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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Item A picture speaks a thousnd words: understanding women's migration in Johannesburg using visual diaries(Routledge, 2010-09-23) Kihato, CarolineUsing the visual diaries of a group of African women migrants now living in Johannesburg, this article explores what is now termed "ferminization of migration". It does this less by drawing attention to the fact that women are moving than by using women's own images and narratives to reveal dimensions of that experience that have yet to be understood. Centralto the article's arguement is the assertion that images communicate to us in ways that can reveal not only the material conditions of groups that are often hidden from view, but also their own local political locations, and society's own assumptions about them. Women's visual diaries and their narrative reveal the ways in which they negotiate structural impendiments of asylum offialdom, police harassment, patriarchy, unemployment and poverty. The research argues that current understanding of the ferminization of migration fail to reveal the socio-cultural and political complexities of women's mobility on the African continent.Item Alexandra(Wits University Press, 2014) Harrison, Philip. Masson, Andrian. Sinwell, Luke.A mix of respected academics, practising urban planners and experienced policymakers offer compelling overviews of the rapid and complex spatial developments that have taken place in Johannesburg since the end of apartheid, along with tantalising glimpses into life on the streets and behind the high walls of this diverse city. The book has three sections. Section A provides an overview of macro spatial trends and the policies that have influenced them. Section B explores the shaping of the city at district and suburban level, revealing the peculiarity of processes in different areas. This analysis elucidates the larger trends, while identifying shifts that are not easily detected at the macro level. Section C is an assembly of chapters and short vignettes that focus on the interweaving of place and identity at a micro level. With empirical data supported by new data sets including the 2011 Census, the city’s Development Planning and Urban Management Department’s information system, and Gauteng City-Region Observatory’s substantial archive, the book is an essential reference for planning practitioners, urban geographers, sociologists, and social anthropologists, among others.Item 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, AliceThe 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.Item 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, AliceIn 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.Item Between fixity and flux: Grappling with transience and permanence in the inner city(Wits University Press, 2014) Dinath, Yasmeen.A mix of respected academics, practising urban planners and experienced policymakers offer compelling overviews of the rapid and complex spatial developments that have taken place in Johannesburg since the end of apartheid, along with tantalising glimpses into life on the streets and behind the high walls of this diverse city. The book has three sections. Section A provides an overview of macro spatial trends and the policies that have influenced them. Section B explores the shaping of the city at district and suburban level, revealing the peculiarity of processes in different areas. This analysis elucidates the larger trends, while identifying shifts that are not easily detected at the macro level. Section C is an assembly of chapters and short vignettes that focus on the interweaving of place and identity at a micro level. With empirical data supported by new data sets including the 2011 Census, the city’s Development Planning and Urban Management Department’s information system, and Gauteng City-Region Observatory’s substantial archive, the book is an essential reference for planning practitioners, urban geographers, sociologists, and social anthropologists, among others.Item Between the ordinary and the extra-oridnary: socio-spatial transformation in the South of Johannesburg(South African Geographical Journal, 2014-06-16) Harrison, Philip. Zack, Tanya.A recent discourse on ‘ordinary cities’ represents cities as unique assemblages rather than as imperfect representations of an ideal such as the ‘world city’. The ‘ordinariness’ of cities is, however, constructed at the intersection of the ‘ordinary’ and ‘extraordinary’. We use the case of the ‘Old South’ of Johannesburg to show how the ordinariness of everyday life has been shaped by continually shifting transnational, or extraordinary, flows and relationships. Strong locally inscribed spatial loyalties emerged historically in the Old South, although these were always overlain by ethnic territorialities. Recently, new socio-spatial configurations have emerged in the context of post-Apartheid migration flows. The emergent identities and territorialities associated with these flows remain fragile and ambiguous, but may offer pointers towards our new urban futures.Item Beyond Invented and Invited spaces of participation: The Phiri and Olivia Road court cases and their outcomes(HRSC Press, 2015) Smith, Laila. Rubin, Margot.249 requires methods of public engagement that the local authorities responsible for delivery seldom have the knowledge or experience to carry out (as pointed to in Bénit-Gbaffou’s opening chapter). The result has been an increasingly frustrated public that is getting neither access to essential services nor the opportunity to engage meaningfully with the state (Bénit-Gbaffou & Oldfield 2011). The process of the public turning to the courts to hold the state to account for its enactment of socioeconomic rights has been a fascinating terrain where these governance and service delivery battles have merged into a single front. Classical legal theory argues that litigation is sought by groups because of fundamental belief in the ‘direct linking of litigation, rights, and remedies with social change’(Hunt 1990: 309). Ethnographers, such as Merry and Silbey (1984), argue that citizens turn to the law ‘when their situations or their personal, community, or economic problems seemed entirely intractable, unavoidable, and intolerable’(Merry 1990; Merry & Silbey 1984). Political opportunity theorists argue that if channels to decision-making are ‘closed’then citizens and residents will find, or invent, other methods to ensure that their voices are heard and that they are able to engage in some way with the decision-making process (Hilson 2002).Item BRICS Cities: Facts & Analysis 2016(South African Cities Network, 2017) Harrison, Philip; Yang, YanBRICS 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.Item 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, SueThis 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.Item 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, SUEThis 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?Item Clearly blown away by the end of the morning's drama: spectacle, pacification and the 2010 world cup, South Africa(The Journal of the Society for Socialist Studies, 2013) McMichael, ChristopherThe massive security assemblages surrounding major sporting events and political summits embody two layers of spectacle. On the one hand, security operations are central to the governance of entertainment and media