Cape Town’s “Day Zero” Drought: Notes on a Future History of Urban Dwelling

2021 ◽  
pp. 120633122199769
Author(s):  
Nick Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Complex Object ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Water Wars ◽  
History Of

Taking the events of Cape Town’s “Day Zero” drought as a case study, this article examines the politics and poetics of water in the Anthropocene and the implications of Anthropogenic climate change for urban life. It argues that rather than being understood as an inert resource, fresh drinking water is a complex object constructed at the intersection between natural systems; cultural imaginaries; and social, political, and economic interests. The extraordinary events of Day Zero raised the specter of Mad Max–style water wars. They also led to the development of new forms of solidarity, with water acting as a social leveler. The article argues that events in Cape Town open a window onto the future, to the extent that they tell us something about what happens when the added stresses of climate change are mapped onto already-contested social and political situations. They also underline the precarious nature of many of our urban arrangements. This sense of the precarious is likely to extend beyond the case of Cape Town and to be an abiding feature of urban life as we journey deeper into the Anthropocene/Capitalocene.

scholarly journals Making Sense of “Day Zero”: Slow Catastrophes, Anthropocene Futures, and the Story of Cape Town’s Water Crisis

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Complex Object ◽  
Water Crisis ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Water Wars

What form do the current and future catastrophes of the Anthropocene take? Adapting a concept from Rod Nixon, this communication makes a case for the notion of slow catastrophes, whose unfolding in space and time is uneven and entangled. Taking the events of Cape Town’s Day Zero drought as a case study, this paper examines the politics and poetics of water in the Anthropocene, and the implications of Anthropogenic climate change for urban life. It argues that rather than being understood as an inert resource, fresh drinking water is a complex object constructed at the intersection between natural systems, cultural imaginaries, and social, political and economic interests. The extraordinary events of Day Zero raised the specter of Mad Max-style water wars. They also led to the development of new forms of solidarity, with water acting as a social leveler. The paper argues that the events in Cape Town open a window onto the future, to the extent that it describes something about what happens when the added stresses of climate change are mapped onto already-contested social and political situations.

scholarly journals ECONOMIC AND ADAPTATION COSTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE: CASE STUDY OF INDRAMAYU, WEST JAVA INDONESIA

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
Perdinan Perdinan ◽  
Rizaldi Boer ◽  
Kiki Kartikasari ◽  
Bambang Dwi Dasanto ◽  
Rini Hidayanti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Unit Cost ◽  
Cropping Pattern ◽  
Production Loss ◽  
Irrigation Canals ◽  
West Java ◽  
Adaptation Options ◽  
Adaptation Costs

