ABSTRACT

Climate change impacts are scale and context specific, and cities are likely to bear some of the greatest costs. In recent years  cities have begun to craft their own climate change responses against the backdrop of the reluctance displayed by nation-states in committing to emissions reductions and managing the consequences of climate change.

Climate Change at the City Scale presents a fresh contribution to climate change literature, which has largely neglected the role of cities in spite of their increasingly important role in the global economy.  The book focuses on the impacts of climate change in the rapidly evolving city of Cape Town, and captures the experiences of the Cape Town Climate Change Think Tank, a hybrid knowledge partnership which has produced research on a range of urban governance, impacts, mitigation and adaptation challenges by the City. 
Cape Town has long been acknowledged as an innovator in the area of urban environmental management, notwithstanding its limited resources to manage the demand for a more resilient and equitable future. By documenting the work and experiences of the  City’s efforts to define its own climate future, the book provides a provocative case study of the way in which the science-policy interface can be managed to inform urban transformation.

chapter 1|8 pages

Climate at the City Scale 1

The Cape Town Climate Think Tank

chapter 4|35 pages

Potential Impact of Climate Change on Coastal Flooding

A Case Study of the Salt River, Cape Town

chapter 5|26 pages

Energy Scenarios for Cape Town

Exploring then Implications of Different Energy Futures for the City up to 2050 1

chapter 7|25 pages

Cities and Climate Change

Ex Abundanti Cautela – ‘from an Excess of Caution'?

chapter 8|16 pages

Climate Change and Possible Legal Liability

Implications for the City of Cape Town

chapter 9|19 pages

Towards a Climate-Resilient and Low-Carbon City of Cape Town

Climate Change, Planning Law and Practice

chapter 10|20 pages

Reducing the Pathology of Risk

Developing an Integrated Municipal Coastal Protection Zone for the City of Cape Town

chapter 11|21 pages

Supporting City-Scale Decisions in the Context of Climate Change

The Case of the City of Cape Town

chapter 12|21 pages

South African Coastal Cities

Governance Responses to Climate Change Adaptation

chapter 13|19 pages

City of Cape Town Solar Water Heater by-law

Barriers to Implementation