Browsing by Subject "urbanisation"
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- ItemOpen AccessAfrica on the rise: prospects for growth and development(2014-09-29) Rotberg, RobertThis course will demonstrate how sub-Saharan Africa is emerging successfully from its long era of stagnation, conflict and troubled democracy to provide prosperity and real hope for its peoples. It will discuss prospects for future economic growth, for political and social success and for the creation of a new middle class. It will consider prospects for a demographic dividend as populations expand and cities grow and fill with young people, reducing conflict and social ills. Health and educational requirements, the contribution of mobile phones to change, China’s important role, good governance, good leadership, and the role that South Africa can play in the new Africa, will all be explored. LECTURE TITLES 1. Africa’s new prosperity: rapid growth and more to come 2. The coming population explosion and its consequences 3. The mobile telephone revolution and its impact on health and educational reforms 4. China’s role for good and ill 5. Governance, leadership and the role of South Africa
- ItemOpen AccessSustaining Cape Town(2012) Pirie, GordonLecture series coordinated by Professor Gordon Pirie, Deputy Director, African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town. This lecture will be of interest to town planners and those who would like to know more about urban sustainability and food security.
- ItemOpen AccessThe effects of urbanisation on bee and wasp communities in Cape Town, South Africa(2022) Walker, Gemma; Janion-Scheepers, Charlene; Brom, Peta; O'Farrell, PatrickBees and wasps provide essential regulatory ecosystem services by pollinating urban plants. However, there are massive global declines in many insect groups, and little is known about the impacts of urbanisation on pollinators in rapidly developing areas of Africa. South Africa is one of the most urbanised and biodiverse countries in Africa, and the Cape Floristic Region, one of the country's most important centres of biodiversity, is the only area in the world where bee and plant diversity hotspots coincide. Within the centre of this hotspot (Durbanville, Cape Town), I investigated the effects of urbanisation and availability of floral resources on bee and wasp (pollinator) diversity, community composition, and nesting guild distribution across an urbanrural/natural gradient. Using pan traps, specimens were collected from 18 sites in the austral spring of 2019 and 2020. A total of 433 bee and 45 wasp specimens, comprising of 45 bee and 27 wasp morphospecies respectively, were collected. Bees from the family Halictidae (particularly Seladonia and Patellapis species) were the most abundant. Except for Apis mellifera, all other bee species were solitary, and most (86.7%) collected pollen from flowers. A total of four different nesting guilds were identified, with the most common being ground-nesters (68.9%). Floral resources, rather than the degree of urbanisation, had a strong positive effect on pollinator diversity and community composition. The same trend was observed for nesting guilds at both the community and individual guild level. This study supports the development of several costeffective and achievable conservation initiatives, such as adopting no-mow periods during austral spring and developing small-scale bee-friendly floral-rich patches, which can be undertaken by existing municipal structures and private landowners alike. Urban spaces in Cape Town have the potential to support important pollinator diversity, but more research is needed. Suggested future studies include investigating the ways pollinator diversity and community composition is influenced by 1) individual floral species and characteristics, 2) the size, shape, and location of habitat/floral patches, and 3) the effects of urban warming.
- ItemRestrictedVertical Decentralisation and Urban Service Delivery in South Africa: Does Politics Matter?(Wiley, 2014) Cameron, RobertFocusing on the case of South Africa, this study examines how decentralisation policies and inter-party politics have affected urban service- delivery responsibilities and resources. Service delivery does not appear to be worse off in Cape Town than in Johannesburg, even though the former is controlled by the opposition Democratic Alliance. While there have been political attempts to undermine the authority of its officials, the fiscal elements are protected by a relatively strong and well-managed department of finance. Consequently, both donors and the national government steer money towards Cape Town because they know it can deliver on its obligations.