3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Environmental justice in the context of sustainable urban renewal / regeneration: the case for heritage at Constitution Hill(2010-04-07T12:01:50Z) Van der Merwe, Clinton DavidSince the birth of democracy in South Africa, Urban Geography has experienced many paradigmatic and epistemological shifts; within Human Geography 'planning' faces various challenges in the new Millennium. Environmental management, in light of the emphasis on sustainable development, sees many urban planners and politicians strive to reconcile environmentalism with development that is equitable. The emergence of the environmental justice discourse is significant, since inter-generational justice (as enshrined in sustainable development) is a key issue, this research report used heritage as a lens to explore this complex relationship in regard to urban regeneration. Using a case study approach this report shows the nature and context of postmodern urban environmental management. Special reference to the significance and impact of environmental justice on the cityscape of Johannesburg is made, as this report suggests that environmental justice is a useful conceptual framework to give depth and meaning to sustainable development, in urban regeneration as a policy objective. The use of Constitution Hill as a case study placed the project in a post-apartheid South African context.Item Socio-spatial exclusions and the urbanisation of injustice: a case study in northern Johannesburg(2008-03-07T10:15:37Z) Brett, JamesThe dissertation employs insights from critical race theory and the environmental justice literature, questioning the sustainability of dominant state policies concerning development of informal settlements. The work explores spatialized and racialised forms of class and their normalisation in South Africa. Discussion of the rise and redefinition of urban segregation in South Africa notes racialised exclusions have not disappeared with the end of apartheid. Economic supremacy of ‘white’ populations reproduces ‘white’ control – with dirt, crime and disorder constitutive of the pathological spaces of the ‘other’. Second part examines the role of environmental ideas in reproducing ‘white’ spaces of privilege and ‘black’ spaces of degradation. Discussing neo-liberal development, sustainable development and ecological justice in South Africa – the dissertation shows service delivery and housing policy to possess similarities to apartheid projects – with weaknesses of the dominant model failing the requirements of environmental justice. The case study which follows examines a contemporary attempt to relocate an informal settlement sited in an affluent neighbourhood through ‘greenfields’ housing development, revealing environments as contested, with spatial subjugation dramatic and ongoing.