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Addressing Poverty in Johannesburg, South Africa
STRATEGYAccelerate the transition to sustainable communities and cities
CHALLENGE
To address immediate basic needs and promote longer term human security and sustainability values among residents where poverty and accessing basic human needs, such as shelter, food and clothing are of primary importance.
ACTION
Involve the community in selecting the most innovative, technically relevant and ecologically sound solutions to enhance local economic development, and build community capacity to contribute to those solutions.
PROFILE
City of Johannesburg, South Africa
Population: 2.9 million
Land Area: 2,300 km2 Municipal Budget: US$1.04 billion
CASE
Midrand is a neighboring municipality of Johannesburg, now part of the amalgamated City of Johannesburg. It is an area of rapid economic and population growth with the total population of 240,000 expected to grow to 380,000 by 2010. Midrand is an area of many contrasts-geographically, racially and economically-as a result of the legacy of apartheid and economic development trends. You can find both affluent suburbs, where residents have large plots of land, interspersed with clusters and townhouse developments and in contrast densely populated planned and informal settlements where 80% of the population live.
Sixty-five percent of Midrand's population earns less than US$70, compared to 21% nationally, and it suffers from high levels of unemployment. Of all of the households in Midrand, over 40% are informal with limited access to basic services (water, electricity, sanitation, waste removal, paved roads).
It is in these informal areas where you find the greatest population densities and the associated social, health and environmental problems, such as a higher level of respiratory tract illnesses due to the use of coal as the primary heat source during winter months.
While much of the land area of Midrand can be characterized as rural, residential or undeveloped, there is a lack of public open spaces, especially in the informal communities. Wetland and riparian habitats have been subjected to serious degradation-water in the Kaalspruit River has been described as more polluted than that which arrives at sewage treatment plants.
Growing out of grassroots environmental activism, the EcoCity initiative sought to promote human security and sustainability values among residents, particularly among the informal residential communities, while addressing their immediate needs.
The EcoCity initiative was established in 1999 as a partnership between the Midrand Town Council and the Midrand EcoCity Trust, a non-governmental organization created to promote change within the community and drive the process. The town council was to mainstream these developments through various departments. Since then, Midrand has been amalgamated into the City of Johannesburg. Johannesburg City Council has now joined the partnership and plans to expand the EcoCity vision throughout the city.
Despite its name, the EcoCity initiative's primary focus is poverty alleviation, based on the belief that sustainable development can be best implemented if it improves the quality of life and the standard of living of local residents. Long-term environmental successes are dependent on the economic, social and environmental security of the person, the home and the community. Self-reliance, capacity building, green transformation, equity and public participation are also key principles of the initiative, through which EcoCity has been able to orient urban planning and investment towards sustainable development.
The vision of the EcoCity initiative was developed as a solution to the environmental problems that were identified in the 1999 State of the Environment Report. The report identified air, land and water pollution as dominant themes, exacerbated by the lack of services and infrastructure in informal areas. Public open spaces, waste management, transportation and household energy use were also identified as issues in need of attention.
The new initiative was to ensure a self-sustaining city that produces its own wealth and keeps resources circulating within the community. From the beginning, Midrand focused on creating an alternative sustainable development vision where the community defines and develops the objectives and strategies, which are then implemented using local resources.
Through community workshops, the residents agreed to common principles and initiatives. They decided that the best way to drive the process was to use small, local businesses. Business cooperatives were set up that created employment opportunities in the community, contributed to sustainability values and generated community support for the EcoCity initiative. The goal was to have these cooperatives be self-sustaining within two years of their establishment.
The diverse EcoCity projects are coordinated around a common vision, values, goals and strategy. Each element, while important in its own area, is also an integral part of the larger strategy.
RESULTS
The cooperatives and other projects have met with some immediate success. For example, a group of 70 organic farmers working on the river edge has contributed to the stabilization of the flood plain and to wetland rehabilitation. A bicycle cooperative has created jobs and provided bikes for commuters and 1,200 bikes for school children, decreasing reliance on transport by car. Fourteen women run a construction cooperative, building homes in an environmentally friendly way. Water pollution and water savings initiatives have been introduced, such as grey water recycling, demand management and water conservation fittings, which are being promoted in new developments. Local builders and contractors are sought for all projects and they use locally available materials.
The most impressive aspect of the EcoCity initiative is that it has resulted in a behavioral change at the community level. The development of the Ecovillage provides a good example. Early in the community participation phase, people did not care what type of housing was provided, how it was made, where it came from or who provided it. They just wanted housing. However, in working through options to address their most urgent need, the community ultimately incorporated multiple environmentally friendly innovations and technologies. The Ecovillage features houses built with reclaimed bricks, grey water recycling, and oriented to maximize exposure to the sun in the winter months, equipped with solar panels and other energy efficiency approaches. This shift is evidence of the fundamental progress being made.
The EcoCity initiative has demonstrated to community members and to politicians that it is possible to create economic benefits while making a contribution to a more sustainable community. Since the focus of the EcoCity initiative has been on poverty alleviation through respect for environmental principles, it was able to generate greater community support.
The challenge now is to mainstream the activities established in Midrand through the City of Johannesburg's key development sectors, while maintaining the momentum that has been generated in Midrand itself.
LESSONS LEARNED
Once local government became involved in the running and management of the EcoCity initiatives, an element of financial stability was introduced, which decreased reliance on donor funding and donor priorities.
By focusing on local institutional arrangements and capacity building, greater participation and local ownership over the initiatives was ensured. Some of the ways in which this was done was to encourage volunteerism, to promote the use of local cooperatives that were developed in the control of the local community and responsive to community needs and concerns, and to develop local solutions to local ecological problems.
KEY REPLICATION FACTORS
Success is dependent upon:
- a core of committed individuals that can drive the process, particularly in the early stages,
- continual monitoring and evaluation of initiatives to identify what has been successful and what has not,
- a supportive local government open to changes in the way the planning process operates,
- local government commitment and willingness to mainstream successful initiatives into daily city operations.
Ms. Annie Sugrue, Managing Director
EcoCity Trust
Fax: +27-11/403-7904
Email: annie@ecocity.org.za
Velingrad, Bulgaria
In 1997, Velingrad, Bulgaria, had a very high rate of poverty and citizens lacked hope for the future. They were skeptical about the use of sustainable development planning as a strategy for improving the local economy. However, through their work with the UN Development Programme-Capacity 21, the city successfully used poverty alleviation as the primary theme for its community planning. Along with the rejuvenation of local markets, upgrades to schools and green spaces, and other projects, the town created a business center. The center helped to increase the growth of foreign investment in local small- and medium-sized enterprises and has provided a focus for the entire community. This success has allowed the town to invest in other projects as well.