ECONOMIC AND ADAPTATION COSTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE: CASE STUDY OF INDRAMAYU, WEST JAVA INDONESIA Abstract Climate change is already occurring. In Indonesia, many evidences such as changing rainfall patterns in many parts of the country (e.g., Sumatra and Java) indicate the impacts of global climate change on Indonesian climate. This new climate regime eventually will influence water availability in many parts of the country. This paper discusses economic loss (unit cost) incurred on major economic sectors (i.e., agriculture, fishery, drinking water, and health) of Indramayu districts – West Java Indonesia due to flood and drought as an approximation to quantify potential economic consequences of climate change. The estimation was based on discussions with the local authorities and communities (field survey) in 2008. The unit costs were estimated based on rice production loss (agriculture), milk fish and prawn production loss (fishery), additional costs for clean water supply (drinking water), and additional incidences of dengue fever (DBD) and diarrhea (health). Seven adaptation options and their estimated costs are also proposed to cope with flood and drought in the region. The options are: construction of a reservoir, change of cropping pattern, rehabilitation of irrigation canals, improvement of irrigation canals (cementing the canals), improvement of drainage system, normalization of rivers, and implementation of system rice intensification (SRI). Potential benefits from each adaptation are also discussed. Such discussion, together with estimated adaptation costs, will be useful for further evaluation to measure the net benefits from each adaptation, which can be helpful to assist decision makers in choosing plausible adaptation options for their region. Keywords: climate change, economic costs, adaptation BIAYA EKONOMI DAN ADAPTASI PERUBAHAN IKLIM: STUDI KASUS KABUPATEN INDRAMAYU, JAWA BARAT, INDONESIA Abstrak Perubahan iklim telah terjadi. Di Indonesia, dampak perubahan iklim global dapat dindikasikan dengan adanya perubahan pola curah hujan yang terjadi di berbagai daerah, misalnya Sumatera dan Jawa. Perubahan pola hujan tersebut pada akhirnya dapat mempengaruhi ketersediaan air di berbagai daerah. Tulisan ini membahas kerugian ekonomi (biaya satuan) yang terjadi pada sektor utama perekonomian (pertanian, perikanan, air minum dan kesehatan) di Kabupaten Indramayu - Jawa Barat, akibat dari kejadian banjir dan kekeringan yang digunakan sebagai pendekatan untuk mengukur dampak ekonomi yang terjadi akibat perubahan iklim. Penilaian dampak tersebut didasarkan pada diskusi dengan pemerintah daerah dan masyarakat setempat saat survey lapang di tahun 2008. Perkiraan biaya satuan didasarkan pada kerugian produksi beras (pertanian), produksi ikan bandeng dan udang (perikanan), biaya tambahan untuk penyediaan air bersih (air minum), insiden tambahan penyakit demam berdarah dan diare (kesehatan). Untuk mengatasi banjir dan kekeringan di wilayah tersebut, diusulkan tujuh pilihan adaptasi serta perkiraan biayanya. Adaptasi tersebut adalah: pembangunan waduk, perubahan pola tanam, rehabilitasi saluran irigasi, peningkatan saluran irigasi (penyemenan/penguatan saluran), peningkatan sistem drainase, normalisasi sungai, dan implementasi system of rice intencification (SRI). Potensi manfaat dari masing-masing adaptasi juga dibahas dalam tulisan ini. Hasil diskusi dan perkiraan biaya adaptasi yang dibahas di dalam tulisan ini, diharapkan dapat dimanfaatkan sebagai bahan dasar untuk kegiatan lanjutan yang terkait dengan penilaian manfaat atau keuntungan berbagai pilihan adaptasi, sehingga dapat membantu para pembuat keputusan dalam memilih berbagai pilihan adaptasi yang sesuai dengan daerahnya. Kata kunci: perubahan iklim, biaya ekonomi, adaptasi  

scholarly journals Florence and the river: new urban perspectives

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1.4) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Francesco Alberti ◽  
Raffaele Paloscia
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Small Cities ◽  
History Of ◽  
University Of Florence ◽  
The University ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

The upgrading of riverfronts is a theme that has long played a central role in the renewal programs of large, medium and small cities throughout Europe. The case study presented in this paper is Florence, whose Roman origins and development, from the Middle Ages to today, are closely linked to the Arno River, which runs from east to west. After briefly reviewing some salient moments in the history of the relationship between the city and the river, the paper illustrates some research and projects carried out within the Department of Architecture of the University of Florence, focused on the role that Arno can still play in the future of the Florentine metropolitan area, as a catalyst for interventions aimed at improving urban sustainability, livability and resilience to climate change.

Dinosaurs Become Birds: Changing Cultural Values in Cape Town Theatre

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-162
Author(s):  
GAY MORRIS
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Educational Experiences ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Urban Centre ◽  
Marketing Environment ◽  
History Of ◽  
Significant Change ◽  
The City

This article examines a significant change in the hierarchies of value in cultural production in urban Cape Town, where there has been a bifurcation of theatre in the urban centre and on the township periphery. Theatre at these two sites differs in aesthetic character, themes and infrastructural resources, which derive from a history of legislated racial separatism that is still evident today socially, culturally, educationally and in the development of the city itself. Here, I identify changes that have come about in recent years not so much because of the government's policy of redress, but because leading artists are using their pre-eminence and institutions to catalyse educational experiences, performance platforms and a positive marketing environment for theatre and artists from the townships. The Baxter Theatre and its Zabalaza Festival serve as a case study.

