Chapter 1
Green and Ecological Infrastructures
and Water Security at a Municipal Level:
An Overview
Abstract Humankind has increased water security in highly-industrialised states by
supplying sizeable populations with potable water and sanitation services. However,
to a large extent, in developing countries like South Africa, cities like Durban still
face water insecurity concerns. In the context of such concerns, green and ecological infrastructures play a role in water security and in other normative objectives,
such as biodiversity protection, climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well
as in sustainable development. Water security is linked to the notion of environmental and human security. It is not only at international level that water security has
become a prominent objective, concept and practice; the local governments in South
Africa also have a constitutional obligation to provide water services to their citizens. The government apparatus that is closest to the people are the municipalities,
and their services to residents include water purification and reticulation, wastewater
treatment and storm-water discharge. This chapter explains the political context of
green and ecological infrastructures, coupled with water security, in the eThekwini
Metropolitan Municipality.
Keywords eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality · Green infrastructure ·
Ecological infrastructure · Pollution · Flooding · Water security
1.1 Introduction
A paramount and relentless environmental challenge facing humankind in the twentyfirst century is water resources management (Pahl-Wostl 2015, 2017) and the use of
multiple practices at various levels. At least in industrialised countries, humans have
increased water security (Cook and Bakker 2012) for all, and this has resulted in
severe environmental consequences due to technological innovations (Pahl-Wostl
2015), use and disposal. This is the concealed irony of water security: while securing
water for the human population, technological advances are damaging the ecosystems
that provide the water and protect the settlements against disaster. However, it is not
only technology that plays an unfavourable and inauspicious role. According to
Ghosh and Kansal (2019), ‘[t]he dynamic interaction between society and nature is
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Meissner, eThekwini’s Green and Ecological Infrastructure Policy Landscape,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53051-8_1
1
Green and Ecological Infrastructures
and Water Security at a Municipal Level:
An Overview
Abstract Humankind has increased water security in highly-industrialised states by
supplying sizeable populations with potable water and sanitation services. However,
to a large extent, in developing countries like South Africa, cities like Durban still
face water insecurity concerns. In the context of such concerns, green and ecological infrastructures play a role in water security and in other normative objectives,
such as biodiversity protection, climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well
as in sustainable development. Water security is linked to the notion of environmental and human security. It is not only at international level that water security has
become a prominent objective, concept and practice; the local governments in South
Africa also have a constitutional obligation to provide water services to their citizens. The government apparatus that is closest to the people are the municipalities,
and their services to residents include water purification and reticulation, wastewater
treatment and storm-water discharge. This chapter explains the political context of
green and ecological infrastructures, coupled with water security, in the eThekwini
Metropolitan Municipality.
Keywords eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality · Green infrastructure ·
Ecological infrastructure · Pollution · Flooding · Water security
1.1 Introduction
A paramount and relentless environmental challenge facing humankind in the twentyfirst century is water resources management (Pahl-Wostl 2015, 2017) and the use of
multiple practices at various levels. At least in industrialised countries, humans have
increased water security (Cook and Bakker 2012) for all, and this has resulted in
severe environmental consequences due to technological innovations (Pahl-Wostl
2015), use and disposal. This is the concealed irony of water security: while securing
water for the human population, technological advances are damaging the ecosystems
that provide the water and protect the settlements against disaster. However, it is not
only technology that plays an unfavourable and inauspicious role. According to
Ghosh and Kansal (2019), ‘[t]he dynamic interaction between society and nature is
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Meissner, eThekwini’s Green and Ecological Infrastructure Policy Landscape,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53051-8_1
1