Governing River Rehabilitation for Climate Adaptation and Water Security in Durban, South Africa

Abstract

Water security and climate adaptation governance have converged in Durban, due to the city’s focus on using ecological infrastructure to secure water for the future, address risks, promote resilience and adapt to climate change. In the absence of well-established and institutionalised rules for climate change at the national scale in South Africa, state and non-state actors in Durban are increasingly drawn into the horizontal governance of climate change. The city has focused on climate adaptation approaches that are experimental, promote learning-by-doing and are aligned with developmental, capacity building and poverty alleviation agendas. This chapter compares the governance approaches of two river rehabilitation projects within Durban, to reflect on the convergence of water security and climate adaptation agendas. Through their implementation both projects have prioritised state–citizen relationship building, empowered communities and promoted capacity building processes.