Complexities of contemporary urban planning in local government in the City of Polokwane, Limpopo province

Abstract

Urbanisation is characterised by the high consumption of nonrenewable resources and being resource-intensive in meeting the energy demands of the growing urban population. The growth compels the efficient management of urbanisation to mitigate climate change. The inability to effectively plan and manage urbanisation will result in high consumption of nonrenewable resources, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and pollution, which contribute to the intensification of climate change. Complexity theory as a theoretical framework asserts that the management of urbanisation is both complex and nonlinear. This means that the management of urbanisation cannot be done by reducing the system into individual components. The study adopted both qualitative and quantitative approaches to research. The data were collected from the four areas around the City of Polokwane and officials from the Polokwane Local Municipality. The finding of the study is that the City of Polokwane is still facing multiple challenges such as traffic congestion, lack of community participation, illegal dumping of wastes and a decline in green spaces. Furthermore, the Polokwane Local Municipality has made inroads towards reducing traffic congestion through the implementation of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) (Leeto la Polokwane). It can be concluded that urbanisation in the City of Polokwane is not effectively planned and managed to address climate change.Contribution: This article recommends that the Polokwane Local Municipality should implement a solar system plant and generate gas from the increasing level of waste in the City of Polokwane. Furthermore, the Polokwane Local Municipality should transition from operating street lights, office lights and traffic lights with electricity towards the use of solar systems.