Agenda 21 in South Africa: foreign, green and anti-development?

Durban has been at the forefront of South African efforts to honour Agenda 21 commitments made at the 1991 Rio Earth Summit. Has the city turned Agenda 21’s promise of sustainable urban development into reality? What lessons have been learned in overcoming scepticism and building support and consensus among stakeholders?

Research from Durban’s eThekwini Municipality analyses the difficulties faced when sustainable development is applied to a city whose rapidly growing population is having a negative impact on the natural environment. Institutional changes, under-funding and lack of proactive and sustained political support have frustrated initial hopes of Agenda 21 success. However, there is evidence that the environment is starting to find its way into all areas of Durban’s local government and is no longer dismissed as an imported, anti-development ideology.

In Durban, as in much of South Africa, local government has been in a state of almost continuous transformation since 1994. Large areas of peri-urban, rural and tribal land have been incorporated into a metropolitan area, which, thanks to apartheid, has extreme inequities between ethnic groups and different areas. The common assumption is that the poor are more likely to prioritise development over environment and that it is the well-off who will attach greater importance to environmental needs. But, encouragingly, that is not the case in the communities with different racial and socioeconomic profiles studied by the researchers. Community leaders in disadvantaged parts of the city recognise that environmental concerns can no longer be ignored.

Among the innovatory approaches taken in Durban were:

• the involvement of communities in developing open spaces in high-density residential areas
• a review of open spaces, measuring their role in providing goods and services (water supply, pollution control and tourism), which showed how resource economics can raise the profile of green issues on the political agenda
• street theatre in the Zulu language that emphasised the contributions that individuals can make to a cleaner and better-governed city
• participation in the CEROI (Cities Environmental Reports On the Internet project) urban environment information gateway which enables international sharing of Agenda 21 experience.

The paper outlines a sustainability ‘road map’, applicable in Durban and other cities trying to observe Agenda 21. It stresses the need for patience. Time is required for effects to feed into administrative and political structures, for activists to learn to sit round bargaining tables and for business to accept environmental responsibilities.

Further considerations for policy-makers include:

• developing a variety of educational approaches tailored to the cultures and interests of different target groups
• building capacity to ensure that processes are not dominated by the agendas of ‘gatekeeper’ groups and maintaining adequate resources to ensure that key people stay in post and institutional memory is retained
• recognising that Agenda 21 programmes require ongoing conflict-management processes and fora to bring stakeholders together to debate
• promoting highly-motivated individuals to act as champions in maintaining continuity when interest wanes
• mixing action with initiatives to appeal to grassroots stakeholders as well as policy-makers
• working with other Agenda 21 initiatives to develop measurable objectives and indicators.

Source(s):
‘Durban’s Local Agenda 21 programme: tackling sustainable development in a post-apartheid city’ by D. Roberts and N. Diederichs, Environment and Urbanization, vol 14, no 1, April 2002, pp 189-201 Full document.

Funded by: Various

id21 Research Highlight: 6 August 2003

Further Information:
Debra Roberts
Development Planning and Management Unit
eThekwini Municipality
PO Box 680
Durban 4000
South Africa

Tel: + 27 31 300-2527
Fax: +27 31 300-2225
Contact the contributor: robertsd@cesu.durban.gov.za

eThekwini Municipality, South Africa

Other related links:
'Thinking global, becoming vocal: lessons from the Sustainable Penang Initiative'

'Committed to communities? Checking up on participation in cities'

'Getting down to the local level: challenges for Agenda 21'

'Localising Agenda 21 in Kenya'

'Local agenda: partnerships for urban change?'

The UN Sustainable Development site has a selection of sustainable development success stories