Lessons from Johannesburg's investments in resilient and resource-efficient urban development

With more than 4 million inhabitants, Johannesburg is the largest metropolitan area in South Africa and faces many of the same strains confronting large cities around the world, including concerns about rapid growth, energy access, and waste.

This is why its successful efforts to incorporate environmental solutions into urban planning are of great interest to city administrators and government officials across Africa, who recently visited eco-districts and urban farms around Johannesburg to learn from the Global Environment Facility-funded work underway in collaboration with local and international partners.

The Building a Resilient and Resource-Efficient Johannesburg: Increased Access to Urban Services and Improved Quality of Life project, which began in 2017, is showing how factoring in environmental considerations can result in improvements for housing, energy, and waste management, and increase access to municipal services, improve quality of life, and promote sustainable urban development.

With $8 million in GEF grant funding that has leveraged $124 million in co-financing, the City of Johannesburg is working with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the United Nations Environment Programme to implement the project and invest in sustainable initiatives across the area, in line with the city’s overall 2040 Growth and Development Strategy.

The project is supporting initiatives across the city, where people are working to improve energy access and water efficiency in social housing, support sound waste management practices, establish high-density neighborhoods combining residential and commercial use with energy-efficient buildings, and improve access to public transportation. It also incorporates the creation of eco-districts and investments in urban farming, with an aim to support sustainable agricultural practices such as organic farming, efficient irrigation methods, and biodiversity-friendly food production at the community level.

Johannesburg is one of more than 90 cities taking part in the GEF Sustainable Cities program, which works in 33 countries to address land use planning, waste management, sustainable transport and energy, and green housing, with an integrated approach. To date, the program has provided $480 million in grants and generated nearly $5 billion in co-financing for urban initiatives that support environmental goals and also generate socio-economic benefits.

“Johannesburg was selected for this project because we had complex urban challenges but good policy and institutional grounding in place. We wanted to show that if this could work here it could be replicated everywhere in South Africa,” said Thandeka Mlaza-Lloyd, Director of Spatial Transformation Projects at the City of Johannesburg.

One of the initiatives is redesigning social housing with a focus on using resources more efficiently. For example, a pilot in a 20-year- old residential complex retrofitted 172 rental one- and two-bedroom units and is generating 50 percent reduction in energy costs for the residents and 13 percent decrease in water usage. Improved waste management and solar-powered public lighting are boosting safety and health for the low-income community living in the buildings.

The changes are palpable. The newly painted and well-maintained complex boasts clean sidewalks and corridors and high-quality lighting in public areas. Even the trash collection area is tidy, with bins where residents sort and dispose of different types of waste. One resident has opened a recycling business, based on the waste collection in the complex. 

The urban farming component of the project is helping improve local food availability and empower small-scale farmers by integrating them into broader food supply chains. Part of the production is sold at the municipal Joburg Market, the largest fresh produce market in Africa.

The improvement in food distribution helps to reduce waste. At the same time, another component of the project will address specifically biodegradable waste through the construction of a new biogas plant at Johannesburg's largest landfill to convert biodegradable waste into renewable energy. The main source of raw material for the plant will be the Joburg Market, reinforcing the integrated approach of the initiatives.

Lessons from the project are being incorporated into the Johannesburg Social Housing Company and other government agency guidelines for future urban investments.

It is also resonating across the region. The project was recently visited by more than 100 participants of the GEF Extended Constituency Workshop for Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, which was focused on how developing countries can access and use resources for greatest impact.

As part of the GEF Sustainable Cities program, the project also benefits from opportunities to exchange experiences with other cities experiencing similar challenges. In this way, the program is helping cities lean into resilient and inclusive urban development and work to reverse the historic biodiversity loss, land degradation, and pollution linked to urbanization.

Building on the experiences and success of the project, South Africa is developing a new project as part of the GEF Sustainable Cities program to enhance climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable urban development in Johannesburg and other secondary cities.