ABSTRACT
Urban flooding poses various risks to many metropolises in the global south. These risks are projected to worsen due to increases in the magnitude and frequency of extreme precipitation events, a consequence of climate change (IPCC, 2014; Milly et al., 2002). This has negative implications in particular for already vulnerable urban populations, such as informal dwellers, and with respect to urban liveability: damage to property, health risks and fatalities as the direct result of flooding in informal settlements are well documented (Douglas, Alam, & Maghenda, 2009; White, 2012; Wisner, 2009). Informal settlements lack storm water infrastructure, have insufficient sanitary infrastructure and inappropriate solid waste management; hence, flooding events in these areas also result in further degradation of urban water quality as contaminated particles are washed out and inserted untreated into the cities’ streams (Satterthwaite, Huq, & Reid, 2009).
