Pathways to water resilient South African cities – from mono-functional to multi-functional stormwater infrastructure
Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Standard
Pathways to water resilient South African cities – from mono-functional to multi-functional stormwater infrastructure. / Mclachlan, Julia; Tanyanyiwa, Craig T.; Schneuwly, Rachelle; Carden, Kirsty; Armitage, Neil P.; Abrams, Amber; Mguni, Patience; Herslund, Lise Byskov.
I: Scientific African, Bind 20, e01674, 2023.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Pathways to water resilient South African cities – from mono-functional to multi-functional stormwater infrastructure
AU - Mclachlan, Julia
AU - Tanyanyiwa, Craig T.
AU - Schneuwly, Rachelle
AU - Carden, Kirsty
AU - Armitage, Neil P.
AU - Abrams, Amber
AU - Mguni, Patience
AU - Herslund, Lise Byskov
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s)
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - In light of rapid population growth and climate-change pressures on water resources, there is an urgent need in many African cities to shift to more resilient, decentralised, nature-based approaches. In response, the City of Cape Town's Water Strategy document proposes various alternative water supply sources. One is Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) using the Cape Flats Aquifer (CFA). Overlying the CFA are a significant number of stormwater ponds that were originally designed solely to prevent flooding. These ponds could be retrofitted to infiltrate stormwater run-off, recharging the aquifer and serving a water treatment function using nature-based approaches. Many of these mono-functional ponds are in neighbourhoods that are socio-economically disadvantaged through former apartheid spatial planning. These ponds are frequently litter-filled, used for dumping rubble and, on occasion, occupied with informal housing. It is in this context that the conversion of engineered single-purpose stormwater ponds into multi-functional space is proposed using a demonstration site in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town. The ‘Pathways to water resilient South African cities (PaWS)’ project is a collaboration between the Future Water Institute at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and University of Copenhagen (UCPH), funded through DANIDA. This research is revealing how maximum benefit could be derived from these water management systems by adopting low-cost, easy to install blue-green interventions that rely on nature-based approaches. The findings from the research have relevance across Southern Africa where several large cities have existing stormwater ponds designed for flood control or as passive open green spaces. It offers valuable strategies for how these single-purpose ponds can be transformed into multifunctional blue-green spaces in ways that build resilience while addressing the environmental injustice that is a legacy of South Africa's ‘green apartheid’.
AB - In light of rapid population growth and climate-change pressures on water resources, there is an urgent need in many African cities to shift to more resilient, decentralised, nature-based approaches. In response, the City of Cape Town's Water Strategy document proposes various alternative water supply sources. One is Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) using the Cape Flats Aquifer (CFA). Overlying the CFA are a significant number of stormwater ponds that were originally designed solely to prevent flooding. These ponds could be retrofitted to infiltrate stormwater run-off, recharging the aquifer and serving a water treatment function using nature-based approaches. Many of these mono-functional ponds are in neighbourhoods that are socio-economically disadvantaged through former apartheid spatial planning. These ponds are frequently litter-filled, used for dumping rubble and, on occasion, occupied with informal housing. It is in this context that the conversion of engineered single-purpose stormwater ponds into multi-functional space is proposed using a demonstration site in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town. The ‘Pathways to water resilient South African cities (PaWS)’ project is a collaboration between the Future Water Institute at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and University of Copenhagen (UCPH), funded through DANIDA. This research is revealing how maximum benefit could be derived from these water management systems by adopting low-cost, easy to install blue-green interventions that rely on nature-based approaches. The findings from the research have relevance across Southern Africa where several large cities have existing stormwater ponds designed for flood control or as passive open green spaces. It offers valuable strategies for how these single-purpose ponds can be transformed into multifunctional blue-green spaces in ways that build resilience while addressing the environmental injustice that is a legacy of South Africa's ‘green apartheid’.
KW - Co-creation
KW - Knowledge co-production
KW - Managed aquifer recharge
KW - Multiple-engagement approaches
KW - Nature-based approaches
KW - Stormwater ponds
KW - Water resilience
U2 - 10.1016/j.sciaf.2023.e01674
DO - 10.1016/j.sciaf.2023.e01674
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85153516486
VL - 20
JO - Scientific African
JF - Scientific African
SN - 2468-2276
M1 - e01674
ER -
ID: 346528394