Many disasters have plagued South Africa this winter. Areas in the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal have experienced extreme weather changes, resulting in flooding that has displaced many, damaged infrastructure and caused loss of life. Gale-force winds have blown off roofs, damaged houses and brought down electricity poles in neighbourhoods such as Wynberg in Cape Town. Many have attributed the recent flooding and gale-force winds to climate change and environmental mismanagement. These incidents have sparked concern about the need for measures that can be adopted to protect informal settlements from natural disasters, considering that global warming will lead to more intense and frequent weather changes.

Informal settlements are characterised by overcrowding, inadequate infrastructure, poorly constructed roads and insecure housing, often with limited (or without) access to water and sanitation. Residents may have settled close to streams or on low-lying and flood-prone land. They also tend to live in poor quality housing that does not protect them from (extreme) heat, strong winds and flooding. These factors put residents at risk of life-threatening diseases and events, as they are living in conditions that are hazardous. Furthermore, their lack of resources and spatial marginalisation make them the most vulnerable to crises. Their low adaptive capacity to respond or adapt to constantly changing circumstances and environmental conditions impacts their resilience in times of adversity. The combined impact of hazards, vulnerability, exposure and low adaptive capacity is that informal settlements face the brunt of climate change.

Clearly, informal settlement upgrading is a critical climate adaptation intervention and key to building the resilience of marginalised communities. By enabling access to safe and affordable water, sanitation, energy, reliable engineering infrastructure, tenure security, road infrastructure and other social or public amenities, current risks and vulnerabilities will be addressed. In addition, climate adaptation includes protecting residents from climate impact risks, for example through flood barriers and sustainable urban drainage systems. It further includes choosing technologies and interventions that reduce carbon dependency and the unsustainable use of natural resources, like water.

However, how upgrading takes place matters a great deal. Just as important as the technical and technological dimension of upgrading is the governance dimension. This refers to the all-important aspects of service delivery partnerships (between municipalities and communities), collaborative planning and deliberative engagement. Informal settlement communities need to be at the heart of informal settlement upgrading plans and interventions and the nature and sequencing of technical interventions needs to be informed by their realities and priorities. This speaks to the just dimension of the just urban transition, as outlined in the document Pathways for a Just Urban Transition in South Africa (also referred to as the JUT Framework).

The transition to a low carbon urban economy needs to address inequality and spatial justice and empower communities to define their own development. Critically, this includes approaches and strategies that enable livelihoods and job creation. The JUT Framework refers to this approach to informal settlement upgrading as ‘holistic systems change’ to achieve the goal of liveable, vibrant, resilient and safe communities.

Some of the ‘fundamentals’ motivated for in the JUT Framework are not new: Breaking New Ground and the Upgrading of Informal Settlement Programme (UISP) also highlight community involvement in upgrading initiatives and recognise the importance of focusing on vulnerability, rights and risks, amongst others. Giving practical expression to these principles has often been a challenge, though. As South Africa is seeking to position itself as a global leader on climate adaptation and a just (energy) transition, it cannot afford to leave informal settlements behind and continue to consider informal settlements as peripheral to development. Climate change is going to be an enduring factor that will affect everyone, but will disproportionately affect informal settlement communities. Effective climate adaptation therefore needs to include informal settlement upgrading at a pace and scale not previously seen in South Africa. More than that, it needs to follow a JUT approach to informal settlement upgrading aimed at reducing vulnerabilities, hazards and risks in informal settlements, whilst bolstering climate-resilience, empowerment, agency and equity.