The South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning

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The South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning is situated in the School of Architecture and Planning, at the University of the Witwatersrand and is headed by Prof Philip Harrison. This collection includes research outputs from the programme, including those under its previous name, the South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling. For information on this collection content, please contact: Bongi Mphuti via email : Bongi.Mphuti@wits.ac.za or Tel (W) : 011 717 1978.

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Back to the Streets; Exploratory research on pedestrian life and walking spaces in the Greater Johannesburg area
(South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling, School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand., 2012) Cabaret, Alice
The aim of this exploratory research is to identify the different aspects and trends of the pedestrian practices in the Greater Johannesburg area. This has been achieved by the use of “street models” encapsulating the different socio-demographic profiles of pedestrians as well as their uses of space, based on site visits and social surveys....... This research aims at being exploratory and at providing a first understanding of pedestrian life and walking spaces in Johannesburg. It also looks at the challenges to their development, based on the comparative analysis of street models. The research provided provisional answers to questions posed, but also raised additional complex questions to be interrogated. The research method itself assumes that the findings cannot be perfectly representative: rather they serve as a base for preliminary conclusions and further research.
BACK TO THE STREETS; Exploratory research on pedestrian life and walking spaces in the Greater Johannesburg area
(Report Series produced by the South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling, School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand., 2012-08) Cabaret, Alice
In order to conduct an analysis of the different street types and the social profi les of pedestrians in the greater Johannesburg area, a typology based on social and urban analysis has been defi ned: this research focuses on 6 models of the different street types identifi ed in the greater Johannesburg area.
Beyond variegation: The territorialisation of states, communities and developers in large-scale developments in Johannesburg, Shanghai and London
(Urban Studies Journal, 2022) Robinson, Jennifer; Wu, Fulong; Harrison, Philip; Wang, Zheng; Todes, Alison; Dittgen, Romain; Attuyer, Katia
Large-scale urban development projects are a significant format of urban expansion and renewal across the globe. As generators of governance innovation and indicators of the future city in each urban context, large-scale development projects have been interpreted within frameworks of ‘variegations’ of wider circulating processes, such as neoliberalisation or financialisation. However, such projects often entail significant state support and investment, are strongly linked to a wide variety of transnational investors and developers and are frequently highly contested in their local environments. Thus, each project comes to fruition in a distinctive regulatory context, often as an exception to the norm, and each emerges through complex interactions over a long period of time amongst an array of actors. We therefore seek to broaden the discussion from an analytical focus on variegated globalised processes to consider three large-scale urban development projects (in Shanghai, Johannesburg and London) as distinctive (transcalar) territorialisations. Using an innovative comparative approach, we outline the grounds for a systematic analytical conversation across mega-urban development projects in very different contexts. Initially, comparability rests on the shared features of large-scale developments – that they are multi-jurisdictional, involve long time scales and bring significant financing challenges. Comparing three development projects, we are able to interrogate, rather than take for granted, how a range of wider processes, circulating practices, transcalar actors and territorial regulatory formations composed specific urban outcomes in each case. Thinking across these diverse cases provides grounds for rebuilding understandings of urban development politics.
BRICS Cities: Facts & Analysis 2016
(South African Cities Network, 2017) Harrison, Philip; Yang, Yan
BRICS Cities: Facts & Analysis is a compendium of research produced through a partnership between the South African Cities Network (SACN) and the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning (SA&CP) in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand. It presents key general and thematic descriptive and comparative information about urban growth and development in the five BRICS states: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The comparative analysis includes a section relating to cities in Africa, while the detailed Factsheets cover thirty-one of the largest BRICS cities. BRICS Cities provides a first-of-its-kind research base to inform ongoing sub-national BRICS research and policy consideration. Recent reports on urbanization point out that over the next 20-30 years, almost all of the expected growth in the world population will be concentrated in the urban areas of the less developed countries of which a significant 42% will occur in cities in BRICS countries. Despite the fact that the distribution of the urbanization figures will be highly unequal between the different countries, considering the currently high levels of urbanization in Russia and Brazil and the extremely low levels (just over 35%) in India, the realities of large scale urbanization can and no doubt will have substantial impacts on the material conditions of urban life, governance, service provision, social relations and the environment. There has also been, and will continue to be, the expansion of networks of all kinds far beyond designated urban boundaries. In some cases, these challenges and the expanding boundaries have been met with additional layers of government, innovations in policy-making, and the reconfiguring of relationships between urban actors. However little is known in a comparative sense around some of the most important sites and cities in the BRICS countries , and insufficient research has been undertaken to learn from the differences that have been identified. The SACN and SA&CP, in line with our mutual interest around the nature and shape of urbanization and urban processes in South Africa and in BRICS countries, have developed a compendium of comparable information around key cities in the BRICS countries. BRICS Cities will serve as a useful reference of important base line information but also offers comment on the state of key areas of shared concern: innovation-driven economies, transport and mobility, and green energy. Furthermore, the publication provides a careful analysis of these factors in a comparative and relational framing.
