2. Academic Wits University Research Outputs (All submissions)
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Item Women and COVID-19 in Gauteng(Gauteng City-Region Obervatory, 2020-08-31) Parker, Alexandra; Maree, Gillian; Götz, Graeme; Khanyile, SamkelisiweThis August 2020 Map of the Month is presented as a story map and draws on the infection data from the Gauteng Department of Health (6 March - 7 August 2020) and GCRO’s March 2020 COVID-19 vulnerability indices based on Quality of Life V (2017/18) survey data, to understand the ways in which women may be more vulnerable than men to COVID-19. We also explore some of the implications for this gender bias in the number of positive cases.Item The impact of COVID-19 on long term care facilities(Gauteng City-Region Obervatory, 2020-10-01) Maree, Gillian; Khanyile, SamkelisiweFor those who live in long term care facilities the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been particularly devastating. For the September Map of the Month we explore the impacts on long term care facilities in Gauteng by mapping the known cases in these facilities across the province. Many, if not most, long term care facilities have had cases of COVID-19 across Gauteng. Most of these have been in retirement and frail care facilities, but facilities for people with mental and physical disabilities have also been affected. To date at least 243 facilities have recorded 2606 cases across Gauteng Province since March 2020. Many long term care facilities were overwhelmed or left unprepared for the impact of COVID-19. By now long term care facilities have been under lockdown for 6 months, with many residents isolated from family and friends. The move to level 1 and increased visitations to these facilities will be welcomed but comes at a high risk of new cases. High levels of vigilance needs to remain into the foreseeable future.Item Gauteng going dark: How nighttime light intensity changed during early stages of lockdown(Gauteng City-Region Obervatory, 2020-07-21) Naidoo, Yashena; Maree, GillianThe COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa has had far reaching impacts on society and the economy. A national disaster was declared on 15 March 2020 and by 26 March 2020 strong restrictive measures were put in place to manage the spread of the disease. The tightest restrictions were in place for lockdown level 5 which lasted from 26 March 2020 until the end of April 2020. During level 5 all movement was restricted and only essential workers were permitted to work. The country's borders were closed; interprovincial movement was banned; all gatherings except for small funerals were prohibited and schools, restaurants and non-essential businesses were closed. With movement restricted, activity was confined largely to domestic spaces. In the July 2020 Map of the month, we use nighttime satellite data to see whether night light intensity across the Gauteng City-Region reflects the impact of lockdown. We looked at how light intensity changed from before lockdown (March 2020) to lockdown level 5 (April 2020). In the full write up, we also show a second map of the difference between level 5 night light brightness (April 2020) and level 4 brightness (May 2020). The maps show a clear dimming of light intensity which resulted from reduced nighttime activity during the various lockdown levels. Roads were noticeably darker with far less vehicle traffic on main highways and many areas with usually vibrant activity at night were darker. As restrictions have eased, light intensity and nighttime activity have increased again across the GCR.Item Urban agriculture in the Gauteng City-Region’s green infrastructure network(Gauteng City-Region Observatory, 2020-07) Camargo Nino, Eliana; Lane, Sam; Okano, Kanako; Rahman, Irvanu; Peng, Bo; Benn, Hannah; Culwick Fatti, Christina; Maree, Gillian; Khanyile, Samkelisiwe; Washbourne, Dr CarlaAs cities in developing countries contend with the challenges of urbanisation, they need to rethink the traditional modes of urban planning and development. Part of this logic is to cater for growing populations without compromising urban environments and social development. Green infrastructure is one such approach that aims to meet infrastructure and service needs while ensuring the proper functioning of natural ecological systems. Urban agriculture can create multifunctional green assets in the form of urban farms and food gardens. When planned accordingly, urban agriculture can contribute to addressing a range of issues in the Gauteng City-Region (GCR). In the City of Johannesburg, the expansion of urban agriculture, and green infrastructure more broadly, aligns with and could contribute to multiple development goals. This paper interrogates whether a green infrastructure approach could offer the potential to improve urban agriculture efforts if the approach can be mainstreamed into municipal development processes. Realising the benefits of urban agriculture hinges on integrating these approaches into municipal planning and projects, as well as on improving the productivity of ecosystem service delivery from both green infrastructure and urban agriculture. The focus of this report is pertinent in light of persistent infrastructure and service delivery backlogs in the GCR, considerable challenges around food systems and food security, and a highly unequal urban spatial form – all of which impact the distribution of infrastructure and services, both green and conventional. This report argues that a green infrastructure approach is valuable for drawing important connections between focus areas related to urban agriculture that are traditionally siloed. The analysis focuses on urban agriculture in the GCR’s green infrastructure network using urban food gardens in the City of Johannesburg as the unit and site of analysis. This occasional paper falls under the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) Green Assets and Infrastructure research and links urban agriculture and green infrastructure in the GCR together for two main reasons. First, the paper outlines how food gardens are a key component of the interconnected set of the natural and constructed infrastructure systems within the city. This framing helps to link urban agriculture and food systems research to broader municipal development goals in terms of infrastructure and service delivery. Second, the paper outlines evidence of the wider social impact of food gardens which validates the ability of green infrastructure to meet social, economic and public health goals (e.g. social cohesion, employment, economic resilience) beyond a purely environmental focus. Understanding food gardens as multifunctional green assets is one way to promote and secure investment in urban agriculture in the GCR.Item Mapping vulnerability to COVID-19 in Gauteng(Gauteng City-Region Observatory: Map of the Month, March 2020, 2020-03-20) de Kadt, Julia; Gotz, Graeme; Hamann, Christian; Maree, Gillian; Parker, AlexandraThe world is reeling as COVID-19 infections spread. This Map of the Month aids an understanding of the localised risk factors that might contribute to transmission of COVID-19, or amplify its health and socio-economic impacts in Gauteng communities. It explores two key themes: (1) the multiple risk factors to maintaining social distance and preventative hygiene; and (2) the multiple risk factors for health and socio-economic vulnerability during an outbreak or broader shutdown.