Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (ETDs)

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Browsing Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (ETDs) by Author "Chapel, Clare Alison"

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    Waste Age - living in a throwaway society: searching for sustainability in eastern Johannesburg
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-02) Chapel, Clare Alison; Mkhabela, Solam
    The ever-increasing urban population worldwide, particularly in Africa, reinforces the pressing need for compact mixed-use neighbourhoods. My chosen study area, Bertrams and the greater Bez Valley, are ideally situated as inner-city suburbs close to the CBD. The area currently has residential, institutional, industrial and commercial zones and is occupied by a diverse range of multi-cultural residents. As experienced in many parts of Johannesburg, the infrastructure challenges of collapsing streets and pavements, lack of effective waste management, illegal dumping, decaying buildings, and neglected public space are realities that the residents navigate daily. Various creative nodes, NGOs and outreach programs are active in the area, enabling residents to participate and benefit from initiatives to uplift and empower the community. The privately developed complex of Victoria Yards serves as a creative centre, with artists’ studios and programs occupying space in refurbished industrial buildings. This complex is physically isolated from the community, however much of the community orientated initiatives are spearheaded from here, and from the adjacent Nando’s Head Office. The ongoing restorative work being done to the Jukskei River, which is initially exposed to daylight close to the complex, begins outside Victoria Yards. This vital work, implemented by employed community members, is spreading along the valley, clearing and cleaning the banks of the Jukskei River and reintroducing indigenous plants and grasses. My proposal looks at the development of a journey along the river, using its path as a connector between the existing creative programs and public spaces, and new adaptive waste-based interventions, stitching together a continuous urban experience that will focus awareness on the river, and highlight the forgotten beauty of this inner-city space.