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The South Durban Basin on the eastern coast of South Africa is home to both alarge-scale petrochemical industry and a highly mobilized residential community. In aconflict cemented by apartheid-era planning, the community’s campaigns to improvelocal air quality provide a test case for the value of conflict for participatory democraticstructures. In the context of the work of the International Panel on Climate Change(IPCC), the South Durban Basin also provides an opportunity to push the boundaries ofthe established links between participation and the design and implementation ofresponses to a changing climate. Contributing to one of the main themes of thesymposium, this article argues that the focus on collaboration and compromise withinstudies of governance and participation overlooks both the reality of conflict and itspotentially positive effects. Addressing this requires particular attention to how powerrelationships influence processes of governance, and the role of civil society in balancingthe influence of the private sector on the state. It also calls for a better understanding ofconflict and collaboration as mutually re-enforcing elements of an ongoing and dynamicpolitical process. Together, the elements of this critique help to build a more nuancedview of participatory urban governance: one that both better describes and may betterfacilitate the ability of urban populations to collectively, effectively and rapidly respondto the challenges of a changing climate.
