Municipal Legislative Alignment and Enablement Analysis Report

This report concerns the tricky interplay between two key pieces of legislation that inform and steer spatial transformation initiatives in every municipality, namely the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003 (MFMA)
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Integrated Development Plan Guidelines Review Support: Practice Note

The practice note captures the project method, approach, outcomes, strengths, challenges, and lessons from the assignment to review and develop a set of Metro-specific Integrated Development Plan Guidelines. The project was commissioned by
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The State of the Expanded Public Works Programme in South African Cities 2019-2020

The aim of this report is to highlight and analyse the progress and implementation of the EPWP by the SACN Cities in the 2019/20 year, as the EPWP transitions into Phase IV; and to further examine the integrated analysis of the programme,
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Urban Safety Policy Brief No.1/2020: Public Space and Urban Safety

Public space is an expression and reflection of society, and many key historical moments have happened  in  public  space.  These  include  global  events  such  as  the  Arab  Spring,  and  local  actions  such  as 
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Municipal By-Laws as Instruments for Township Economic Development in Gauteng

This review uncovers examples of bylaw provisions that may assist in township economic development, and some that may hinder it. It also provides an overall picture of the extent and uniformity of the local-level regulation of township
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Township Economic Development in Gauteng Province

This paper is part one of a three-part action research initiative by the South African Cities Network (SACN) and the Gauteng Provincial Government. It addresses key institutional barriers to the growth and development of township
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Urban Governance Paper Series: Volume 1

The first volume of the series contains papers covering four broad governance themes: positive rights and service delivery; accountability, democracy and participation; administration, finance and governance; and private sector and
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Urban Economies Papers

These working papers on “Strengthening Urban Economies” explore how to grow urban economies through improving local conditions for diverse enterprise development and growth, ensuring inclusive economic infrastructure and services, and
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Built Environment Integration Practice Report

Since 2017, a group of practitioners involved in spatial transformation and built environment integration have met regularly to discuss and agree on issues that require further research, and enquire about the reality of built environment
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Citopoly Board Game

The board game, Citopoly was born out of experimenting with ways of getting city practitioners more engaged in knowledge generation and application. The research team for the Built Environment Integration Practice study sought to package
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Urban Festival: Empowering the Civic

The Empowering the Civic edition of Urban Festival will provide a platform to explore the potential of civic-tech to overcome current challenges and barriers and leap forward into new ways of civic engagement and mobilisation for urban
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The State of Crime and Safety in South African Cities Report 2020

This report presents an analysis on the state of crime and violence in nine of South  Africa’s major cities: Johannesburg, Cape Town, eThekwini, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay, Mangaung, Buffalo City and Msunduzi. The data upon
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Smart Cities Paper Series

This paper series attempts to use practical examples and experiences to work towards an understanding of what a smart city means for South African cities through smart governance. Smart governance, a key characteristic of smart cities, is
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BEITT Practitioner Profiles

The BEITT is a community of built environment practitioners who are working together to build a strong network of municipal practice. Four times a year, the BEITT group comes together physically to meet at a venue that embeds us in the
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The State of the Expanded Public Works Programme in South African Cities 2018-2019

The aim of this report is therefore to highlight the progress and implementation of the EPWP by the cities in the 2018-19 year of Phase III of the EPWP.
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