Drawing a line in the sand: managing coastal risks in the City Of Cape Town

Colenbrander, D., Cartwright, A., & Taylor, A. (2014). Drawing a line in the sand: managing coastal risks in the City Of Cape Town. South African Geographical Journal, 97(1), 1–17. doi:10.1080/03736245.2014.924865

Platform
Cape Town
Publication type
Scientific article (peer-reviewed)
Projects
Knowledge Transfer Programme
DOI Title
Drawing a line in the sand: managing coastal risks in the City Of Cape Town
Journal
South African Geographical Journal
ISSN/ISBN
0373-6245 2151-2418
DOI
10.1080/03736245.2014.924865
Author(s)
Darryl Colenbrander Anton Cartwright Anna Taylor
Published year
Subject
Geography, Planning and Development General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Tags
climate change sea level rise coastal risk set-back line management line governance Cape Town integrated coastal management

 

Abstract

Cities are increasingly recognised as places in which climate change risks coalesce and from which climate change adaptation efforts are most likely to be mobilised. In an effort to reduce damages from storm surges and sea-level rise, the City of Cape Town municipal government set out to establish a coastal set-back line. This paper describes the process and highlights the potential for unanticipated conflict and resistance when notions of ‘best practice’ fail to consider local institutional interests and pre-existing legislation. This insight is important as coastal municipalities in South Africa look to implement set-back lines in compliance with the Integrated Coastal Management Act (Act 24 of 2008). McKenna et al. [McKenna, J., Cooper, A., & O'Hagan, A.M., Managing by principle: A critical analysis of the european principles of integrated coastal zone management (ICZM). Marine Policy, 32, 941–955. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2008.02.005] elucidate the potential for conflicts and contradictions when applying the principles of Integrated Coastal Zone Management in Europe. Developing and a applying a set-back line for Cape Town's coastline was anticipated to be difficult given that the city remains socio-economically unequal and spatially segregated and that the coastline provides multiple different communities with amenities, resources and opportunities at the same time. What was not anticipated was the encountered resistance from within public sector directorates operating under the same policies. The paper suggests that differences in mentalities, technologies and resources (following Wood, J., and Shearing, C., (2007) Imagining security. Devon: Willan Publishing) make for subjective policy interpretations and applications by local officials. Recognising and managing these differences is critical if notions of ‘best practice’ prescribed at higher governance levels are to prove useful to climate change adaptation measures at the local scale.

Related publications