Bringing the Global to the Local: the challenges of multi-level governance for global policy implementation in Africa
(International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 2021-08-12) Croese, Sylvia; Oloko, Michael; Simon, David; Valencia, Sandra
The New Urban Agenda (NUA) and Agenda 2030’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognise the key role of ‘sub-national entities’, including cities, in achieving sustainable development. However, since these global policy agendas were agreed and signed by national governments, implementing them at the local level requires a process of localisation to fit local realities. This paper analyses the national guidance (or lack of) and the resultant collaborations emerging between various levels of government in the implementation of these agendas in African cities, namely Kisumu, Kenya and Cape Town, South Africa. It argues that effective implementation of the SDGs requires a strong framework for multi-stakeholder engagement and coordination at all levels of governance, which is possible if both top-down and bottom-up approaches are used concurrently and harmonised.
Capacity in motion: comparative COVID-19 governance in India and South Africa
(Routledge, 2022-12-20) Chatterji, Tathagata; Götz, Graeme; Harrison, Philip; Moore, Rob; Roy Souvanic
With the COVID-19 pandemic, critical questions have surfaced in several countries regarding the capacity of the state to respond with agility to the crisis, and to use the crisis in a transformational way over the longer term. These questions are addressed in a comparative study of the State of Kerala in India and the Province of Gauteng in South Africa. The study contributes to two partial gaps in the literature: (1) inadequate attention to the subnational dimensions of crisis governance; and (2) the temporal dimension of state capacity, noting historical and contextual factors conditioning capacity, with shifts through the course of a crisis and beyond. While both territories showed significant agility in response to the crisis, Kerala strengthened its capacities in a way that Gauteng did not, and this had significant implications for the abilities of these governments to both manage the pandemic and leverage the pandemic for longer term benefit.
CHANGING LAND USE ON THE PERIPHERY; a case study of urban agriculture and food gardening in Orange Farm
(Report Series produced by the South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling, School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand., 2012-08) RICHARDS, Robin; TAYLOR, Sue
This study was undertaken after funding was received under a call for short-term consultancies to investigate a range of topics related to urban spatial transformation. the call was issued by the school of Architecture and Planning of the University of witwatersrand under the nRF sARcHi initiative. this study investigates peri-urban food gardens and the role that food gardening plays in orange Farm in addressing poverty and in improving food security. the study specifi cally looks at the effects of available open space on urban agriculture and food gardening in orange Farm. It was hypothesised at the outset of the study that, being located on the peri-urban periphery of the city, orange Farm is not yet densely populated or short of land for food gardening to be excluded as a livelihood option. this abundance of open land could, therefore, become an asset in an agriculturally-based strategy to target poverty in this priority region of the city.
CHANGING LAND USE ON THE PERIPHERY; a case study of urban agriculture and food gardening in Orange Farm.
(South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling, School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand., 2012-08) RICHARDS, ROBIN; TAYLOR, SUE
This study was undertaken after funding was received under a call for short-term consultancies to investigate a range of topics related to urban spatial transformation. The call was issued by the School of Architecture and Planning of the University of Witwatersrand under the NRF SARCHi initiative. This study investigates peri-urban food gardens and the role that food gardening plays in Orange Farm in addressing poverty and in improving food security. The study specifically looks at the effects of available open space on urban agriculture and food gardening in Orange Farm. It was hypothesised at the outset of the study that, being located on the peri-urban periphery of the city, Orange Farm is not yet densely populated or short of land for food gardening to be excluded as a livelihood option. This abundance of open land could, therefore, become an asset in an agriculturally-based strategy to target poverty in this priority region of the city.1.......... This study was undertaken after funding was received under a call for short-term consultancies to investigate a range of topics related to urban spatial transformation. The call was issued by the School of Architecture and Planning of the University of Witwatersrand under the NRF SARCHi initiative. This study investigates peri-urban food gardens and the role that food gardening plays in Orange Farm in addressing poverty and in improving food security. The study specifically looks at the effects of available open space on urban agriculture and food gardening in Orange Farm. It was hypothesised at the outset of the study that, being located on the peri-urban periphery of the city, Orange Farm is not yet densely populated or short of land for food gardening to be excluded as a livelihood option. This abundance of open land could, therefore, become an asset in an agriculturally-based strategy to target poverty in this priority region of the city.1...... The study was guided by two key research questions, namely: 1. What interest do Orange Farm residents have in urban agriculture and food gardening; and can this interest be used as a spatial planning element as the settlement undergoes increased formal development? 2. Are there spatial, land ownership, socio-economic and attitudinal constraints that currently affect the implementation of food gardening projects and urban agriculture in Orange Farm and, if so, which of these is the greatest obstacle to current and future urban agriculture and food gardening?
