Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)

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    An evaluation of city improvement districts in promoting positive social- spatial structures and management processes: a case study of Hillbrow Ekhaya Improvement District, Johannesburg
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Tepkeny, Gloria; Klug, Neil
    This study aims to assess the effectiveness of City Improvement Districts (CIDs) in fostering positive social-spatial structures and management processes within urban areas. Specifically, the study focuses on the Hillbrow eKhaya Improvement District in Johannesburg, South Africa, as a case study. The research utilizes a qualitative research design method approach, combining semi-structured questionnaires, in-depth interviews, observation, photography, reconnaissance visits, and qualitative data analysis assessments and transcriptions to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of city improvement districts on the local community and urban management. By analysing the Hillbrow eKhaya Improvement District’s initiatives, successes, challenges, and stakeholders' perceptions, the study seeks to contribute valuable insights into the role of city improvement districts in enhancing urban living conditions and social cohesion. Understanding the intricate relationship between physical urban spaces and social interactions is crucial for urban planners, policymakers, and researchers seeking to create vibrant, inclusive, and liveable cities. By evaluating the Hillbrow eKhaya Improvement District, this study intends to provide insights into the potential of improvement districts to promote positive social- spatial structures and effective management processes in urban areas. The findings of this research could inform urban planners, policymakers, and local communities about the benefits and challenges associated with improvement districts, contributing to more sustainable and liveable cities.
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    Investigating Ways in Which the Profile and Identity of Women Affects their Capacity to Work Effectively in the Urban Management Field
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mazamane, Zintathu Sigcine
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    “Artful Sustainability” Inquiry into Urban Waste and Public Space Practices: a Case Study of Riverside View Mega City, Johannesburg
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mantshoane, Trevor; Charlton, Sarah
    The UN-Habitat (2021a, p. 29) has been spearheading efforts at ensuring that “placemaking institutionalizes the role of art and culture to achieve a lasting sense of place for [communities]” as per the SDG 11 agenda. Place-making foregrounds the central role of communities in ensuring quality and liveable public spaces often through arts-led interventions. To date, little research exists on how this global place-making agenda is faring at the neighbourhood level. Even less studied are the arts and cultural (ecosystem) services of public space and the impact of waste on people’s ability to benefit from these services. Against the global place-making agenda, this research artistically interrogates the eco-cultural dimensions of sustainability issues of waste and public spaces. It does this through a case study of Riverside View Mega City, Johannesburg (South Africa) This qualitative research study uses a case study strategy and draws on a range of practices broadly associated with the arts-based and practice- based methods. The study utilises a set of methodological tools like drawings, written and photo diaries to gain a window into the resident participants’ embodied experiences of waste and public space. In all, the research finds that waste malpractices have a disruptive impact on the residents’ ability to benefit from the eco-cultural services of public spaces in Riverside View Mega City. Consequently, public spaces are generally perceived and experienced negatively, although this is not uniform across all sections of the settlement. Moreover, efforts at institutionalising the arts and culture through place-making interventions remain ambiguous with little apparent relevance to the everyday sustainability issue of waste and public spaces.
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    Urban design coding: A Qualitative Study into the Relevance of Urban Design Coding in Informal Settlements: The Case of Mushroomville Settlement, Centurion, Pretoria, South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Donga-Matambo, Thandeka; Msingaphantsi, Mawabo
    In the year 1994, South Africa saw the end of Apartheid and the beginning of a new democratic era. The African National Congress (ANC) came into power and adopted neoliberal policies that favor capitalism, entrepreneurship, a free-market economy and the privatization of some economic sectors. This approach benefited and provided resources to a handful of people at the cost of many – the rich became richer, and the poor became poorer. Today, the commodification of all aspects of life has forced the “urban poor” who cannot afford the city lifestyle to turn to informal means in order to be closer to socio-economic opportunities. Informal settlements have become a major concern to capitalists because they affect investors’ perception of an area and reduce the value of surrounding properties. For a long time, the government’s response to informal settlements has either been to upgrade the settlements in their current location or to evict the residents and relocate them on the urban periphery, far from opportunities, services, facilities and institutions. Unfortunately, the government’s efforts have resulted in the further marginalization and segregation of the poor. This research aims to assess the extent to which urban design codes can be used to redevelop informal settlements into livable, good quality human settlements that are stitched into their existing urban fabric. The Mushroomville Informal Settlement in Centurion, Pretoria will be used as a case study. The research will use qualitative research methods to achieve the set aims. The primary sources of data will include site visits, photography, interviews with an attorney and the informal settlement residents as well as observations of the residents within their natural setting. The secondary data will be sourced through desktop research on site-related court cases, newspaper articles, policies, precedents and other relevant literature. It is expected that the research findings will show that urban design codes can be a useful instrument in redeveloping informal settlements into livable settlements with good quality housing.
