URBAN ENVIRONMENT

South Africa’s abundant wealth has led to an assumption that all economic growth can be driven by ever-increasing levels of material, resource and energy consumption.
Limits to this kind of growth are increasingly evident. South Africans are beginning to realize that we cannot sustain

• Continuing increases in the levels of electrical consumption;
• Rising freshwater consumption;
• Rising CO2  emissions;
• Increasing dependency on fossil fuel;
• Massive increase in municipal solid waste.

In fact if we continue with the current practice of growth through unsustainable consumption the poor are the ones who are likely to lose out. Alternatives need to be explored. This represents social, technical and political challenges that the social movements linked to CORC are ready to embrace.

CORC’s urban environment programme works with FEDUP, PPM and other affiliates in efforts to include important environmental issues into their physical development agendas.

Current pilot projects include

• sustainable housing initiatives at the old Cement Factory in Philippi (together with Sustainability Institute),
• solid waste management programme that links ragpickers in Cape Town with the Zabballeen in Cairo,
• snail harvesting project in Clanwilliam area of the Western Cape,
• raw earth housing development in Limpopo province,
• community managed public toilets with the Durban Metro.