Governing the Just Urban Transition

The Governing the Just Urban Transition project has been awarded an NRF grant under the Global Change Social Sciences Research Programme (2024-2026). The project is being led by the Politics and Urban Governance Research Group at the University of the Western Cape. The GCRO is a key partner on this project, along with academics from the University of Cambridge, Cardiff University, and the University of Sheffield.

The project is focused on the context where working towards a just transition in South Africa is complicated by the fact that many South Africans are already living in crisis. Those who live on the economic margins are vulnerable to “everyday crises” as they struggle to make ends meet. In order to find an effective and inclusive path forward, we must gain a nuanced understanding of people’s existing coping strategies and the political landscape on which they are built. Small business enterprises in low-income areas have the potential to create economic opportunities within areas with critical needs but are especially vulnerable to infrastructure and service interruptions and resource limits. There is currently a very limited understanding of how small businesses contribute to and are affected by the just transition within cities.

This interdisciplinary project focuses on the coping strategies that three types of businesses in low-income areas of Johannesburg and Cape Town use to secure water and energy, given increasing resource limits and sustainability transitions. Through qualitative and quantitative methods, we trace the resources and relationships in which they are embedded across the city and beyond. In doing so, we explore the mix of off-grid and on-grid technologies that entrepreneurs utilise to survive, as well as the broader networks and infrastructures in which these technologies are enmeshed. People’s inability to access water or electricity in a safe, reliable, and affordable manner is both a symptom and a trigger of the everyday crises mentioned above. In recent years, these struggles have been compounded by a national electricity crisis and regional water crises. By studying negotiated access to water and energy, we can better understand the opportunities for co-produced paths out of crisis towards an equitable, sustainable urban future. In doing so, we can help to understand how to facilitate a just urban transition in South African cities.