Planning

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ACCESSING HEALTH SERVICES IN TOWNSHIPS: THE CASE OF BRAM FISCHERVILLE
(University of the Witwatersrand; Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, 2016) Gawbeni, Siphosethu
Accessing the State: Everyday Practices and Politics in the South
(Journal of Asian and African Studies, 2011) Benit Gbaffou, Claire
This special issue explores everyday practices and politics of accessing the state and state resources from a southern perspective. The collection of papers documents low-income residents’ everyday relationships with the state, through the study of actual practices of interaction with a range of state representatives at the local level (councilors and officials, at various levels of local government). Formal and informal, legal and illegal, confrontational and cooperative, we analyze the multiple tactics of engagement with the state by low-income residents to understand the extent to which they allow access to state resources and to degrees of state recognition, even in contexts of mass poverty, informality and scarce public resources. The modes of interaction with the state also embody and frame low-income residents’ representations of the state, of their expectations, and of their own citizenship. This special issue thus critically draws together a wide-ranging and important debate on governance, and the relationships it constructs between state and civil society. The main question we thus raise in this special issue is how the dynamics of governance reform, with attempted development or deepening of both decentralization and participation, affect everyday practices to access the state and the resulting politics that shape state-society relations in southern contexts. Collectively, the articles in the special issue reflect on the ways in which low-income citizens access to the state challenges existing theories of the state and democracy. Stemming from a research programme entitled ‘The Voices of the Poor in Urban Governance: Participation, Mobilisation and Politics in South African Cities’, this special issue focuses on South African cities primarily but not exclusively. Although the contexts examined have their own specificities, we argue that they provide an interesting and critical context in which to work through the debate from a Southern perspective. South African societies are specific in the huge expectations residents have in the post-apartheid state, and in the ways that ideals continue to be framed in modernist terms, as emblematized by policies of mass public housing delivery and effort towards mass access to urban services. The state, even if it is not so powerful, remains at the core of representations and expectations especially of lower income residents (Borges 2006) – mass urban protests which continue to rise in South African cities today show the disappointment of these expectations rather than a disregard, ignorance or avoidance of the State (Bénit-Gbaffou 2008, Alexander 2010). Attempts to address the gaps between expectation and public delivery have taken the form of major local government restructuring in a post-apartheid context, relying extensively on principles of good governance (decentralization, democratization as well as new public management principles). However, these expectations and experiences of confrontation of civil society with the state co-exist with everyday practices of negotiation, seeking of favours, and clientelism, which also shape residents’ access to resources, and more broadly their representations of the state and the construction of their urban citizenship (Oldfield and Stokke 2004). The South African case is thus particularly relevant to study the interaction between the modern state and good governance ideals, and practices of ‘political society’.
Are Johannesburg peri-central neighbourhoods irremediably ‘fluid’? The local governance of diversity, mobility and competition in Yeoville & Bertrams
(Wits University Press, 2014) Benit-Gbaffou, Claire
Johannesburg’s inner city, often emblematized by the infamously known Hillbrow, has often constituted the point of departure for depicting urban chaos, unpredictability, endless mobility, fluidity and undecipherable change – be it in novels and movies (see 2002 Welcome to our Hillbrow, 2010 Zoo City, 2008 Jerusalema), or in academic literature (Morris 1999, Simone 2006). Inner city neighbourhoods, in the CBD but also at its immediate fringe (‘peri-central’ areas) are currently functioning as ports of entry into South African economic capital, for both national and international migrants. They are characterized by a degree of urban decay that have earned these neighborhoods the label of ‘slums’, ‘sinkholes’, in need of ‘urban management’ and re-affirmation of ‘law and order’. Some have also attracted specific attempts at urban regeneration led mostly by the municipality, followed or not by private investment. They are all marked by a level of informality (in housing and in economic activities) which is often a condition for low-income migrants to enter the urban labour and housing markets.
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.
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.
