Browsing by Author "De Visser, Jaap"
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item City regions in pursuit of SDG 11: Institutionalising multilevel cooperation in Gauteng, South Africa(Routledge, 2019) De Visser, Jaap; De Visser, Jacobus WilhelmMetropolitan areas are becoming more and more important in shaping the future of the planet. In 2017 there were 34 megacities worldwide, i.e. cities with a population of over 10 million. It is expected that this number will grow to 41 by 2030 (United Cities and LocaJ Governments (UCLG) 2017a, p. 44). There arc many more smaller urban conglomerations that can be defined as metropolitan areas, using criteria such as continuous growth, levels of density and perhaps most importantly, functional interdependence (UCLG 2017a, p. 44). Metropolitan areas are growing fast and face tremendous challenges. In both developed and developing countries, they experience sprawl, social fragmentation, economic challenges and environmental threats. In developing countries this is compounded by the reality that 880 million people worldwide live in slums, most of them within metropolitan areas (UCLG 2017a, p. 46). The growth of metropolitan areas presents tremendous opportunities for an increase of the well being of the city dwellers within them, but the reality is that many of the challenges fly in the face of the aspirations of Goal 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Item Food security, urban governance and multilevel government in Africa(Springer, 2021) De Visser, JaapRealising the right to food requires more than an increase in food production. Increasing access to food is equally important, so this contribution adopts a “food systems approach”. Against the backdrop of a growing number of countries on the continent that are decentralising powers to cities and regions, this chapter assesses the role of local governments in South Africa with respect to food security. It argues that food security is not just a national and/or provincial government concern, but that the Constitution demands of municipalities to contribute to realising the right to food. Against the backdrop of a general introduction into the division of responsibilities between national, provincial and local government, it deploys two arguments to make this assertion. The first is located in the jurisprudence of the South African Constitutional Court on socio-economic rights. The second is located in the division of powers between national, provincial and local government. This contribution explores various linkages between a municipality’s constitutional powers and food security. Specific emphasis is placed on the municipality’s responsibility to regulate trade and markets as well as its responsibility to conduct spatial planning and land-use management. The argument made in this chapter is also relevant in other countries on the continent that combine socio-economic rights with multilevel government arrangements.Item The (mis)management of ethno-linguistic diversity in Ethiopian cities(Routledge, 2017) De Visser, Jaap; Ayele, Zemelak A.Ethiopia has an ethnic federal system that is based on the assumption that the ethnolinguistic communities of the country are located in neatly defined, or definable, territorial areas. On the basis of this assumption the federal system aspires to accommodate the ethnic diversity of the Ethiopian people through, principally, if not exclusively, territorial schemes. This assumption is, however, incorrect as far as urban areas are concerned which, despite being territorially enclosed within one of the ethnic-based regions or sub-regional units, have thousands of multiethnic dwellers. The territorial scheme thus fails to cater to a large contingent of multiethnic urban dwellers.