1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Cape Town
Region
Africa
Native title of the NBS intervention
Two Rivers Urban Park
Short description of the intervention
Two River Urban Park is a public space located towards the confluence of the Liesbeek and Black Rivers and is one of the largest urban green lungs in the City of Cape Town. It is approximately 240 hectares in extent. The Park comprises sensitive ecological systems and habitats, extensive open space areas, institutions, historical buildings and cultural landscapes (2). The City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Province own significant proportions of the park and in 2011, the Western Cape Government started considering the sustainable redevelopment of the TRU Park into a mixed-used urban green area including housing development, heritage protection, the rehabilitation of the degraded environment and recreation opportunity creation (1). Since 2016, the project has been on hold due to the modification of the planning law Local Spatial Development Framework that affects the redevelopment plans of the Two Rivers Urban Park (1).
Address

Cape Town
South Africa

Location
The NBS is situated in an area, with clear delineation of boundaries and a specific shape (polygon). The NBS project can also have more than one area location (more than one polygon, situated close by).
Area boundary
POINT (18.476716 -33.94376)
POINT (18.479826 -33.943591)
POINT (18.476918 -33.936105)
POINT (18.475427 -33.936452)
POINT (18.477335 -33.940759)
Total area
2400000.00m²
NBS area
1200000.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Natural Heritage Area/Untouched nature
Public Greenspace Area
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2011
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
in planning stage
End date of the intervention
unknown
Present stage of the intervention
Other
Please specify "other" stage of the intervention
Planned but put on hold due to planning legistlation changes (1)
Goals of the intervention
- Redevelopment of a derelict industrial area into a mix-used urban green open space
- Increasing social inclusion and ecological integrity (1)
- Rehabilitation and enhancement of the intrinsic ecological qualities of the area
- Conservation of the unique cultural landscape
- Encourage environmental education and increase ecological awareness
- Support social equity (1)
Quantitative targets
Unknown
Monitoring indicators defined
Unknown
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Habitat and biodiversity restoration
Green space creation and/or management
Water management (SDG 6)
Flood protection
Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
Preservation of natural heritage
Protection of historic and cultural landscape/infrastructure
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
Combatting crime and corruption
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Social cohesion
Social justice and equity
Social interaction
Environmental education
Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
Employment/job creation
What types of restoration goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Ecosystem-focused
What activities are implemented to realize the restoration goals and targets?
Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
Public engagement
Implementation activities
- Preparation of preliminary studies: heritage baseline study, flood modelling and mitigation, market potential analysis (1)
- Organisation of stakeholder engagement workshops to provide a platform for civil society feedback on the plans
- Revision of the official Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF) for the Two Rivers Urban Park
Type of NBS project
Maintenance and management of urban nature
Management and improved protection of rivers and other blue areas
Ecological restoration of ecosystems
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Blue infrastructure
Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
In-land wetlands, peatlands, swamps, and moors
Parks and urban forests
Large urban parks or forests
Vegetation Type
Grass
Shrubs
Trees
Please specify how many trees were planted
Unknown
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Regulating services
Flood regulation
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Cultural services
Recreation
Social and community interactions
Scale
Spatial scale
Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
Citizens or community groups
Governance
Governance arrangements
Government-led
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The land the Two Rivers Urban Park located on is primarily owned by the Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town. "The Western Cape Government began considering regeneration opportunities for the properties it owns in the TRUP area around 2011. After finding the development would be limited by infrastructure available to the site, the Province began working with the City of Cape Town to try to create a joint redevelopment plan that would be large enough to justify infrastructure upgrades." (1 p23) The original plan included the redevelopment of the area into a car-free mixed-used area with the rivers and the green open space as its central piece. "The Western Cape Government released a tender for professional services to undertake urban planning, precinct planning, engineering, environmental and heritage studies for the Two Rivers Urban Park area in 2015." (1 p24) The design and public engagement were put on hold due to legislative changes in the municipality-province owned land development regulations. In 2019, the co-design phase has started over. (4)
Key actors - initiating organization
Regional government
Local government/municipality
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Other
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Regional government
Local government/municipality
Non-government organisation/civil society
District/neighbourhood association
Citizens or community group
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Social enterprise
Please specify other participatory methods
Two Rivers Urban Park Association - advisory committee made up of the area's landowners, neighbourhood civic associations, local NGOs and government representatives (1).
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Other
Please specify other land owner
area owned by the Western Cape province
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
Dissemination of information and education
Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
Other
Please specify other landowner
area owned by the Western Cape province
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
No
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
"In 2003, a Contextual Framework was passed by the city council that "provides broad land use and urban design guidelines for the TRUP area" (1 p24).
The Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF) provides formal planning guidance essential for the public land redevelopment projects (1)."
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Mandatory (based on policy)
Intervention is mandatory
Spatial planning guidance
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF) provides formal planning guidance essential for the public land redevelopment projects (1).
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
Urban redevelopment plan
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The City of Cape Town and the Western Cape prince government are the key land owners in the TRU Park, and the redevelopment is their joint project. (1)
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
As part of the redevelopment project, prior to the design phase various studies have been carried out on regarding the TRU Park:
- heritage baseline study
- flood modelling and mitigation
- market potential analysis (1)
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Co-finance for NBS
Unknown
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
"Planning stage reports and engagement funded by Western Cape Government; Proposed cost of development unknown"" (1 p5)
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
Unknown
Type of fund(s) used
Unknown
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Green densification model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Type of innovation
Social
Cultural innovation
Please specify social innovation
"The original idea for the TRUP site was to create a mixed-use, mixed-income neighbourhood. This type of development would be innovative for Cape Town, where housing is frequently segregated by both income and race" (1 p33)
Novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Unknown
Description of environmental benefits
Unknown
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Unknown
Description of social and cultural benefits
Unknown
Type of reported impacts
No impacts reported
Indicators
Unknown
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
Yes
Please specify the negative impacts
"Several challenges have been encountered that have delayed development, including community contestation, changes to planning laws, and difficulty in securing agreement to jointly develop city and province owned land. A new spatial planning process was triggered in 2016 and the development of public lands is on hold until that process is complete." (1 p24) There has been a disagreement between the main stakeholders on the type and scale of the development in the TRU Park area. Accordingly, three different scenarios have been created: one by the authorities, one by the most significant private actor present in the area and one by the Two Rivers Urban Park Association and civil society. No agreement has been reached regarding which scenario to move forward with so far as the process has been on hold since 2016 (1,3)
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Not applicable
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Two River Urban Park
Western Cape Government
List of references
1) Tozer, L. (2018). NATURVATION - Case Study Working Paper: Cape Town, South Africa
2) TRUP. (n.a.). Two River Urban Park. Accessed on 26th March, 2021. https://trup.org.za/proposed-new-developments/
3) Western Cape Government. (2016). TWO RIVERS URBAN PARK: Draft Green Corridor Concept Plan. Accessed on 26th March, 2021. https://www.westerncape.gov.za/files/161110_trup_stakeholder_presentation_draft_green_corridor_plan.pdf
4) Western Cape Government. (2019). Two Rivers Urban Park – Towards a sustainable integrated urban development. Accessed on 26th March 2021, https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/two-rivers-urban-park-%E2%80%93-towards-sustainable-integrated-urban-development
Comments and notes
Public Images
Two Rivers Urban Park
Source: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/two-rivers-urban-park-%E2%80%93-towards-sustainable-integrated-urban-development
Two Rivers Urban Park
Source: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/two-rivers-urban-park-%E2%80%93-towards-sustainable-integrated-urban-development
Two Rivers Urban Park
Source: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/two-rivers-urban-park-%E2%80%93-towards-sustainable-integrated-urban-development
Two Rivers Urban Park
Source: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/two-rivers-urban-park-%E2%80%93-towards-sustainable-integrated-urban-development
Two Rivers Urban Park
Two Rivers Urban Park
Source: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/two-rivers-urban-park-%E2%80%93-towards-sustainable-integrated-urban-development