Backyards life
(School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand., 2017) Matsheng, Chelsy
The RDP housing programme was considered as a solution to poverty in South Africa. It was believed that households could either sell their house in the housing market or use it as a collateral to access finance. However, this has proven ineffective because households often attach values to their housing, and are not willing to either sell or use their houses as collateral. Households rather resort to generating income for themselves through backyard rental accommodation. However the state been unsupportive of the backyard rental accommodation, reasoning that it increases the density of the houses beyond which it was created for. The findings of this research reveals that the income from the backyard rental accommodation income plays an important role in improving the quality of life of the RDP beneficiaries. This research argues that backyard rental accommodation provides the RDP beneficiaries with opportunities to improve their economic situation, material and social well-being and also allows them to improve their houses, thereby improving their quality of life. At the same time providing affordable, flexible accommodation and social stable environments to tenants. Taking into consideration of the benefits of backyard rental accommodation to RDP beneficiaries, this research argues it helps housing to perform as an asset. This is because it does not only provide survival strategy to RDP beneficiaries, it helps them improve their economic situation and consequently improves their quality of life.
Beyond master planning? New approaches to spatial planning in Ekurhuleni, South Africa
(Elsevier., 2010) Todes, Alison; Karam, Aly; Klug, Neil; Malaza, N
Traditional master planning has been criticised, but continues in various forms. This paper critically assesses an initiative by a South Africa metropolitan municipality to develop ‘local spatial developmen tframeworks’: comprehensive integrated plans dealing with 22 sectors, for some 103 areas, to guide land us edecisions and to provide a frame work for development. The paper concludes that despite some innovative aspects, several elements of traditional master planning were evident. New approaches to spatial planning were being shaped by older thinking, but also by the impact of a traditional land use management system.The findings point to the need for greater attention to debating alternative forms of spatial planning and their appro-priateness in various contexts. .
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.
Carlton Centre Limited. Statistics and General Information Relating to Carlton Centre
(Johannesburg City Coucil, City Engineer., 1970-09-11) Johannesburg PD/MGS/GSF
The promotors of Carlton Centre are the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa, Limited and The South African Breweries Limited...The excavation necessary to permit the construction of the below ground levels was one of the largest ever undertaken anywhere in the world for a commercial building project.
The Challenges of Providing for the Street Homeless: Johannesburg as a Single Case Study
(2014) Tayob, Muhammad Shabier
The thesis considers the challenges associated with providing for the street homeless in Johannesburg. From a planning perspective, the research aims at leading to enlightenment on practical solutions to address the problem in Johannesburg. The study notes that the street homeless or the ‘rough sleepers’ population are amongst the most distressed people that live in negligible and inadequate housing. Dating back since before apartheid, Johannesburg has been seen as a place that offers a platform to better one’s living conditions. Thus, there has always been a high influx of local and international migrants into the city. Given the successes of apartheid spatial planning in creating a racially and economically divided Johannesburg that served an urban minority only, the city’s infrastructure is unable to absorb and address all of its inhabitants. This, together with personal circumstances and structural inadequacies is resulting in an increase of street homeless people in the city. Street homelessness in Johannesburg requires a continuum of well-coordinated interventions that address the individualistic and structural causation factors. This research unpacks how street homelessness is being addressed in the Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, with particular attention given to government responses. Through the gathering of qualitative and quantitative data, the research aims at measuring government’s effectiveness in addressing the issue. The report moves forward by providing debates, conceptualisations and approaches to homelessness across the globe. Followed by this, the research focuses on identifying gaps in current approaches to addressing the issue and through this, providing potential and valuable input that will assist in effectively curbing street homelessness.
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?
