City-Level Decoupling-Full Report

© Shutterstock

reshape the development of new replacement or alternative infrastructure?

In the Mariannhill landfill site in Durban, South Africa, the focus was on a new approach to landfill management that was less disruptive to neighbours and less damaging to the environment. Communities living near the site objected to waste leakage, poor air quality, and damage to local ecosystems, and consequently, a new approach was developed to address these issues. In all of these cases existing infrastructure networks were unable to operate effectively for a wide range of economic and social reasons that also had damaging ecological consequences. These drivers produced serious problems but also stimulated innovative responses to new infrastructure networks and dynamics. But who reshapes the infrastructure and what sorts of knowledge and capabilities do they use to make changes in the social-technical organization of new infrastructures? A common theme across these cases is the ways that new social interests, sometimes external to the conventional system, are involved in shaping the development of new infrastructure options. Are new intermediaries developed to create new infrastructure, or can existing intermediaries with existing responsibilities for the stressed infrastructure 6.4.2. Intermediaries involved

The case studies provide examples of new intermediaries that were created specifically to support the development or acceleration of the infrastructure. In the case of Accra, the use of waste water began as an innovation developed by users and has not yet been translated into a formal policy at city level. However, a 15-partner intermediary has been formed, the Accra Working Group on Urban and Peri- urban Agriculture, involving representatives of universities, farmers, and national and urban government representatives through their joint recognition of the potential of water reuse. Initially the intermediary focused on education and training of farmers to reduce the risks of contamination, but more recently shifts have focused on formally recognizing the relevance of the practices, especially the ecological benefits of circular metabolisms, despite the lack of official support. Similarly, in the Kampala waste project a specialist intermediary was created, called 'Sustainable Neighbourhood in Focus'. The partners involved in this were an international research project, the city council, local universities, civil society organizations and the pilot community of Kasubi-Kawaal. The overall aim was to identify projects that could alleviate poverty and promote ecological resilience.

68