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    Exhumation of forgotten souls: Indigenous knowledge systems and sustainable design approach to Patlong Village Relocation and place of memory
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Matlanyane, Samson Matlokotsi; Matsipa, Mpho
    Since the 1940s, rapidly increasing demand for green energy globally along with water supply demands in growing urban areas have led to de- velopment of hydropower dams and reservoirs at an unprecedented scale across the globe. Although hydro facilities are a relatively clean energy, they have environmental and social impact at country, basin, and regional levels. At country level, construction of these mega hydro-projects comes at a great cost to directly affected communities as they cause involuntary dis- placement, lose of rangelands and means of sustaining livelihood in gener- al. Furthermore, existing social links are broken leaving indigenous knowl- edge systems at risk of erasure. Lastly, affected communities are usually undercompensated, relocated, and hosted in other villages or moved to new designated settlements where resources are already limited thus causing a further strain on such resources. Not only do said hydro-projects have negative impacts in their respective countries, unsustainable management of river flows and unequal use of the Basin’s water lead to conflicts between riparian states. Environmen- tally, damming of valleys negatively affect fauna and flora upstream by flooding and inadequate water downstream. The Lesotho Highlands wa- ter, a 4 phased bilateral agreement between Republic of South Africa and Kingdom of Lesotho is no exception to these negative impacts. This research Report investigated how indigenous knowledge of material and social culture can inform new relocation stratergies which will help anchor a newly developed village. Through recording of oral and literary history, mapping, and conducting semi-structured interviews at Patlong, an understanding of the community’s current livelihood was established. Based on the author’s findings, an Architectural intervention in a form of a settlement anchored by an agricultural skills development centre, a seed bank and a commercial retail node was proposed to ensure a sustainable relocation strategy.
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    Evaluating the state’s response to flooding disasters: the case of deelpan village emergency housing
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Rirhandzu, Chuma
    Over the past few years, South Africa has been struggling with managing flooding episodes. From a housing point of view, one then worries about the living conditions of the poor people who do not have the necessary resources to recover from the effects of the disaster, like the people of Deelpan Village in the North West province. To obtain data for this research, I analysed secondary data in relation to disaster management, housing, and planning accessed from government websites. I also conducted a total of 18 semi-structured interviews with the officials and community representatives who were actively involved in the Deelpan Village emergency housing project. This study revealed that the people of Deelpan preferred permanent housing structures over temporary solutions; hence, the Temporary Residential Units have not been provided. The study concluded that the Deelpan residents rejected TRUs for permanent structures due to fear of state failure. Three years after the 2021 flooding, no housing support has been provided by the state, indicating a lack of resources to handle disasters.
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    Spirit of place: demystifying the significance of sangoma practices in our communities, education, and well-being, while looking at how they can exist in modern spaces
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Pitse, Dikeledi
    With the evolution of technology and the modern man, sacred spiritual practice and African tradition has become lost amongst our people. Ancient communities took pride in preserving ancestral teachings and rituals that kept us connected and grounded before the rise of modern medicine as we know it. The role of the sangoma/traditional healer in these communities was seem as extremely significant, in that they can communicate with our forefathers. These modes of communication provide clarity on where we come from, as well as where we should go. Therefore, I will be looking at ways in which this sacred practice can be preserved and have a legacy in the modern environment. Additionally, I will show that indigenous knowledge can form part of higher education. Lastly, through research and interviews, I will show the types of spaces that are required in urban the environment for traditional spiritual practices to remain part of everyday life.
