Nasiphi Moya: Tshwane authorities integrate climate plan into urban development strategy

The city of Tshwane in South Africa is reconsidering infrastructure decisions from past decades that fail to address climate threats and the potential impacts of global climate change, Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya said during a panel discussion at WUF13, Report informs.

"We're essentially repairing the car while driving," she said, describing the specific nature of urban development on the African continent.

As Moya explained, Pretoria has a 163-year history, while Tshwane in its current form is only 26 years old. A significant portion of the city's infrastructure was built long before modern climate standards and regulations were implemented.

As an illustrative example, the mayor cited the Hammanskraal district, where the road network was built without stormwater drainage because climate risks were simply not considered at the design stage.

"Now, every time it rains, the residents of this area suffer, as the legislation in place at the time didn't anticipate such threats," she emphasized.

According to her, city authorities are currently grappling with a dual challenge: addressing past missteps while simultaneously planning for the future, taking climate change into account.

Moya explained that Tshwane is implementing a comprehensive master plan covering the road network, housing, energy, water, and other infrastructure.

She noted that the key challenge remains the ability of the existing system to cope with the city's rapid growth. "Over the past decade, our city's population has virtually doubled, and we predict this trend will continue," she stated.

At the same time, the mayor emphasized the urgent need for workforce retraining and the introduction of digital technologies into the urban planning system.

"If roads designed two decades ago no longer meet current requirements, it's easy to imagine how difficult it is for professionals trained 20 years ago to adapt to new conditions," Moya said.