Tom Baker, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Cristina Temenos, University of Manchester, and Kevin Ward, University of Manchester
City deals are being touted as the answer to NZ’s local infrastructure problems. Lessons from the UK and Australia suggest greater transparency and more coherent planning should be on the table too.
US cities are doing green infrastructure, but in bits and pieces. Today’s climate-driven floods require a much broader approach to create true sponge cities that are built to soak up water.
Social inclusion gives slum dwellers a voice to advocate for their rights and interests, leading to more inclusive and equitable policies and practices.
The University of Cape Town’s new report on the impacts of climate change in South Africa found that heatwaves and water stress will affect jobs, deepen inequality, and increase gender-based violence.
Extreme downpours and droughts, both fueled by rising global temperatures, are taking a toll on water infrastructure. Communities trying to manage the threats face three big challenges.
A coastal scientist explains why marshes, mangroves and other wetlands can’t keep up with the effects of climate change, and how human infrastructure is making it harder for them to survive.
The tunnel bringing millions of litres of water from dams in Lesotho to South Africa is to undergo a six-month repair. This could leave residents of Gauteng in South Africa short of water.
New Zealand’s councils are over-reliant on ratepayers to cover increasing costs. Central government needs to help support councils to do the work that helps local communities thrive.
Stephen Appiah Takyi, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Owusu Amponsah, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)
The inability of city authorities to enforce land-use regulations has allowed people to carry out ecologically unfriendly activities along the water bodies.
Labour’s ‘Adapt and Thrive’ plan for climate resilience is unlikely to survive the new government’s priorities. But the country cannot avoid addressing its urgent infrastructural deficit.