Flooding of informal settlements is a particularly large problem in Cape Town – over the past three years more than 30 000 people per year have been displaced by flooding in informal settlements. The Urban Flooding CityLab brings together researchers and practitioners interested in various aspects of urban flooding in Cape Town and how flooding risk can be reduced. The Urban Flooding CityLab was initiated by Professor Sue Parnell in September 2008 and Warren Smit was appointed as coordinator in January 2009. A series of seminars and field trips have addressed various issues relating to flooding. Topics have included sustainable urban drainage systems, natural drainage systems and conceptualisation of flooding risk. A collaborative UCT/ Stockholm Environment Institute research project on collaborative governance to reduce flooding risk in Cape Town will contribute greatly to the work of the Urban Flooding CityLab. As background material for this project, Warren Smit and Gina Ziervogel have written a paper, “Learning to swim: strengthening flooding governance in the city of Cape Town”, which sets out the key issues relating to governance and flooding in the city.
Resource collections
- Climate emergency
- Topics
- UN Habitat - Urban Response Collection
- Urban Response - Urban Crisis Preparedness and Risk Reduction
- Urban Response Collection - Community Engagement and Social Cohesion
- Urban Response Collection - Economic Recovery
- Urban Response Collection - Environment and Climate Change
- Urban Response Collection - Housing, Land and Property
- Urban Response Collection - Urban Crisis Response, Recovery and Reconstruction
- Urban Response Collection - Urban Resilience
