A Green Infrastructure Planning Approach in the Gauteng City-Region
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GCRO RESEARCH REPORT # NO. 04 A FRAMEWORK FOR A GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING APPROACH IN THE GAUTENG CITY-REGION SEPTEMBER 2016 Written by Christina Culwick and Kerry Bobbins, with contributions from Anton Cartwright and Gregg Oelofse, Myles Mander, and Stuart Dunsmore A PARTNERSHIP OF A FRAMEWORK FOR A GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING APPROACH IN THE GCR September 2016 ISBN: 978-0-620-72851-5 Copyright 2016 © Gauteng City-Region Observatory Written by: Christina Culwick and Kerry Bobbins, with Published by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory contributions from Anton Cartwright and Gregg Oelofse, (GCRO), a partnership of the University of Myles Mander, and Stuart Dunsmore Johannesburg, the University of the Witwatersrand, Design: Breinstorm Brand Architects Johannesburg, the Gauteng Provincial Government Cover Image: Brenden Gray and organised local government in Gauteng. A framework for a green infrastructure planning approach in the Gauteng City-Region ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: This report would not have been possible without the discussions in GCRO’s Green Infrastructure CityLab in 2014 and 2015. We would particularly like to thank those local and provincial government officials, academics and representatives of other stakeholder groups who were part of these discussions, and contributed their time, insights and experience, in particular: Theo Bernhardt, Stephan Du Toit, Jane Eagle, Anne Fitchett, Budu Manaka, Mokgema Mongane, Timothy Nast, Thembeka Nxumalo, Susan Stoffberg, Mahlodi Tau and Elsabeth van der Merwe. We also acknowledge the financial contribution to the project by the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation, as part of the programme “Urban Resilience Assessment for Sustainable Urban Development” at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). This was carried out as a partnership between Wits and the GCRO as part of the Department of Science and Technology’s Grand Challenge on Global Change. A FRAMEWORK FOR A GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING APPROACH IN THE GAUTENG CITY-REGION GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS Photograph by Gareth Pon CONTENTS PART A: LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE APPROACH 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 008 2. Overview of a green infrastructure approach and its applicability for the Gauteng City-Region ............................................................................................................................................................. 012 2.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................012 2.2. Green infrastructure approach ...................................................................................................................................................013 2.3. Underlying concepts ....................................................................................................................................................................015 2.4. Using green infrastructure to inform infrastructure planning ..............................................................................................017 2.5. Focus and structure of green infrastructure plans ..................................................................................................................023 2.6. Guiding the uptake of a green infrastructure planning approach in the GCR .....................................................................028 2.7. Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................................................................035 PART B: EXPERT INSIGHTS INTO APPLYING A GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE APPROACH 3. Reflections on the valuing of ecosystem goods and services in Cape Town .................................................... 040 3.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................040 3.2. Cape Town’s valuation of ecosystem goods and services ......................................................................................................043 3.3. Valuation methodologies .............................................................................................................................................................045 3.4. Valuation findings.........................................................................................................................................................................048 3.5. So what? .........................................................................................................................................................................................050 3.6. Theoretical barriers ......................................................................................................................................................................050 3.7. Green economy and environmental fiscal reform project ......................................................................................................054 3.8. Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................................................................058 4. Valuing green assets in Gauteng - not the ‘valuation’ thereof ........................................................................ 060 4.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................060 4.2. eThekwini urban management projects ....................................................................................................................................060 4.3. Knysna ecosystem services analysis ..........................................................................................................................................065 4.4. Broader environmental management .......................................................................................................................................065 4.5. A social learning process for valuing ecosystem services ......................................................................................................068 4.6. Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................................................................072 002 A FRAMEWORK FOR A GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING APPROACH IN THE GAUTENG CITY-REGION GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS 5. Scoping a process for the design and uptake of combined grey-green engineered solutions, as part of a green infrastructure plan ...................................................................................................................................... 073 5.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................073 5.2. Green infrastructure services for shovel-ready projects .......................................................................................................073 5.3. Opportunities and limitations in Gauteng ................................................................................................................................076 5.4. Scoping green infrastructure requirements for shovel-ready projects ...............................................................................085 5.5. Breakthrough actions ...................................................................................................................................................................086 5.6. Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................................................................089 PART C: A WAY FORWARD 6. Synthesising insights from the green infrastructure CityLab on a green infrastructure approach for the Gauteng City-Region .............................................................................................................................................. 092 6.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................092 6.2. Summarised expert insights ........................................................................................................................................................094 6.3. Reflections on the GCRO’s green infrastructure CityLab .....................................................................................................097 6.4. Additional municipal and academic inputs ..............................................................................................................................109 6.5. Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................................................................110 7. The vision and process for applying a green infrastructure