Co-producing urban expertise for SDG localization: the history and practices of urban knowledge production in South Africa
(Routledge, 2022-05-27) Croese, Sylvia; Duminy, James
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are used as an entry point to consider issues and questions surrounding the forms of urban expertise that are required to achieve transformative and sustainable urban development. The article builds on the authors’ experiences as researchers working co-productively with South African municipalities through the African Centre for Cities, an interdisciplinary research hub at the University of Cape Town. Insights from the literature on urban policy mobilities are deployed alongside those from an emerging literature on transdisciplinary research and knowledge co-production for global policy implementation. The aims are, first, to identify emerging kinds of urban expertise that are produced and mobilized by constellations of actors involved in the advancement of global development policies at the city scale and, second, to examine the role of city-university partnerships in producing particular forms of urban expertise to support SDG localization. Locating this work within a longer genealogy of urban governance reform in South Africa, it is shown that the conditions under which effective co-productive relationships can be built and institutionalized are highly context specific and geographically uneven. Understanding and assembling such conditions will enable cities to benefit from the forms of expertise these can engender.
Corridors of Freedom: Analyzing Johannesburg’s Ambitious Inclusionary Transit-Oriented Development
(Journal of Planning Education and Research, 2019) Harrison, Philip; Rubin, Margot; Appelbaum, Alexandra; Dittgen, Romain
In 2013, the Mayor of Johannesburg announced the ambitious Corridors of Freedom (CoF) initiative to transform the city’s socio-spatial structure. The CoF were constructed to be an inclusionary form of transit-oriented development (TOD). Using a 1,200 respondent survey, over 75 interviews, documentary analysis, and attendance at public participation interventions, the paper questions the possibilities for, and constraints on, the practice of inclusionary TOD. Using six criteria—spatial transformation, mobility, affordable accommodation, jobs and livelihoods, social integration, and participation—we demonstrate the mixed outcomes of inclusionary TOD.
DETECTING ASH MIDDENS USING REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES: THE CASE OF SOUTHERN GAUTENG, SOUTH AFRICA
(South African Archaeological Bulletin, 2022-12) Siteleki, Mncedisi
South Africa is home to thousands of architectural remnants such as stone-walled structures and ash middens from the Late Iron Age (AD 1300–1800). Ash middens reflect the political and economic lifeways of Iron Age communities. However, the process of identifying and mapping ash middens with traditional survey techniques can be time-consuming and difficult due to dense vegetation. This report aims to assess the performance of two supervised classification techniques, Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) and Support Vector Machine (SVM), in detecting ash middens on two multispectral satellite images – GeoEye1 and SPOT5 – in Gauteng, South Africa. The objective is to also assess the ability of the sensors in capturing the spectral signatures of the ash middens. The high reflectance of ash middens relative to other land-cover classes indicates that they have distinct spectral signatures. GeoEye1 is better than SPOT5 in the detection of ash middens because its high spectral and spatial resolution allows for more detailed and accurate mapping. SVM, although advanced, is not a significantly better classification technique for detecting ash middens compared to MLC. This report presents a promising avenue for detecting archaeological ash middens in this part of the world using remote sensing techniques.
Does density drive development?
(Report Series produced by the South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling, School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand., 2012-08) Msulwa, Rehema; Turok, Ivan
There is growing interest among governments and researchers around the world in the contribution of cities to economic development. Several influential international organisations have argued that the spatial concentration of economic activity is necessary for faster economic growth. This paper examines whether the density of population and economic activity influences the rate of local economic growth in South Africa. Municipalities are the basic units of analysis and the time frame is 1996-2010. Contrary to expectations, no statistically significant relationship is found between density and growth across the full range of 237 local municipalities. However, searching hard for a relationship among particular kinds of municipality, some evidence does emerge. The influence of human skills on local growth is also examined and is found to be more robust than density. Several reasons are given for why the relationship between density and growth is generally weak or non-existent.
