrates with examples from Mnandini and Mzondi.
