Implementing the Green City Policy in Municipal Spatial Planning

The term eco-city and similar concepts have evolved over time concurrent to the development of the understanding of social change and mankind’s impact on environmental and economic health. With the advent of climate change impacts, modern economies developed the green city policy to create sustainable urban cities. In South Africa municipalities, including Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) have been tasked to develop and implement the green city policy. However, BCMM is yet to develop the green city policy that clearly articulate how the municipality will combat climate change and reduce its GHG omissions in its spatial planning designs. Against this background, this paper reviews and analyses green policy landscape in Metropolitan Municipalities in South Africa. It is envisaged that the research will provide the basis for the development of a comprehensive green policy strategies in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.