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    Community (mis)participation in Urban Green Space restoration: A case of the Wilds Nature Reserve, Johannesburg
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Marere, Nozipho P.; Leuta, Tsepang
    There is a notable rise in privatized urbanism in South Africa, a trend which re/produces urban inequalities. This research sought to determine whether community involvement in urban green space restoration follows the same trend of private urbanism resulting in an apartheid legacy of separate development, exclusion and segregation. The research followed the qualitative case study approach. Data collection instruments used were semi-structured interviews, with a sample size of twenty-two individuals, selected through a combination of convenience and purposive sampling. Participant observations, which were done over a period of three months, also supplemented by photographs of biophysical elements of note highlighted by participants through transect walks. Findings from this research established that community participation at the Wilds is informal. Challenges in the way of a working and effective public-private partnership include power dynamics, lack of trust and bureaucracy. However, in the absence of a formal working relationship, a novel form of co-production occurs resulting in spaces of hybrid character. Hybrid spaces are therefore the medium of (re)production of power, privilege, exclusion and inequality. Main groups excluded from participation in restoration include Black people, women and children. Their exclusion is based on social class or income level, level of education and awareness and vulnerability of physical assault and abuse. A recommendation for future research is an exploration of local systems of innovation by young people in Urban Green Space development and management.
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    Exploring Developing Economies: Emerging Local Economies and Displaced Urbanisation: The Case of KwaMhlanga
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Shibambu, Nhlalala
    This research explores the economic evolution of KwaMhlanga, a settlement in Mpumalanga province, within the context of debates over displaced urbanism—a concept that describes how people living in areas that were developed under Apartheid's forced relocations, which are far from urban centres and densely populated, are developing informal economies to sustain themselves (Mosiane and Gotz, 2021). The study investigates whether KwaMhlanga represents a form of displaced urbanism and examines its potential to function as a viable economic node. It builds on Mosiane and Gotz’s (2021) framework, which characterizes displaced urbanism as communities developing informal economies and modern infrastructure despite historical displacements. The research evaluates KwaMhlanga's economic potential by analysing policy, infrastructure, land use regulations, and the roles of local institutions, traditional authorities, and small businesses. The research methods that were used were semi-structured interviews with the Ndebele Traditional Authority and Thembisile Hani Local Municipal Official and business owners located along the R573. Observations using Google Earth were made of the KwaMhlanga crossroads and the businesses located there, these observations were mapped. Findings suggest that while KwaMhlanga is evolving economically in a limited way, with some growth of small scale businesses and the development of a mall, challenges such as inadequate services and weak institutional support hinder its development as a functional economic node. The study’s limitations include the inability to interview formal businesses at the KwaMhlanga Shopping Complex and limited sample size due to businesses unwillingness to be interviewed.
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    Designing for Comm[unity] Em[power]ment: A sustainable multi-purpose sports facility for social and environmental Impact
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Buthelezi, Mvelo Hilton Nkosinathi; Gantner, Garret
    This master’s thesis focuses on the critical need for sports infrastructure in Africa, particularly in underdeveloped regions such as Alexandra Township. Sports are hindered by inadequate infrastructure and neglect, limiting potential for social and economic progress on the continent. This thesis attempts to create a multi-purpose sports complex in Alexandra Township that encourages community engagement, social empowerment, and environmental sustainability while also meeting immediate infrastructure demands. The primary goal of this thesis is to construct a sports facility that can accommodate people of all ages and ability levels, fostering an active lifestyle and improving physical and mental well-being. The planned sports complex integrates adaptable architecture, including flexible and modular features to meet changing demands.These adaptable modules are intended for application in a variety of communities across the country, maintaining the facility’s long-term usefulness. Beyond typical sporting activities, the stadium will incorporate mixed-use facilities with amenities such as educational rooms, leisure spaces, cafés, retail sections, and green spaces. An agriculture facility will also aid to cheap distribution of fresh goods throughout the neighborhood. Waste management solutions will help to make the environment cleaner and healthier. To summarize, the goal of this architectural master’s thesis is to design an adaptable, community-centered sports facility near Alexandra Township that not only provides accessible and high-quality sports infrastructure but also promotes social cohesion, environmental stewardship, and personal development. The facility aims to catalyze positive change by blending adaptable architectural concepts and mixed-use areas, influencing other communities to promote sports, community participation, and environmental responsibility. We hope to create a pattern for future architectural endeavors in the region by contributing to the overall well-being and empowerment of residents in Alexandra Township through this thesis.