Industry experts and government officials from around the country gathered in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday to discuss possible solutions to South Africa’s rapid urbanisation problem.  

The South African Urban Conference was hosted by the eThekwini Municipality together with the South African Cities Network (SACN), Departments of Human Settlements and Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs and South Africa’s Local Government Association (SALGA) with the aim of addressing the issues around urbanisation, work done in South African cities and remedial methods to be introduced and implemented.

Opening the conference, Mayor Zandile Gumede said that eThekwini Municipality was committed to sustainable urbanisation as per the strategic goals of the National Development Plan, Integrated Urban Development Framework and many other related policy imperatives.

Mayor Gumede listed some of the City’s key projects which seek to promote a connected and compact city. These include the Go! Durban Integrated Transport Project, Durban Metropolitan Open Space System, Cornubia Housing and Mixed Use Development Project and the households and municipal buildings photovoltaic installations projects.

Implementation and alliance based activity

Deputy Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Hon. Andries Nel emphasised the need for all sectors to collaborate their efforts in managing sustainable urbanisation.

“We must see implementation as an alliance-based activity. We need partners, donors, the private sector, civil society, investors, communities, research bodies and think-tanks, technical specialists and many more parties in the development of the New Urban Agenda.”

Some of the topics discussed at the conference are Inclusive Growth, Spatial Integration, Inclusion and Access and Effective Governance.

The eThekwini Urban Week will continue on Tuesday with the celebration of World Cities Day under the theme, “Innovative Governance. Open Cities”. The week-long programme will end off with the African Forum on Urban Safety (AFUS) Learning Exchange scheduled for 01-03 November 2017.