BUILD YOUR OWN
RESOURCE LIBRARY
Urban Exchange Podcast Episode 11 – Gareth Morgan, Cape Town – Mainstreaming and institutionalising urban resilience
Gareth Morgan, executive director of future planning and resilience for the City of Cape Town, joins the Urban Exchange to talk about his efforts to put resilience front and centre of all aspects of the city’s work.
In this episode of the Urban Exchange, Lauren Sorkin, executive director of Resilient Cities Network, hosts Gareth Morgan, executive director of future planning and resilience for the City of Cape Town.
In an exclusive interview, Gareth reflects on the exciting frontier work he is undertaking to institutionalise and mainstream resilience across the various aspects of the city’s work, encompassing everything from the development of a 2050 strategy and multi-year capital portfolio management, to business continuity services and risk management.
As part of this, Gareth explores how his approach to resilience has influenced his practice over the years, and delivers the key lessons he has taken away to date as a leader in urban resilience, including the takeaways he recommends other city administrations pay heed to.
Talking about Cape Town’s 2050 strategy, which is currently in development, Gareth demonstrates the city’s approach to developing the strategy, including how the city’s existing resilience strategy integrates with and influences it. Here, we also discover what kind of capacity planning is required in developing and delivering the strategy.
Furthermore, we learn about the approach that’s needed in order to embed resilience into all facets of a city’s work and how Gareth has made it work in Cape Town, extending into how to work with local stakeholders and communities and the potential to further the connection between city and citizen through institutionalising resilience.
About Gareth Morgan
Gareth Morgan is the Executive Director for Future Planning & Resilience at the City of Cape Town. His portfolio includes Organisational Effectiveness and Innovation, Organisational Performance Management, Policy and Strategy, Resilience, Communication and Corporate Portfolio, Programme and Project Management. He held senior leadership roles in the strategic responses to both the Cape Town "Day Zero" drought and the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to joining the City of Cape Town in 2015, he was a Member of Parliament for nine years, with a legislative focus on water and climate change. While in Parliament he served as a Whip of the National Assembly and as Parliamentary Counsellor to Leader of the Opposition. He holds a MSc in Environmental Change and Management and a Master of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford, which he attended on a Rhodes Scholarship. He is Tutu Fellow and a City Ambassador for the Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance. Gareth is a Fellow of the thirteenth class of the South African Fellowship Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
Why not try these links to see what our SmartCitiesWorld AI can tell you.
(Please note this is an experimental service)
How does Cape Town integrate resilience into its 2050 strategy development?What methods support mainstreaming resilience across city governance and services?How can cities effectively engage local communities in resilience planning?What role does multi-year capital portfolio management play in urban resilience?How has Cape Town’s resilience approach influenced its response to climate crises?Climate change/ResilienceEconomy and financeEnergy & EnvironmentGovernance and CitizenPublished Podcastresilience
Podcast Partner:
Podcast Sponsor:
Urban Exchange Podcast Series:
This episode for part of the "Cities on the Front Line" podcast series from SmartCitiesWorld and the Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities). The series delivers frank and open conversations between international city leaders and industry practitioners that share ideas to solve urban challenges.
Co-hosted by R-Cities’ Executive Director, Lauren Sorkin, and SmartCitiesWorld’s Advisory Board Chair, Paul Wilson, the Urban Exchange is a much-needed forum for city practitioners faced with urgent targets and objectives across a gamut of urban issues. Visit the other podcasts in this series.
This episode for part of the "Cities on the Front Line" podcast series from SmartCitiesWorld and the Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities). The series delivers frank and open conversations between international city leaders and industry practitioners that share ideas to solve urban challenges.
Co-hosted by R-Cities’ Executive Director, Lauren Sorkin, and SmartCitiesWorld’s Advisory Board Chair, Paul Wilson, the Urban Exchange is a much-needed forum for city practitioners faced with urgent targets and objectives across a gamut of urban issues. Visit the other podcasts in this series.
BECOME A MEMBER
© 2026 SmartCitiesWorld
Smart Cities World Ltd, 37 Lombard Street, London, EC3V 9BQ