imagery. Simultaneously these security measures are profoundly theatrical and calibrated for the maximum visual impact: the spectacle of security itself. Some critical thinkers have described this dual spectacle as indicative of a contemporary state-corporate obsession with image and perception management, an obsession which detracts from ‘valid’ security concerns. By contrast I argue that spectacle and theatricality are in fact highly functional components of the pacification projects of state and capital. With reference to Guy Debord’s conception of ‘spectacle’, this article highlights how mega-events reveal, in highly dramatised form, the logic of pacification. Using the 2010 FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) soccer World Cup as a case study, the article demonstrates how police and military power are mobilised to secure accumulation, to enforce social control and to extend the power and arsenal of the state security apparatus. What is truly spectacular about mega event security is not just the incorporation of media templates into the working of state forces. Rather, the rhetoric and concept of security itself becomes a form of spectacular power as it serves to both obscure and justify how mega events are ultimately projects of class power.Item Contesting adaptation synergies: political realities in reconciling climate change adaptation with urban development in Johannesburg, South Africa(Spring-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2016-07-25) Hetz KarenStrategies to promote synergistic responses to both urban development issues and climate change adaptation have become central to policy advice on adaptation. However, the empirical evidence for the effective utilisation of adaptation synergies in planning practices is insufficient. Taking urban planning in Johannesburg as a case study and using the risks of flooding as an illustrative example, this qualitative study explores how adaptation synergies can be realised in planning practices. In this specific case, significant synergy possibilities in planning practices are not observed. Instead, political challenges of reconciling adaptation measures with planning responses to the considerable developmental challenges of urban divide and multiple urban risks in Johannesburg substantially limit the response space for adaptation practices, including those achievable through synergies. Insights gained in this study underline the necessity of giving greater attention to the empirics of observed synergies. The study provides initial indications that it may be necessary to adjust elements of the conceptual arguments concerning adaptation synergies and related policy advice.Item 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, IvanThere 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.Item Does density drive development?(South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling, 2012) 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.Item Does density drive development?(South African Research Chair in Development Planning and and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand., 2012-08) Msulwa, Rehemahere 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.Item ‘Ethnic Enclave of a Special Sort?’ Mozambicans in La Rochelle, Johannesburg(Journal of Southern African Studies, 2015-01-19) Khangelani Moyoa, Erma CossaaAlthough Mozambican migration to South Africa has a long history, it is only recently that scholarly literature has begun to shift slightly from the defining albatross of the contract labour migration system to provide a much more incisive analysis of the everyday circumstances of individual migrants. Focusing on the suburb of La Rochelle in Johannesburg, we argue that, while this shift represents an important insight for migration research, it remains particularly thin on matters of urban space and migrant spatial decision-making. We look at the spatial presence of Mozambicans in La Rochelle, use property-ownership and interview data to engage in the global discourse on ethnic enclaves, and discuss the peculiar circumstances of the development and life cycle of Johannesburg’s La Rochelle ethnic enclave. Our findings suggest that the Portuguese language has remained central to the development of La Rochelle as an ethnic enclave, though the suburb has taken an atypical trajectory since the end of apartheid that hardly fits the traditional ethnic enclave classification. Importantly, immigrants who move into ethnic enclaves often establish a permanent presence, but the Mozambicans in La Rochelle have forms of permanence in aggregate terms only, as the individual migrants remain transient within La Rochelle and the greater Rosettenville areaItem Footprints of Islam in Johannesburg.(Wits University Press, 2014) Dinath, Yasmeen. Patel, Yusuf. Seedat, Rashid.As the dynamo of South Africa’s economy, Johannesburg commands a central position in the nation’s imagination, and scholars throughout the world monitor the city as an exemplar of urbanity in the global South. This richly illustrated study offers detailed empirical analyses of changes in the city’s physical space, as well as a host of chapters on the character of specific neighbourhoods and the social identities being forged within them. Informing all of these is a consideration of underlying economic, social and political processes shaping the wider Gauteng region. A mix of respected academics, practising urban planners and experienced policymakers offer compelling overviews of the rapid and complex spatial developments that have taken place in Johannesburg since the end of apartheid, along with tantalising glimpses into life on the streets and behind the high walls of this diverse city. The book has three sections. Section A provides an overview of macro spatial trends and the policies that have influenced them. Section B explores the shaping of the city at district and suburban level, revealing the peculiarity of processes in different areas. This analysis elucidates the larger trends, while identifying shifts that are not easily detected at the macro level. Section C is an assembly of chapters and short vignettes that focus on the interweaving of place and identity at a micro level.Item 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, WillemGated 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.Item 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, WillemThe 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.Item Informal Settlements(Wits University Press, 2014) Huchzermeyer, Marie. Karam, Aly. Maina, Miriam.A mix of respected academics, practising urban planners and experienced policymakers offer compelling overviews of the rapid and complex spatial developments that have taken place in Johannesburg since the end of apartheid, along with tantalising glimpses into life on the streets and behind the high walls of this diverse city. The book has three sections. Section A provides an overview of macro spatial trends and the policies that have infl uenced them. Section B explores the shaping of the city at district and suburban level, revealing the peculiarity of processes in different areas. This analysis elucidates thelarger trends, while identifying shifts that are not easily detected at the macro level. Section C is an assembly of chapters and short vignettes that focus on the interweaving of place and identity at a micro level.
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