Does density drive development?
(South African Research Chair in Development Planning and and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand., 2012-08) Msulwa, Rehema
here is growing interest among governments and researchers around the world in the contribution of cities to economic development. Several influential international organisations have argued that the spatial concentration of economic activity is necessary for faster economic growth. This paper examines whether the density of population and economic activity influences the rate of local economic growth in South Africa. Municipalities are the basic units of analysis and the time frame is 1996-2010. Contrary to expectations, no statistically significant relationship is found between density and growth across the full range of 237 local municipalities. However, searching hard for a relationship among particular kinds of municipality, some evidence does emerge. The influence of human skills on local growth is also examined and is found to be more robust than density. Several reasons are given for why the relationship between density and growth is generally weak or non-existent.
Financing urban development, three business models: Johannesburg, Shanghai and London
(Elsevier, 2020-10-07) Robinson, Jennifer; Harrison, Philip; Shen, Jie; Wu, Fulong
There has been growing interest in the expansion of global investment in urban areas, and the financialisation of urban development, both of which bring new business logics into the production of the built environment and shape urban outcomes. At the same time, mega urban projects have continued and spread as a significant format of urban expansion and renewal, often strongly linked to transnational investors and developers. Nonetheless, the distinctive regulatory and political contexts within which transnational actors must bring such projects to fruition matter greatly to outcomes, with territorialised governance arrangements both shaping and being shaped by transnational dynamics. However, there has been little systematic comparative consideration of these diverse regulatory contexts in their own right, rather than as contributors to wider circulating processes such as neoliberalisation. As a result, the implications of different regulatory regimes for urban outcomes have not been effectively assessed. In this paper we therefore broaden the discussion from globalised processes of “financialisation” to consider three large-scale urban development projects from the perspective of their distinctive “business models”, including their place in achieving wider strategic objectives at national and metropolitan scales, their agile and often bespoke institutional configurations, and their different forms of financing, taxation and land value capture. Our cases are Lingang, Shanghai (one of nine planned satellite cities), the Corridors of Freedom project in Johannesburg (a linear transport oriented development seeking to integrate the racially divided city), and Old Oak and Park Royal in north-west London (under a mayoral development corporation, associated with significant new metropolitan and national transport investments). We observe that the business models adopted, notably in relation to financial calculations and income streams associated with the developments, are a result of strongly path dependent formats of governance and income generation in each case. However we want to move beyond seeing these as residual, as contingent and contextual to wider accounts of urban development focussed on globalised financial flows and calculations. Using a comparative approach we initiate a systematic analytical conversation about the implications of different business models for the form and socio-economic potential of mega-urban development projects.
The impact of gated communities on spatial transformation in the Greater Johannesburg area
(Report Series produced by the South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling, School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand., 2012-08) Landman, Karina; Badenhorst, Willem
Gated communities in south Africa have increased tremendously since the late 1990’s, with various types spreading across the urban landscape. they can broadly be divided into two groups, namely enclosed neighbourhood s and new security developments. Enclosed neighbourhoods refer to existing neighbourhoods that have been fenced or walled in and where access is controlled or prohibited by means of gates or booms erected across existing roads. New security developments are private developments in which the entire area is developed by a private developer. these areas/buildings are physically walled or fenced off and usually have a security gate or controlled access point, with or without a security guard. this type can include large security estates, gated townhouse clusters/complexes and gated apartment complexes. these three sub-types are predominantly residential. new security developments can, however, also include gated offi ce parks and gated mixed-use developments (Landman 2012). As a signifi cant contributor to urban spatia l transformation, there is a need to understand the current extent and impact of different types of gated communities in the greater johannesburg area and implications for urban restructuring and sustainable development.
The impact of gated communities on spatial transformation in the Greater Johannesburg area
(South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling, School of Architecture and Planning,University of the Witwatersrand., 2012-08) Landman, Karina; Badenhorst, Willem
The main research question relates to the impact of gated communities on urban spatial transformation in the greater Johannesburg area. This translated into three objectives, namely: 1. To determine the extent of different types of gated communities in the City of Johannesburg. 2. To determine the impact of gated communities on spatial transformation in relation to processes of social, economic, environmental, institutional and political change. 3. To identify the implications for spatial restructuring and sustainable urban development in the City of Joburg.
