Housing location and mobility: The impacts on livelihood strategies of the relocated communities in Braamfischerville
Date
2008-03-19T07:16:55Z
Authors
Makaya, Lindiwe Patricia
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
Peripherisation of new low-income housing developments is steadily
continuing in South Africa. The major reason for this is limited budget of the
government housing subsidy which does not cover the costs of land in
appropriate locations. For this reason, finding well located parcels of land for
new low income housing developments seems to be a problem. As a result
the new low-income housing projects continue to be developed at the
outskirts of the city where there are no services and far from economic
activities.
The motivation for undertaking the study was due to realisation that it is not
taken into consideration that beneficiaries of these housing projects engage
in the form of relocations from previous places as such there could be
disruptions on their livelihoods as a result of moving to locations which are
assumed to be far from economic opportunities.
The aim of the research was to examine how housing location and mobility
impact or have impacted on the livelihoods of relocated people in
Braamfischerville. The focus has been on the two groups of relocatees. The
first category was that of individuals who experienced displacement mainly as
a result of being evicted from their places due to an urban renewal project
that was about to take place in Alexandra, which in away was involuntary.
The second type of people is those who changed their residence and
resettled in Braamfischerville as a response to their housing needs and was
out of free will.
Findings have shown that the impacts were not as severe as it was thought
as people have been able to adapt to different coping strategies in order to
restore their livelihoods in spite of location and transport being prominent and
affecting the way people would make a living.
Conclusions were drawn based on the fact that the location of
Braamfischerville is not so well relative to places of origin but there is hope
that at a later stage services and amenities will be available and as the city
grows businesses will decentralise thus giving opportunities to the people
who are now at the peripheries.