The Ghetto: A Very Short Introduction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan Cheyette
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Jewish Population ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
History Of ◽  
Single Idea

The Ghetto: A Very Short Introduction provides an overview of the history of the ghetto, focusing on specific times and places throughout history. Is the ghetto real or imagined? The word ‘ghetto’ would not have existed without 16th-century Italian economic interests, which led to the policy of placing the Jewish population in enclosed enclaves in around twenty-four Italian towns and cities. During the Holocaust, there were many hundreds of Nazi ghettos in Eastern Europe varying in size, duration, and purpose. The history of the ghetto was adopted by African-Americans in the mid-20th century and is still used to describe both the concrete and abstract qualities of segregated urban life. There is no single idea or place which encompasses ‘the ghetto’.

scholarly journals La muralla de Nueva York

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Jose Duran Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Urban History ◽  
York City ◽  
Basic Element ◽  
The Body ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
History Of ◽  
Exhaustive Study

The urban history of New York City, its birth and decline, is linked with one basic element: water.  Water was the reason for its foundation and it could be the cause of its disappearance… Water is fundamental to the urban life of this city; it is the element that has fed its growth during its four hundred year existence. Only for this reason does it deserve the upmost attention and an exhaustive study. Water as a limit, wall or barrier, or as an extreme place of opportunity, it is without a doubt a place where the urban future of New York City rests. Although it deals with an uncertain and dystopian future if the forecast of the increase in ocean levels (as a consequence of climate change) holds true. The article is an abridgment of nine short texts and an epilogue, together with their respective ten graphic documents that make up the body of this research. As a result, the reader faces a graphic essay formed by small chapters that will guide them through the romance between New York and water, from its origins to the present day.

scholarly journals Accommodating Climate Change Science: James Hansen and the Rhetorical/Political Emergence of Global Warming

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard D. Besel
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
The United States ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
Public Policy Issue ◽  
History Of

ArgumentDr. James Hansen's 1988 testimony before the U.S. Senate was an important turning point in the history of global climate change. However, no studies have explained why Hansen's scientific communication in this deliberative setting was more successful than his testimonies of 1986 and 1987. This article turns to Hansen as an important case study in the rhetoric of accommodated science, illustrating how Hansen successfully accommodated his rhetoric to his non-scientist audience given his historical conditions and rhetorical constraints. This article (1) provides a richer explanation for the rhetorical/political emergence of global warming as an important public policy issue in the United States during the late 1980s and (2) contributes to scholarly understanding of the rhetoric of accommodated science in deliberative settings, an often overlooked area of science communication research.

Town-Farm Relationships in Yorubaland: A Case Study from Oyo

Africa ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Goddard
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Tropical Africa ◽  
Dominant Feature ◽  
Settlement Geography ◽  
History Of ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Industrial Societies ◽  
The Town

Opening ParagraphThe Yoruba are generally believed to be the most urbanized of the peoples of tropical Africa, and certainly their propensity for living in large nucleated settlements is one of the most striking features of the settlement geography of the continent. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Yoruba town has attracted a considerable amount of attention from anthropologists, sociologists, and geographers alike. W. R. Bascom and others have emphasized the uniqueness, magnitude, and long history of urban development; W. B. Morgan, A. L. Mabogunje, and N. C. Mitchel have examined the functions and morphology of Yoruba towns; and certain sociologists, notably N. A. Fadipe and P. C. Lloyd, have discussed detailed aspects of Yoruba urban life. From all these writings one dominant feature has emerged: that Yoruba towns are ‘agricultural towns’ in the sense that they are agriculturally based and the product of intimate links between town and country. While it is true that most towns in pre-industrial societies tend to be linked with their immediate hinterlands, in so far as the excess of food production there makes their existence possible, Yoruba towns are linked to their hinterlands by even stronger ties, because the Yoruba living in the country traditionally looks upon the town as his real home and owes direct social allegiance to it.

Postscript: the future history of the garden

2019 ◽  
pp. 133-136
Author(s):  
Gordon Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Disease Control ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Garden Design ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
Soil Enrichment ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
Organic Gardening

Planting and garden design have never stood still, in part because fashions change, but also because of external factors. The most conspicuous fashion in recent decades has been the rise of organic gardening, a movement originating in the 1920s, which aspires to sustainability achieved by a synergy with natural systems of soil enrichment and pest and disease control. Another driver of change is the reduction in biodiversity. The Postscript considers the likely impact of climate change on garden design and suggests gardens will continue to evolve, as they have since remote antiquity. Garden design will adapt to changing conditions, but gardens will continue to provide havens of beauty and respite for the weary.

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