Governance of the Just Urban Transition

This paper explores the governance frameworks and institutional factors critical to achieving a Just Urban Transition (JUT) in South African cities. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of social justice and environmental sustainability, highlighting the need for inclusive, equitable, and resilient urban development. Through a series of case studies, the paper examines the roles of various stakeholders, including government, private sector, and civil society, in facilitating this transition. It also addresses the challenges and trade-offs involved in implementing JUT principles, offering insights into effective governance models that can support sustainable and just urban growth.

Article Summary

The core challenge addressed by this research is how rapidly urbanizing cities, particularly in the Global South, can successfully navigate the Just Urban Transition (JUT), the simultaneous pursuit of social equity, poverty reduction, and environmental sustainability. Global commitments, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, mandate that sustainability transitions must “leave no one behind,” making it imperative that shifts toward climate resilience and low-carbon economies prioritize the needs of low-income communities to avoid exacerbating existing inequalities. The risk in cities is significant: the urban poor often bear the brunt of climate impacts, and environmental sustainability pathways can unintentionally deepen poverty and inequality. This paper, focused on the South African context, explores the critical role of governance arrangements and institutional factors in ensuring that this necessary transition results in inclusive, equitable, resilient, and resource-efficient urban environments.

To understand how this complex alignment can be achieved in practice, the research synthesized existing knowledge, drew extensively from expert interviews, and utilized three distinct case studies focused on vital urban functions: elite investments in renewable energy, sanitation within informal settlements, and government-led housing projects. These cases were analyzed using various governance models, including stakeholder analysis and problem-driven iterative adaptation (PDIA), to investigate how actors and processes intersect and how power is distributed in urban planning. The findings highlight that the JUT is frequently hampered by conflicts and deeply entrenched differences between stakeholders, making trade-offs between social justice and environmental objectives difficult but unavoidable. A crucial finding is that governance must be hybrid, relying on a complex mix of state actors (national, provincial, and local government), the private sector, and community organizations, as no single entity can manage the transition alone.

The study reveals that the relative power of actors changes dramatically depending on the sector. For instance, private individuals and businesses hold significant power in the renewable energy sector, where their investments can inadvertently undermine municipal revenue needed to cross-subsidize services for the poor. Conversely, in the sanitation and housing sectors, government influence is high, yet community buy-in and local leadership remain essential to prevent resistance to new, sustainable technologies. Ultimately, the paper concludes that governance must evolve to be iterative, adaptive, and support co-production—the active involvement of marginalized groups and non-state actors in both knowledge creation and service delivery—to ensure that the benefits and burdens of urban development are equitably distributed. Without carefully considering these institutional dynamics and governance challenges, efforts toward sustainability are likely to fail or, worse, exacerbate existing injustices.

Key Points

• The Just Urban Transition (JUT) requires addressing environmental sustainability (like climate change) and social justice (like poverty and inequality) simultaneously, as success in one area can easily undermine the other.
• Governing the JUT demands hybrid governance, involving complex coordination and continuous negotiation among state departments, private businesses, and non-state actors like civil society and community leaders.
•  The influence of stakeholders differs across urban sectors. For example, private elite investments in solar power can unintentionally compromise the municipal cross-subsidization systems designed to fund basic services for the poor.
• Achieving JUT goals necessitates navigating difficult trade-offs between competing, sometimes equally valid, objectives (e.g., immediate needs versus long-term environmental costs).
• The governance process must be iterative, fostering continuous reflection, learning, and experimentation (like the PDIA approach) to build the state and community capacity necessary for systemic change.

This comprehensive analysis offers practical governance models and deep case study reflections essential for policymakers, urban planners, and local stakeholders committed to building socially just and environmentally sustainable cities.

Recommended Citation

Culwick Fatti, C., Anciano, F., Lemanski, C., & Rubin, M. (2023). Governance of the Just Urban Transition. South African Cities Network.