Cape Town joins Durban in worldwide resilient cities network

26 May 2016 - 16:22 By TMG Digital

Cape Town has been chosen to join Durban as one of 100 cities worldwide that will be helped to build resilience to social‚ economic and physical challenges faced by urban environments‚ mayor Patricia de Lille said on Thursday.Its selection to join the 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) Programme‚ pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation‚ was based on its willingness‚ ability and need to become resilient in the face of future challenges. As a member of 100RC‚ the City of Cape Town would gain access to tools‚ funding‚ technical expertise‚ and other resources to build resilience to the challenges of the 21st century‚ said De Lille.via @SilverthornMCC "We love finding new spots in Cape Town, especially places as beautiful as this. #CapeTownpic.twitter.com/WhxGOl27Wb"
— Cape Town Photos (@kaapKiekies) August 10, 2015async"These challenges include shocks such as extreme weather events as a result of climate change‚ fires‚ floods‚ earthquakes‚ civil unrest as well as stresses that weaken the fabric of the city‚ such as unemployment‚ inefficient public transport‚ endemic crime and violence‚ drug and alcohol abuse‚ and energy shortages and outages."100RC president Michael Berkowitz said: "We selected Cape Town because of its leaders’ commitment to resilience-building and the innovative and proactive way they’ve been thinking about the challenges the city faces. We’re excited to get to work."via @thelawry: "Fly-by" | I took this shot from a new cave I discovered yesterday on @lionsheadct... pic.twitter.com/0qDhpMgFCQ— Cape Town Photos (@kaapKiekies) March 27, 2015asyncThe percentage of the global population living in urban areas was likely to grow from 50% today to an estimated 70% in 2050. Because of this‚ cities around the world faced huge deficits in preparedness for rapid growth and natural and man-made disasters.De Lille said the city council saw urban resilience as a core factor in achieving its strategic objectives."As part of the 100RC Network‚ Cape Town will be eligible to receive grant funding to hire a chief resilience officer who will lead the city-wide resilience-building process."The application process to join the network featured 325 cities from more than 90 countries.A 100RC statement said: "The application process showed each city’s unique vision for resilience‚ a long-term commitment to building resilience in a way that connects silos of government and sectors of society‚ and specific attention to the needs of poor and vulnerable residents."Other African cities in the network are Accra‚ Ghana; Addis Ababa‚ Ethiopia; Dakar‚ Senegal; Enugu‚ Nigeria; Kigali‚ Rwanda; Lagos‚ Nigeria; Luxor‚ Egypt; Nairobi‚ Kenya; and Paynesville‚ Liberia...

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