Changing Practices of the State: Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo Officials’ Views on Opportunities and Challenges of Community Engagement
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2015-11) Bosaka, Patience
South African cities are embedded in a paradigm of transformation, informed by post- apartheid aspirations, good governance principles, and the value of community engagement in a democratic context. The Parastatal Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo situated in this broader context thus also envisage transformation in their ways of urban governance. This research takes interest in the institutional reshuffling of JCPZ that has resulted in their move towards the promotion of community development in the management and development of urban parks. The reshuffling aims to respond to pressing issues such as mismanagement, crime, homelessness, unemployment, vandalism inter alia which manifest in public green spaces, showcasing inequalities and poverty in ways that are difficult to manage. One of the strategies that are emphasized in responses to these issues is community engagement which is the arena that grounds this research investigation. The paper looks at JCPZ officials’ practices, challenges and experiences in their mandate of community engagement and demonstrates the importance of structure (the institutional programmes and systems put in place for this task) and perceptions (what officials’ feel and think about communities) as influential to the actual State practices. It also reviles the other side of the story (the officials’ narratives) about community engagement which is hardly documented in community engagement discourses.
City of Johannesburg. Brief History of the Development of its system of Government
(Public Relations Officer, City Hall, P.O.Box 1049, Johannesburg, 1967) Public Relations Office, City Hall, Johannesburg
On 8th September, 1886, Paul Kruger, president of the Transvaal Republic, signed a proclamation declaring several farms, including Randjieslaagte, on the Witwatersrand ("Ridge of White Waters") public gold diggings. The biggest gold rush in history began to what was until then a piece of bare veld and rocky outcrop.
City Planners
(HSRC Press, 2009) Todes, Alison
City planning is a small profession, with only 3 790 graduates by 2004. Data sources on the profession are limited, and there are only a few, mainly qualitative studies. 'Planning' as it is described in the Planning Professions Act (No.36 of 2002), was designated as a 'scarce skill' in the context of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (Asgisa) and the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (Jipsa) (Berrisford 2006; Dol 2006b) Lack of Planning capacity was seen as constraining development in two main ways: through slow processing of land development applications, which was seen as holding up development; and through the lack of transformation of South African cities, perpetuating conditions such as long and costly travel to work, with impacts on labour costs. Further, the focus on infrastructure-led development would also require increased planning capacity.
CLAIMING ‘RIGHTS’ IN THE AFRICAN CITY: POPULAR MOBILISATION AND THE POLITICS OF INFORMALITY IN NAIROBI, RABAT, JOHANNESBURG AND CAPE TOWN.
(Oxon & New York. Routledge, 2014) Benit-Gbaffou, Claire; Oldfield, Sophie
In this chapter however, we do not directly use the term ‘right to the city’, as we follow Mayer (2009) in her call against the ‘proliferation of this rights [to the city] discourse’ that runs the risk of weakening its political power (see also Purcell 2002)....Our aim, in articulating urban mobilisation to the notion of ‘rights’ (in the plural) in this chapter, is to understand more narrowly, more practically, and perhaps then theoretically, to what extent these ‘rights’ to the city are (or not) a strategic tool for collective mobilisation in cities of the South to access urban goods, spaces, resources. In this respect, we are more interested in literature that takes the notion of ‘rights’ seriously, in line with Fernandez in Brazil (2007) or Bhan in India (2009) for instance: examining the legal dimension of ‘rights’ and its impacts in securing different forms of access to urban spaces and urban goods. But this approach needs to explicitly take into account how the formality of this definition unfolds in urban politics and collective mobilisation marked by high levels of informality.
Coffee in the City: An Analysis of the Hipster Culture’s Influence on Urban Regeneration in Inner City Johannesburg
(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2015-11) Memela, Wetu
The modern image of inner city Johannesburg is one that has undergone many transformations. These changes have been brought on by many different things, from the abolishment of political regimes to the rise of popular youth culture, such as the hipster culture today. Literature not only provides clear understandings but also debates, thoughts and questions of the hipster culture, urban regeneration and even the combination of the two. This research aims to understand the effect that the budding hipster culture has on inner city regeneration efforts in Johannesburg. Through the application of the Braamfontein case study, data collected in field work can be analysed through the literary understanding to paint an in-depth picture of not only the manifestation of the hipster culture in Braamfontein but also what affect their presence has on the district.
