Durban’s Resilience Strategy, Durban, South Africa

City/Town/Village: Durban
County/Province/District (Name of): KwaZulu-Natal Province
Sub-national State: n/a
Country: South Africa
Language: English; IsiZulu
Spatial Distinction: Urban
Level of Government: Municipality
Population: Approximately 3.91 million
Population Range: 1 million - 4.99 million
Policy Type: Plans
Food Systems Sector(s): food production
Year of Adoption: 2017
Adopting Government Department(s): eThekwini Municipality Council
Lead Implementing Entity: Sustainable and Resilient City Initiatives Unit
Supporting Entity: The Rockefeller Foundation (for initial components of strategy development). The finalization of Durban’s Resilience Strategy, and the implementation of this, has been funded and supported by eThekwini Municipality.​
Additional Supporting Entity: n/a
Funding Amount: n/a
Funding Sources: n/a
Policy Links: PDF-Original – Web
Link to Additional Resources: Resource 1
Policy Outcome:

As part of The Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities initiative, the Durban Resilience Strategy was developed to address Durban's complex development challenges using innovative and transformative approaches. The strategy consists of two resilience building options (RBOs) that form the foundation of the document: (1) ‘Collaborative informal settlement action’ to facilitate alternative approaches that focus more on incremental, holistic and sustained improvements to informal settlements, with priority given to improved municipal coordination, partnerships and community participation, and (2) ‘Integrated and innovative planning at the interface between municipal and traditional governance systems’ to enhance planning, protect the natural environment, and ensure sustainable service delivery in areas under traditional governance. The strategy’s third component acknowledges the need to address additional resilience challenges by ‘exploring potential ‘bridging links,’’ and the fourth focuses on ‘Institutionalising Resilience in eThekwini Municipality’ through the establishment of a ‘Sustainable and Resilient City Initiatives Unit’ in the Office of the City Manager.

Policy Keywords: community; coordination; economic development; environmental health; environmental protection; food insecurity; health; innovation; land policy; land tenure; land use plan/planning; multi-level governance; plan; poverty reduction; resilience; sustainability; sustainable development; water; water access; working group