Barriers to flood risk adaptation : a case study of cross‐scale collaboration in the informal settlement of Graveyard Pond
| dc.contributor.advisor | Ziervogel, Gina | |
| dc.contributor.author | Orangio, Christina | |
| dc.contributor.department | Department of Environmental and Geographic Sciences | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2013-01-18T15:59:34Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2013-01-18T15:59:34Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2012 | |
| dc.description.abstract | There is a growing concern over the increase in extreme events expected as part of climate change. Good governance is a critical component of managing current climate risk that can help to adapt to future impacts of climate change. Understanding current governance is critical in urban areas where local government plays a key role in providing infrastructure to reduce the vulnerability of low-income populations. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding how cross-scale collaboration, particularly the relationship between non-governmental and governmental actors, affects adaptation. In Cape Town, South Africa the vulnerability of informal settlements to flooding is a growing concern due to their location in low-lying areas and wetlands. Using a single case study approach, the barriers to adaptation to flooding were examined and identified, with a focus on cross-scale collaboration, in an informal settlement in a detention pond. In order to understand cross-scale collaboration in this context, a nodal governance framework is used to analyze how actors at the community, intermediary, and government level interact and respond to flooding in informal settlements. The analysis shows that the community level is lacking the resources and technologies to adapt to flooding and there is a disconnect between the community level and the local government level, despite the existence of ward councillors. The nodal governance and barriers framework showed that the challenges actors face in adapting to flooding in Graveyard Pond relate to the different mentalities of the actors around flooding and in turn this affects how flooding is responded to. Additionally, the current flood management plan of the City of Cape Town leaves Graveyard Pond in an endless loop of disaster response and coping mechanisms that have not reduced the vulnerability of residents in the long-term. It is apparent from the data that there is a lack of cross-scale collaboration around responses to flooding in informal settlements. Though cross-scale collaboration comes with challenges, it is clear that this disconnect is acting as a barrier to adaptation to flooding in Graveyard Pond and needs to be explored further. This study provides insight into the barriers of adapting to urban flooding as well as how flooding is responded to in informal settlements in order to increase adaptive capacity to future climate change. | en |
| dc.description.degree | Master of Science | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10625/50646 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of Cape Town | en |
| dc.subject | CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION | en |
| dc.subject | INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS | en |
| dc.subject | SOUTH AFRICA--CAPE TOWN | en |
| dc.subject | NATURAL DISASTERS | en |
| dc.subject | COPING STRATEGIES | en |
| dc.subject | FLOODS | en |
| dc.title | Barriers to flood risk adaptation : a case study of cross‐scale collaboration in the informal settlement of Graveyard Pond | en |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |
| idrc.dspace.access | IDRC Only | en |
| idrc.project.number | 105674 | |
| idrc.project.title | Managing the Risk of Flooding and Sea-level Rise in Cape Town : the Power of Collective Governance | en |
| idrc.recordsserver.bcsnumber | IC01-880-23 | |
| idrc.rims.adhocgroup | IDRC SUPPORTED | en |
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