Electronic Theses and Dissertations (PhDs)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37958
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Item Investigating aspects of rapid urbanisation and densification in Sub-Saharan Africa and the effect on the physical morphology of selected suburbs in Johannesburg(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Dörmann, Kirsten; Jenkins, PaulThis study examines the transformation of the South African version of the bungalow from a free-standing house into a courtyard form of building – seen as a bungalow ‘compound’– due to the significant change in occupancy. It focuses on two lower-income inner-city neighbourhoods of Johannesburg, Yeoville and Rosettenville. Both were created at the beginning of the 20th century, on either side of the city’s mining belt. After the political changes in 1990, these neighbourhoods have been almost completely re-populated with immense socio- cultural changes – and intensely densified. This radical change has, however, been kept hidden behind the boundary walls of the private properties. There has been little attention and very limited evidence concerning the alterations to the properties despite them being widespread. The research brings a new understanding of the ‘transformed house on the plot’ and its life forms as part of wider city-making processes. Although based on a typological approach to reading the change of the domestic spaces over time, this is analysed in-depth vis-à-vis social, economic, juridical, and political entanglements and highlights the need for transdisciplinary knowledge transfers. The study examines the bungalow compounds through innovative design research, applied via a Case Study approach, to a particularly complex category of ‘as built’ documentation. It investigates the outcome as a form of re-description of a part of the transforming African city – rather than the standard sterile service instrument of spatial administration. In this context, the pattern book and the notion of type are revisited to develop an alternate catalogue of properties based on more than thirty detailed case studies. Methodologically, the research considers the bungalow compound as an epistemic object that can manifest as a problem space across multiple themes, scales, and contexts. In doing so, the study addresses the misconception of architecture as a finished product and appropriates essential incompleteness as a device to locate relevant knowledge(s). It considers the inevitable lack of complete evidence as an opportunity to understand the documentation of these emerging dynamic ‘house worlds’ as readings of what is and what could be.Item The dynamics of place branding in Johannesburg: 1994 - 2019(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mbinza, Zenzile; Sihlongonyane, Mfaniseni FanaThis PhD thesis lays the ground for understanding place branding processes from cities of the Global South. It critically explores place branding as an emerging mechanism for urban governance in Johannesburg. It is critical because place branding and its related processes have increasingly gained momentum in countries, regions and cities jostling for niche status in global economics. This thesis explores the different place brands that Johannesburg coined over time, focussing on the period between 1994 and 2019. It explored the city’s place brands under the five mayors that presided over Johannesburg, beginning with Dan Pretorius (1994 – 1995), Isaac Mogase (1995 – 1999), Amos Masondo (2000 – 2011), Parks Tau (2011 – 2016) and Herman Mashaba (2016 – 2019). The thesis employed a qualitative research methodology and case study design. Primary data Archival research and interviews were the primary data collection strategies. The ensuing discussion of place brands in Johannesburg reveals the dynamics and push factors that have contributed to the development of place brands under the time in question. Politics, economics, and activities related to globalisation emerged as leading drivers for the city of Johannesburg to develop its various place brands. The thesis found that Johannesburg followed a template similar to the cities of the Global North in its application of place branding. However, the thesis also found gaps in the city’s place branding processes. For example, there was limited engagement with the city residents when developing Johannesburg’s place brands. It pointed to a unilateral, top-down application of place branding in the city, which precluded it from using these processes as democracy-building tools. It necessitates the exploration of place branding from the perspective of city governments to begin encompassing issues of inclusivity and public participation. In this light, the thesis calls for a more strategic application of place branding in the Johannesburg.Item The dynamics of place branding in Johannesburg: 1994 - 2019(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-11) Mbinza, Zenzile; Sihlongonyane, Mfaniseni FanaThis PhD thesis lays the ground for understanding place branding processes from cities of the Global South. It critically explores place branding as an emerging mechanism for urban governance in Johannesburg. It is critical because place branding and its related processes have increasingly gained momentum in countries, regions and cities jostling for niche status in global economics. This thesis explores the different place brands that Johannesburg coined over time, focussing on the period between 1994 and 2019. It explored the city’s place brands under the five mayors that presided over Johannesburg, beginning with Dan Pretorius (1994 – 1995), Isaac Mogase (1995 – 1999), Amos Masondo (2000 – 2011), Parks Tau (2011 – 2016) and Herman Mashaba (2016 – 2019). The thesis employed a qualitative research methodology and case study design. Primary data Archival research and interviews were the primary data collection strategies. The ensuing discussion of place brands in Johannesburg reveals the dynamics and push factors that have contributed to the development of place brands under the time in question. Politics, economics, and activities related to globalisation emerged as leading drivers for the city of Johannesburg to develop its various place brands. The thesis found that Johannesburg followed a template similar to the cities of the Global North in its application of place branding. However, the thesis also found gaps in the city’s place branding processes. For example, there was limited engagement with the city residents when developing Johannesburg’s place brands. It pointed to a unilateral, top-down application of place branding in the city, which precluded it from using these processes as democracy-building tools. It necessitates the exploration of place branding from the perspective of city governments to begin encompassing issues of inclusivity and public participation. In this light, the thesis calls for a more strategic application of place branding in the Johannesburg.