Many ways to care: mobility, gender and Gauteng’s geography
(ORCA – Online Research at Cardiff University, 2023) Rubin, Margot; Parker, Alexandra
This paper builds on earlier work of geographies of care and parental care that traces the relationship between gender, parenting and mobility (Hanson 2010; Dowling 2015). Parenting is highly gendered and spatialized but we argue that the construction of what it means to be a ‘good’ mother or a ‘good’ father is a relational and relative social norm. These identities, coupled with the specifics of urban morphology, explain the daily spatial footprints of care in the Gauteng cityregion (GCR), South Africa. We examine three key elements in this paper: 1) the social and cultural norms and moral ideologies of parenthood; 2) the everyday practices of childcare; and 3) the mobility patterns and spatial footprints of parents. We argue that daily decisions that constitute the spatial footprints of caregivers are deeply entrenched in moral geographies and thus in the ideas that people have about what constitutes being a ‘good’ parent. We develop the existing literature on ‘good’ parenting, by demonstrating that these ideas are culturally and socially relative and overlain by class as well as geographic location. Spatiality, combined with ideology and identity, shape not only how we care but how we are able to care, which in turn reinforce notions of ‘good’ parenting.
Mobility Intersections: Gender, Family, Culture and Location in the Gauteng City‑Region
(Urban Forum, 2022-11-28) Parker, Alexandra; Rubin, Margot
The morphology of many South African cities has changed little over the last 25 years: with some of the poorest communities still living on the peripheries in informal settlements and old townships. The resulting spatial mismatch, with difculties of access and mobility, has been recorded and engaged with elsewhere; the day-to-day implications for households and families have been less well-considered. In work that was undertaken between March 2019 and February 2020 using a mixed-method approach that included focus groups, a smartphone mobility app, mapping and qualitative interviews, as well as, the use of other on-line communication platforms such as WhatsApp to gather data, the team looked at the intersection between mobility, access and household dynamics. Results surface and highlight how old spatial planning logics have direct impact on contemporary spatial footprints, mobility patterns and transit choices. Former ‘White’ neighbourhoods, designed to be relatively self-contained and meet the needs of the suburban population, still ensure relatively small spatial footprints that are car-reliant. While those living in older informal settlements and townships still have the burden of long distances to access economic and often educational advancement. Similarly, the historical layout of transport modes continues to afect the day-to-day decisions of modal choice. However, these spatial patterns and historical transit planning are overlaid with gender expectations and gendered divisions of labour—as women continue to carry most of the childcare and domestic responsibilities and men continue to feel the necessity for household income provision. Thus, historical and continued segregation in the city-region intersects with diverse dimensions of race, class and culture to perpetuate widespread gendered mobility patterns in the Gauteng City-Region.
Public Art. Aesthetic, Evocative and Invisible?
(South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling, School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand together with the Johannesburg Development Agency, City of Johannesburg., 2014-05) Harrison, Kirsten; Phasha, Potsiso
This paper will focus on Inner City City-commissioned artworks and will explore whose reality the artworks represent in a constantly evolving and complex city and what contribution the pieces make, if any, to modifying public space3. The City’s Public Art Policy contends its objectives to be: ‘To celebrate Johannesburg’s unique character and identity and enhance the urban environment through a vibrant, diverse city-wide program of public art.’(JDA, 2011:4). It is thus pertinent to examine whether or not city residents agree that this objective has been met. And further, should the objectives not include debate or interaction?
RE-IMAGINING POST-APARTHEID YEOVILLE BELLEVUE; the journey and reflections of a resident activist/activist resident
(South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling, School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand., 2013-12) SMITHERS, MAURICE
I fi rst began to work in Yeoville Bellevue in 1997/8. Fifteen years later, I’m refl ecting in this research report on what I and my fellow Yeoville Bellevueites have managed to achieve, individually and collectively, in that time. It is my own personal account and I accept that others may have a different story to tell. I hope it’s interesting and that we can all learn something from it. I hope even more fervently that it will, in some way, take the fi ght for a better Yeoville Bellevue (and a better inner city) forward. Looking back in my archives, I found a table which I drafted in November of 1997 1, setting out matters that I thought needed attention. Amongst these were that: • Yeoville Bellevue was in urgent need of a socio-economic development policy • The Community Forum had collapsed and had not been replaced by a credible civic structure • Parks in the area were unmanaged and in need of proper attention • There were a number of illegalities and by-law infringements taking place