Resilient Urbanism: The intersection of shared data and inclusive public engagement

The document proposes a 'data and domain' approach to resilient urbanism, where measurable shared data and asset-based community participation intersect to drive inclusive public engagement. It details a methodology for community-led enumeration—collecting socio-economic and demographic data—and using that data to ground participatory co-design workshops. A case study of GreenCape's Alternative Service Delivery Unit (ASDU) in the Freedom Farm and Malawi Camp informal settlements in Cape Town demonstrates this process, resulting in the selection of a solar PV micro-utility solution tailored to the community's specific needs, affordability (maximum R150 monthly payment), and desire for portability.

• Resilient urbanism is achieved at the intersection of 'measureable shared data through enumeration and asset-based community participation', allowing for urban development that improves existing realities incrementally.
• Asset-based community development (ABCD) empowers local residents to identify their own problems and design solutions using available local assets, which helps build trust and collective action.
• Enumeration is a community-led census process that collects 100% of household data on socio-economic and demographic factors, including tenure, migration, services, employment, and local skills, to create an accurate representation of the community.
• The 'data and domain' approach uses shared data as a 'net' to allow stakeholders to navigate participatory co-design safely, preventing the process from being derailed by a minority or 'gate keepers'.
• In the Freedom Farm and Malawi Camp settlements in Cape Town, where over 90% of residents used bush and bucket toilets and unemployment was near 45%, the ASDU process identified home-level electricity and connectivity as top priorities.
• The co-design process for Freedom Farm and Malawi Camp determined a maximum acceptable monthly payment of R150 for energy services, based on current expenditures on paraffin, candles, and gas.
• The resulting energy intervention for the case study communities involved a solar PV micro-utility system with a basic offering of R50 per month for 24 months, including three internal lights and power for small devices.

APA

GreenCape (n.d.). Resilient Urbanism: The intersection of shared data and inclusive public engagement. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/RESILIENT_URBANISM_REPORT_6_7-v2-3.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Resilient Urbanism: The intersection of shared data and inclusive public engagement. n.d. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/RESILIENT_URBANISM_REPORT_6_7-v2-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Resilient Urbanism: The intersection of shared data and inclusive public engagement |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/RESILIENT_URBANISM_REPORT_6_7-v2-3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencapendresilient, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Resilient Urbanism: The intersection of shared data and inclusive public engagement}}, institution = {GreenCape}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/RESILIENT_URBANISM_REPORT_6_7-v2-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }