Municipal solid waste, social conflicts and sustainable cities : Johannesburg and Nairobi compared

Abstract: This thesis examines the nature of the relationship between social conflicts and sustainable development. It focuses on the significance of the social conflicts that are associated with municipal solid waste on the sustainable development of the cities of Nairobi, Kenya and Johannesburg, South Africa. The principal assumption of the thesis is that, depending on the way social conflicts are conducted, conflicts can have constructive or destructive outcomes for society. Consequently, social conflicts can have negative or positive implications for the specific sector in dispute, primarily, and ultimately, for social, economic or environmental dimensions of development that under-gird the sustainable development of cities. The nature and direction of the association between social conflicts and sustainable cities in the context of municipal solid waste is, nevertheless, largely obscure. The thesis contends that an appreciation of the social conflicts in municipal solid waste is critical to unearthing the inherent but often invisible dimensions of society and development that impact municipal solid waste management. It is also critical to illuminating the manner in which municipal solid waste and its management, in turn, impact society and the sustainable development of cities. Such an understanding entails an identification of the social conflicts that are associated with municipal solid waste, establishment of their causes, conduct and impact on the sustainable management of municipal solid waste primarily and, overall, on the sustainable development of cities. By labelling specific outcomes of social conflicts such as the amicable resolution of issues in contention as resulting in constructive outcomes for municipal solid waste management or specific socio-economic and environmental dimensions of development and, alternatively, designating outcomes such as the violent and harmful conduct of conflict as destructive, it is possible to establish an association between social conflicts, municipal solid waste and sustainable cities. Social conflicts are thus indicators of problems and contradictions within the municipal sustainable development agenda and an indicator of the gaps that need remedy. The study utilises mixed methods research and comparative data from the cities of Nairobi and Johannesburg with survey data from the low-income neighbourhoods of Dandora and Alexandra, the high-income neighbourhoods of Muthaiga and Sandton, and various stakeholders in municipal solid waste management. It examines the municipal solid waste stream from the household and residential neighbourhood, through the process of collection,..D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology