Making the Business Case for Nature-Based Infrastructure: How the City of Cape Town boosted funding for restoring its waterways

The City of Cape Town utilized integrated cost-benefit analyses provided by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) to reverse funding cuts for its Liveable Urban Waterways (LUW) Programme. By quantifying the economic value of nature-based infrastructure (NBI) through avoided costs and co-benefits, the city demonstrated that investments in the Diep/Sand and Zeekoe catchments would generate significant net gains and save up to ZAR 55 million on dredging and canal refurbishment. Consequently, the city approved nearly ZAR 200 million for LUW projects, including wetland creation and canal naturalization, and plans to apply this economic modeling to future investments exceeding ZAR 1 billion.

• The City of Cape Town's Liveable Urban Waterways (LUW) Programme faced a significant funding crisis in early 2024, where budget constraints led to the deferral of four out of five projects to 2033, reducing the available budget from ZAR 50 million (USD 2.9 million) to ZAR 10 million (USD 600,000).
• Integrated cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) using the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) approach provided the economic evidence needed to justify NBI investments by linking ecosystem services to budget impacts, such as reduced flood damage and lower maintenance costs for canals and dredging.
• Quantitative modeling for specific catchments showed high returns on investment: the Diep/Sand catchment was projected to generate net gains of up to ZAR 133 million (USD 7.6 million) by 2050, while the Zeekoe catchment showed net benefits between ZAR 68 million and ZAR 125 million (USD 3.9–7.1 million).
• Following the economic analysis and public advocacy, the City of Cape Town approved ZAR 99 million (USD 5.6 million) for LUW projects over three years, with an additional ZAR 91 million (USD 5.1 million) earmarked, totaling nearly ZAR 200 million (USD 11.4 million).
• The city intends to scale this CBA approach for the broader LUW Programme, which encompasses approximately 40 projects, with two catchments alone requiring more than ZAR 1 billion (USD 57 million) in capital investment.

APA

Contor, H. (2025). Making the Business Case for Nature-Based Infrastructure: How the City of Cape Town boosted funding for restoring its waterways. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/articles/success-story/making-business-case-nature-based-infrastructure-nbi-cape-town

Chicago

Contor, Henri. Making the Business Case for Nature-Based Infrastructure: How the City of Cape Town boosted funding for restoring its waterways. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2025. https://www.iisd.org/articles/success-story/making-business-case-nature-based-infrastructure-nbi-cape-town.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Contor |first1=Henri |title=Making the Business Case for Nature-Based Infrastructure: How the City of Cape Town boosted funding for restoring its waterways |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=11 December 2025 |url=https://www.iisd.org/articles/success-story/making-business-case-nature-based-infrastructure-nbi-cape-town |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{contor2025making, author = {Contor, Henri}, title = {{Making the Business Case for Nature-Based Infrastructure: How the City of Cape Town boosted funding for restoring its waterways}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2025}, month = dec, url = {https://www.iisd.org/articles/success-story/making-business-case-nature-based-infrastructure-nbi-cape-town}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }