Urban resilience determinants with specific reference to the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, East London

The year 1994 marked the dawn of the new democratic South Africa, bringing its own set of challenges to the country. Currently urban areas cover only one and a half percent of South Africa’s surface area. However, sixty one percent of South Africans live in urban areas. Furthermore, the average growth rate for urban areas has been consistently higher than the population growth rate during the period from 1998 to 2008. This resulted in larger towns and cities, growing at the expense of rural areas, with metropolitan areas experiencing the highest influx, followed by secondary cities. However, urban areas consume more water, food, energy, and durable goods, and have an impact far beyond the urban boundaries. This directly relates to urban decline. The rapid influx of people into urban areas that are already overcrowded with large service delivery backlogs, has led to the formation of informal settlements in exposed locations. Many of the informal dwellings in South Africa are subjected to environmental factors. The absence of basic services in overcrowded areas is linked to negative health outcomes and enhanced environmental degradation. This study is a critical review of a phenomenon named urban resilience. The report seeks to highlight the current status in cities and the transformation that cities need to undergo to enable them to become the cities of tomorrow. Indeed, “sustainable future cities and human settlements begin today”. The paper raises arguments on urban resilience by different theorists, philosophers, academics and scholars. The study proceeds to unpack the urban resilience determinants. Furthermore, the challenges cites will experience in responding to rapid urbanisation and their denial attitude to informal settlement and environmental degradation, which include how cities respond to climate change, are under investigation . The purpose of the study is to share the theoretical framework relative to the urban resilience determinants, with the intention to solicit criticism on gaps and blind spots. This is done with specific reference to Buffalo City Municipality. This study aims to contribute to the goals of municipalities by improving understanding of the drivers of urban resilience. This will, in turn, enable a city system to withstand and recover quickly from multiple and diverse shocks and stresses, and improve its performance over time. However, this study was conducted within a qualitative paradigm. The study followed a non-probability sampling technique. Categories of data sources were identified based on their probability to hold information that is crucial to the study. For each category, this study followed a 50 + 1 rule for sampling size when the population of the data sources were identified and access gained. he statistical software (SPSS) supported by a qualified statistician was used to analyse data qualitatively in attempt to answer the research question