Community leadership and the construction of political legitimacy Unpacking Bourdieu’s political capital in post-apartheid Johannesburg
(2014) Benit-Gbaffou, Claire; Katsaura, Obvious
In our attempt to unravel the structures, constraints and opportunities under which community leaders operate, we have been inspired, as many before us in different ways , by Bourdieu’s work on political capital, political representation and his analyses of the specificities of the ‘political field’ (Bourdieu, 1991). However, we also feel that his theoretical frames are built on reflections developed at a supra-local scale, in contexts of highly institutionalized or institutionalizing politics (national party apparatuses), and where the politics of informality are not at the center of his observations. We believe our perspectives on the micro-politics of the local in urban societies dominated by informality, and in globalizing and neoliberalizing governance contexts which see the proliferation of governance institutions (private and public, formal and informal, local, national and international) might bring new insights into the understanding of the complex construction of political legitimacies. In particular, we argue that community leaders – being both grounded locally, in close proximity to their constituencies; and in search of institutional recognition (by a party, or a fraction of the state) that might give them less uncertain legitimacy as well as possible access to material resources, need to build their political legitimacies not either from the bottom or from the top, but from both simultaneously. Following Bourdieu’s notion of double dealings (the need for what he calls ’professional politicians’ to fight in the political field as well as in the social field; for their own political positions and as representatives of their mandators), we then elaborate on instances where the relationships between the two legitimation processes (what we call here legitimation from the ‘bottom’ and from the ‘top’) reinforce one another or contradict one another
Community Policing and Disputed Norms for Local Social Control in Post-Apartheid Johannesburg
(Journal of Southern African Studies., 2008-03) Benit Gbaffou, Claire
This article, based on field study in suburbs and townships in post-apartheid Johannesburg, argues that there are different ‘cultures’ of policing and different conceptions of local social order embedded in different local histories and contrasting socio-economic settings. The South African state is currently attempting to homogenise security practices and to ‘educate’ people in a democratic policing culture. At the same time it is also firmly setting some limits (for instance by rejecting road closures and vigilantism) to the local security experiments developed in the period following the demise of apartheid. However, its current policy, supposedly designed to ‘unify’ the policing systems under common principles, is based on the broad encouragement of community participation in the production of security, as well as on the promotion of zero-tolerance principles. These policies actually serve to exacerbate local differentiation regarding the content and practice of policing as well as the undemocratic principles rhetorically resisted by the state.
Commuter Choices and Prospects for Improved Urban Mobility
(UNIVERSITY OF WITWATERSRAND FACULTY OF ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, 2016) Mandyanda, Aviwe
The purpose of the study is to understand the everyday social and spatial practices that affect transportation choices in the city from the perspective of public transport commuters. My research is a qualitative inquiry of commuter mobility choices and particularly the reasons behind them. In the pursuit to better understand how transport in South Africa can become more efficient in providing improved levels of access and mobility to a wider spectrum of people, my research focuses on contributing to an understanding of how and why people make individual travel decisions. It investigates how people are responding to the increasing public transportation options and aims to gain a deeper understanding of commuter choices concerning accessibility and mobility in Johannesburg. Drawing from theoretical writings on urban mobility and travel behaviours the main argument of my study is that commuter choices between different modes of transport are influenced by both various socio-economic, spatial and cultural factors, which are attached to practices, narratives and meanings. My study focuses on two transport modes operating along the Johannesburg – Soweto corridor within metropolitan Johannesburg: the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system and the Minibus Taxis (MBTs). It investigates how the two systems have addressed commuter mobility needs, and how commuters are responding to the increased transport options that have become available to them along this corridor. Based on semi-structured interviews, imagery, literature and detailed descriptions emanating from fieldwork, this research report presents everyday life in Pimville as a negotiation and displays the MBT and BRT stations and their users as active participants in this negotiation. The different themes present the different forms of commuter life as negotiation in Pimville.

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