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What can kelp loss processes and beach-cast patterns tell us about sandy beach management?
(Cape Higher Education Consortium, 2018-08-21) Prof. Albertus; J. Smit
This project set out to assess the ecological role of beach cast kelp—which tends to be routinely removed from recreational beaches—on the beach surface of selected sandy shores in the City of Cape Town municipal area. Particularly, we were interested in understanding the role that kelp wracks may provide as a nutritional source to the beach consumer biota after it had been mechanically and biologically transformed to become particulate organic matter (POM) and incorporated in the beach sediment. Our working null hypothesis is that there is no difference in the amount of POM measured in the sediments of cleared vs. non-cleared urban beaches. The outcome of the study is that kelp removal does in fact not alter the POM matter content of beaches in areas where kelp wrack is cleared (i.e. we could not reject the null hypothesis). We suggest that this is due to the highly modified nature of the beach systems that we studied: i) the overriding influence of the anthropogenic (engineering) modifications to the beach systems override any influence that might be caused by altered inputs of kelpderived POM; and ii) an array of additional impacts on the managed beaches may add additional confounding influences that distort the effect due to the main driver that our study intended to find. This research links to a topical environmental management issue that the CoCT faces, and supports on an ecological basis their decision to actively manage the beaches through kelp cast removal programmes. The research also added a significant step forward to the ongoing work that the UWC Biodiversity and Conservation Biology Department’s Kelp Research Group has done around the ecological functioning of kelp beds in the Western Cape region, and adds an new dimension to our current focus, climate change. Since the consequences of climate change will be especially noticeable in urban settings such as the CoCT, we would very much like to see future research efforts merging the City’s climate mitigation and adaptation strategies with our studies on the ecological role that kelps may contribute towards the well-being of our urban coastline.
Fuel Cell Technology to extend Remote Pilot Aerial Systems (RPAS) in the City of Cape Town
(City of Cape Town, 2017-06-01) Tabassum Zalgaonkir; Matthew Kapp; Adrian Parsons
The technology of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or Remotely Piloted Aerial Systems (RPAS), originally deployed in military and defence, is now emerging in the commercial space. Apart from military applications, civilian applications such as surveillance, weather monitoring, aerial mapping, infrastructure management farming, agriculture, horticulture, utility services, forestry, wildlife monitoring, aerial survey and others uses are being adopted. Propulsion systems for these aircraft currently include electric propulsion, batteries, solar as well as internal combustion engines. Battery powered electrical propulsion systems are common for smaller UAVs but lack the range of larger UAVs that are typically powered by internal combustion engines. Due to high electrical energy requirements for longer flight times of smaller UAVs, fuel cells as an alternative propulsion systems are currently being introduced offering longer endurance, improved efficiency, zero carbon emissions as well as low noise and thermal signatures. The aim of this research is to determine whether the City of Cape Town can benefit from the combination of RPAS and fuel cell technology in these smaller UAVs, typically weighing less than 20kg with payloads less than 5kg. This is done by researching different types of small UAVs available and how fuel cell technology extends the capabilities of the different aircraft configurations. Together with an overview of applications as identified by the City of Cape Town and the relevant key performance requirements, potential cost savings can be identified. This report shows that fleet operating costs and capital expenditure on the fleet could potentially be reduced by way of two example studies representing typical applications in the CCT future UAV fleet. Both RPAS/UAVs and fuel cells are an advanced, emerging technology that the Western Cape can benefit from and includes other benefits such as local skills development, training and acquisition of advanced technical know-how in the region was well as local industry development.
Investigating the impact of MyCity bus routes on tourism accommodation
(Cape Higher Education Consortium, 2016-09-23) Prof Ronnie Donaldson; Dr Manfred Spocter; Dr Solene Baffi; Dr Theuns Vivian
As the world becomes increasingly urbanised so too does the number of tourists to cities. Cities with extensive, well-functioning intra-urban public transport offerings are believed to be more attractive to tourists. The need to provide public services for tourists and enhance their modal shift, from cars to public transports, also results from the growing concern around congestion, pollution and urban sprawling in most cities. Scholars have brought into view the link between tourists and public transport since the turn of the century. However, very few such studies has a focus particularly on intra-urban mobilities and these studies tended to be located in developed countries. This study focuses specifically on intra-urban mobility in a developing world context. A mixed-methods approach is used to examine the impact that the MyCiti Integrated Rapid Transit system has on tourism mobilities in Cape Town, South Africa. The importance of an efficient public transport system in Cape Town has been on the policy agenda since the early 1990s. The Energy and Climate Action Plan in 2010 proclaimed to develop a more sustainable transport system. Accordingly, the objective of the BRT is not so much to offer an alternative to the low-income commuters depending on the public transport services as to enhance the modal shift of the drivers. Except for the line connecting the airport to the CBD and the stadium implemented for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the network unfolded firstly in the northern part of Cape Town in 2011 as part of the Phase 1, where mostly middle-income and upper-income people live and where the main axis is regularly congested. It is also a very popular tourist area, hence the interplay between tourism and transport and how this can be strenghtened warranted further investigation. BRT stops were therefore designed in order to facilitate the drivers’ intermodality with parking bays nearby and access to non-motorised transports. The choice of this corridor also resulted in the overall urban restructuring of the urban space through the development of mix land-use. Since 2011 the network has been substantially developed at the neighbourhood scale – mainly through the implementation of numerous feeder lines. The Atlantic shores are also connected to the network, reaching Hout Bay for instance since 2014. The network development is now in Phase 2A, since the completion of the trunk routes connecting the townships of Mitchell’s Plain and Khayelitsha to the CBD since 2014. These two areas gather an important part of the public transport users in Cape Town and still do not benefit from feeder services. The following steps regarding Phase2 will concern the connection of Mitchell’s Plain and Khayelitsha – also known as the Flats – to the suburbs of Claremont and Wynberg – also known as the Southern Suburbs. Litigations about the eviction of residents in Wynberg along what was already identified as a main route for the development of MyCiti entailed delays. Phase 3 will see the expansion of MyCiti from the Southern Suburbs towards the north-east (Bellville) and also towards the north. Eventually in Phase 4, the MyCiti network will connect Cape Town to Stellenbosch while the line to Khayelitsha will be extended towards Somerset West. However these achievements are subjects to the financial viability of the current service, which might imply an ever longer period to implement the whole system. Not all these areas are necessarily tourism hotspots.