Learning to swim: Strengthening flooding governance in the City of Cape Town

Vulnerability to flooding is a growing concern in cities of the South, where resources
are concentrated and poor people often settle in flood prone areas. Climate change
projections of increased intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall events suggest
flooding impacts will grow in future, demanding improved response to current flood
risk in order to adapt. Attempts by the City of Cape Town to reduce flood risk in
informal settlements have not been successful, mainly because of institutional and
governance constraints that result in a focus on narrow technical solutions and on the
provision of disaster relief. This paper explores the notion of flooding governance and
how it might be used to suggest ways to strengthen flood management strategies,
particularly through colloborative governance across the local and city scale in the
context of adaptation to climate change. The challenges associated with flood risk
management in the City of Cape Town are discussed before presenting how a new
project at the University of Cape Town aims to address these challenges.