Crossings: Public exchange & transport interchange
Date
2013-07-22
Authors
Mitha, Trusha
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Abstract
Johannesburg is a city transforming. Like many other
cities in the developed world, the traditional hierarchy
of space is changing and a fragmentation of competing
urban centres has resulted from this change.
This thesis aims to explore the potential of transport
nodes of becoming new and important places within
a fragmented city. By re-conceptualising transport
nodes as a latent public space, it challenges the places
where transport networks cross.
An investigation of various urban theorists, concerning
the change of traditional city arrangements are
studied in comparison to the changing urban
qualities of Johannesburg. The spatial implications of
Johannesburg being built on an apartheid model are
also explored, as well as the impact that transport has
had on the spatial geography of Johannesburg. These
studies indicate the fragmented nature of the spatial
form of Johannesburg and reveal the separation of
activities and social groups experienced by people,
based on economic class.
Transport is fundamental in two ways, it has enabled
decentralisation, but in this new spatial configuration,
it also allows for new connections and a potential
to establish new hubs of urbanised energy. The
introduction of the Gautrain to transport networks
in Johannesburg, allow a site to be chosen where
integration or ‘crossings’ of people, culture, transport
and infrastructure may be located. The location of
the Marlboro Gautrain Station provides a platform to
address the social inequalities experienced in public
transport, through an architectural response.