The purpose of this paper is to indicate how dominant research paradigms, social theories, and an epistocracy influence the governance of green and ecological infrastructures within a South African local government context. Paradigms and theories play an important constituting role that (local) government actors and institutions actively and subconsciously promote within the green and ecological infrastructure policy landscape. Research conducted by the author indicates that epistemic actors within the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa, use paradigms and theories to promote green and ecological infrastructures, as materialities, coupled with climate change adaptation and mitigation and water governance and security aspirations. I conclude that an epistocracy is active in the municipality and that it promotes the development and implementation of the infrastructure types through a positivist paradigm and accompanied theories. In this article, I will report on a two-year study that investigated eThekwini’s green and ecological infrastructure policy landscape.

本文的目的是说明占主导地位的研究范式、社会理论和主教制如何影响南非地方政府背景下的绿色和生态基础设施治理。范式和理论在绿色和生态基础设施政策格局中发挥着重要的构成作用，（地方）政府行为者和机构积极和潜意识地推动。作者进行的研究表明，南非 eThekwini 大都会市内的认知行为者使用范式和理论来促进绿色和生态基础设施作为物质，以及气候变化适应和缓解以及水治理和安全愿望。我的结论是，主教制在市政当局中很活跃，它通过实证主义范式和相关理论促进了基础设施类型的发展和实施。在本文中，我将报告一项为期两年的研究，该研究调查了 eThekwini 的绿色和生态基础设施政策格局。