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.Item Taking streets seriously(Gauteng City-Region Observatory, 2018-02) Harber, Jesse; Parker, Alexandra; Joseph, Kate; Maree, GillianIn many parts of Gauteng, streets are congested with cars, trucks, minibus taxis, pedestrians, and informal traders. In other parts, streets are quiet, underutilised and frequently underserviced. The surface quality of the city-region’s streets varies widely – from the engineering marvel of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project to those (relatively few) remaining gravel or dirt roads. Besides these contrasts, there are many other degrees of quality by which Gauteng’s streets vary. In some parts of Gauteng, streets have become privatised or heavily securitised. The phenomenon of ‘gated’ communities either manifests as enclosed streets within private estates or as closed-off existing public-road networks in older suburban areas. Some streets are patrolled by security guards, lined with high walls and electric fences, and surveyed by CCTV cameras. In busy areas, informal traders sell their wares on the pavement or at traffic lights, adding to the congestion on narrow sidewalks. These activities are subject to varying levels of control and police harassment, where by-laws dictating the use of roads and pavements are haphazardly enforced, with trading goods or café tables randomly confiscated across the city. And, like many other features of the urban environment, the quality of Gauteng’s streets is highly uneven. This Research Report, ‘Taking Streets Seriously’, interrogates how what is considered good urban design and liveability of streets may shift in different contexts. Through a series of case studies it attempts to understand the various logics at play in Gauteng’s streets – not only the logics of their designers, builders or managers, but also of those who inhabit, use, or otherwise interact with them. The studies unearthed a complex interplay of actors on Gauteng streets, with street users, property owners and the state each operating according to their own, diverse agendas, contingent on the particular street in question. The result is streets that are chaotic, contested, and changing over time. It is fair to say that, with only a few exceptions, Gauteng’s streets were and continue to be designed with hostility or a studied disregard towards anyone not behind a steering wheel. Yet despite the dominance of cars, pedestrian activities do proliferate. While indubitably car-centric, they are nonetheless sites of diverse and vibrant 'non-motorised' life. This vibrancy is no thanks to those who constructed and now control our streets. Non-car users have only made their mark by contesting the territory of the street using a variety of tactics. With this Research Report, we hope to prompt a re-imagination of our streets, not least as streets rather than roads, but also as public spaces. Streets comprise by far the majority of public space in contemporary Gauteng, where other forms, such as plazas and parks, are woefully inadequate. Streets taken seriously – not by users, who have little choice, but by their designers, planners, and managers – have enormous potential to enable and encourage public life in Gauteng’s cities. Conversely, streets that are poorly made or neglected outright can constrain both the society and economy of a city. Ultimately, we hope to correct an official urban discourse that overlooks the many uses to which streets are and could be put. In a time of enormous excitement and corresponding investment in our cities, we would like to see some of both these factors directed towards the (re)development of our streets.