City of Tshwane developing green-economy framework

14th August 2015

By: Zandile Mavuso

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor: Features

  

Font size: - +

As the capital city of South Africa, the City of Tshwane has recognised the need to lead and demonstrate initiatives and infrastructure programmes pertaining to the green economy that will embrace low-carbon, climate-resilient and resource-efficient models of development in South African cities.

City of Tshwane executive mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa said during his welcoming address at the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum in June, held in Pretoria, that, by 2055, growth and development in Tshwane would be driven by an economy that supported a sustainable, vibrant, liveable and prosperous city through integrated ecological, social, economic and spatial agendas that promoted human and environmental wellbeing.

Speaking during the Infrastructure Dialogues held at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), in Midrand, last month, City of Tshwane sustainability unit head Sello Mphaga said that, as part of the city’s drive towards a green economy city, it had developed the Green Economy Strategic Framework to consider ways in which the city could work towards its 2055 vision.

He noted that waste management programmes, compressed-natural-gas-powered buses and solar harvesting farms had been implemented to date, which supported the aim to achieve a low-carbon footprint.

Applauding the initiative that the City of Tshwane has started implementing, Heinrich Boell Foundation programme manager Jochen Luckscheiter pointed out during the Infrastructure Dialogues that although the initiative works towards sustainable cities, the need to involve civil society is key.

Drawing on his experiences with engaging on the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa – an initiative that provides a blueprint for regional and continental infrastructure development until 2040 - from a civil society perspective, he highlighted three aspects crucial for the success of any infrastructure project.

Firstly, programme drivers needed to allow access to and transparency of information to civil society also – this would allow for a smooth transition into the green economy. Secondly, mechanisms had to be developed that would allow for engagement with civil society that would prompt the general public to participate in projects carried out by the cities.

Luckscheiter mentioned that there was sometimes a disconnect between stakeholders in terms of civil societies, developers, government and labour institutions that represented the city holistically; therefore, these issues must, thirdly, be addressed to foster better implementation of projects.

Providing ideas through which civil society ccould be addressed to support these projects, global information consulting firm Accenture Smart Grid Services senior manager Ashley Maistry indicated that the City of Tshwane should consider the development of project management skills that would govern the implementation of such projects.

Moreover, he said, by developing such skills, technological advancements that addressed new and smarter ways of implementing green technologies could be employed, which would subsequently guarantee successful execution of the projects.

Concerned by the level of urbanisation taking place in most of Gauteng’s cities, DBSA Green Fund manager Michelle Layte highlighted that, while municipalities had been successful in fostering housing developments for civil society, there was still a need for implementing infrastructure projects using green technologies that would foster mobility in cities.

She pointed out that, although developers were willing to consider green technologies when developing projects, funding them had been a challenge, as there seemed to be a lack of understanding regarding these projects’ feasibility for society holistically.

“The appetite of going green is there, but understanding the green economy and evaluating its feasibility by financiers is a challenge in our cities. “So, as the DBSA and the Development Finance Institution, we need to play a role in fostering and engaging financiers on green technologies.”

 

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION