Ideas, implementation and indicators: epistemologies of the post-2015 urban agenda

This is the pre-publication submitted draft of the following paper: Clive Barnett and Susan Parnell, 2016, Ideas, implementation and indicators: epistemologies of the post-2015 urban agenda, Environment and Urbanization, DOI: 10.1177/0956247815621473.Copyright © 2016 International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).The success of the campaign for a dedicated urban Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) reflected a consensus on the importance of “cities” in sustainable development. The relevance accorded to cities in the SDGs is twofold, reflected both in the specific place- based content of the Urban Goal and the more general concern with the multiple scales at which all indicators will be institutionalized. Divergent views of the city and urban processes, suppressed within the Urban Goal, are, however, likely to become more explicit as attention shifts to implementation. Acknowledging the different theoretical traditions used to legitimize the new urban agenda is an overdue task. As this agenda develops post-2015, the adequacy of these forms of urban theory will become more contested around, among other concerns, the possibilities and limits of place-based policy, advocacy and activism; and practices of monitoring and evaluating ongoing processes of urban transformation along multiple axes of development.Leverhulme TrustEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC)Department for International Development (DFID

moving from projects to process

Rising rates of urbanization accompanied by increasing consumption puts the spotlight on how cities can mitigate and adapt to climate change (Wilbankset al. 2007; Sattherthwaiteet al. 2007). Globally, cities are starting to develop policies and plans to adapt to the impacts of climate change (Birkmann et al, 2010; Corburn, 2009; Horton et al. 2010). This is in part driven by the international scientific community that is encouraging adaptation as an important and urgent way to complement on-going mitigation efforts, that have formerly tended to dominate policies and finance (Romero-Lankao 2008). However, in some cases these emerging responses reflect a bottom-up awareness of the need to better plan for climate variability in order to increase the resilience of cities and protect its inhabitants. Many cities in the global South have been slower to develop adaptation responses than some cities in the global North. However, two cities in South Africa, eThekwini and the City of Cape Town, have been leaders in establishing adaptation policies and plans (Roberts 2008, Cartwright et al. 2008, Sattherthwaite 2007, Mukheibir and Ziervogel 2007). Exploring how these have been successful and what the challenges have been is important in developing lessons for other global South cities, where there are large numbers of people exposed to climate hazards. Because climate impacts are one of numerous other challenges, it is necessary to carefully position adaptation within a complex political and institutional landscape. This paper focuses on the five major coastal cities in South Africa, namely the City of Cape Town, Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City, eThekwini and Richards Bay. The analysis is based on interviews in each of these metros undertaken in early 2010 with 17 government actors all involved in adaptation in their different capacities

Race, inequality and urbanisation in the Johannesburg Region, 1946-1996

The city of Johannesburg lies at the heart of a sprawling metropolis. This metropolis, which we shall call the Johannesburg region, roughly corresponds with the boundaries of Gauteng Province.1 It stretches from Soshanguve in the north to Vanderbijlpark in the south and from Carletonville in the west to Springs in the east (Fig.1). While Johannesburg is an obvious example of a large city in a poor country that is riddled by social and economic inequality, there is a certain irony in its portrayal as a world city. After all, only five years ago, Johannesburg was the hub of a pariah nation that was the object of one of the most successful international sanctions campaigns. Notwithstanding the impact of the boycott against apartheid, Johannesburg has long served as the major urban centre of southern Africa. It is an unusually cosmopolitan city, with extensive demographic, political, and economic connections with Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, that date back to colonial times (Parnell and Pirie, 1991). Increasingly strong links are now also being forged with Australasia through immigration and sport

Ways Elementary Administrators Support Literacy Education

The work of an effective school principal is reflected in a variety of ways throughout the school. One area in which the principal\u27s influence is most clearly evident is literacy instruction. Studies conducted over the years provide support for this idea. In an investigation of the role of the school principal in reading instruction, Cox (1978) concluded that the leadership of the principal is vitally important in the development of an effective reading program. Chance (1991) also recognized the importance of principals as instructional leaders as she investigated principals\u27 own views of their involvement in the school reading program. In a summary statement, she maintained that the principal\u27s well planned, competent involvement in the instructional program is essential for program improvement at any level (p. 33)

South African urban youth responses to living in a world with COVID: Lessons from #Slam4urLife

Using poetry, visual art, songs, raps and sketches submitted to #Slam4urLife, a social media competition encouraging young people in South Africa to respond creatively to the COVID-19 pandemic, this article outlines young urban people’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa through four narratives: shock, loss, survival and activism. Resting on practices of engaged scholarship, it draws on knowledge bases and collaborations in and beyond the academy to contribute grounded research on arts-based social media competitions as an effective method for encouraging and amplifying the youth voice. It does this by creating digital public spaces in which young people can practise civic engagement in contexts where this cannot be done in physical public spaces. In doing so, the article contributes to the literature on community-based research and youth in African cities from the perspective of South Africa. It also argues the importance of art-based social media competitions in creating digital public spaces in which the youth voice can be encouraged, legitimised and amplified in so far as these kinds of digital spaces allow for a kind of civic engagement not always seen by young people in the physical public spaces of African cities

Promoting Early Identification and Intervention for Children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Children with Vision Impairment, and Children with Deaf-Blind Conditions

Children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing with Vision Impairment have unique needs requiring adaptations to intervention strategies. However, there seems to be a gap in identification of children who are DeafBlind within Part C programming. Based on data from the National Center on DeafBlindness Census data, 6% of the total number of reported children who are DeafBlind are in the birth through two age range (Part C eligible). Within the three through five year age range (Part B eligible), the census includes 12% of the total childhood DeafBlind population. This work is intended to allow for improved identification of children of hearing loss, vision impairment, and children with both hearing and vision needs (DeafBlind). The authors provide principles to guide evidence-based best practice to guide early intervention providers. Resources for expanding supports for young children who are DeafBlind are also included

A matter of timing: migration and housing access in Metropolitan Johannesburg

The city of Johannesburg lies at the centre of the largest urban conurbation in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, this conurbation was known by the clumsy acronym 'PWV', which stood for the Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging complex. Today, this urban region has the political status of a province and has been re-named 'Gauteng', a popular local name meaning 'place of gold'. A province that is almost entirely urban, Gauteng is home to 7.3 million people: about one-third of the national urban population of 21.8 million.2 At the last census in 1996, the population of Johannesburg itself was about 2.6 million.3 In the national hierarchy, this placed the city of Johannesburg just after the largest city in South Africa, namely Durban (2.8 million) and marginally ahead of Cape Town (also about 2.6)