4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37773
Browse
Search Results
Item Assessing how an alternative waste management system may facilitate subaltern and environmental justice: a thematic analysis of a zero waste pilot case study in South Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Van Biljon (née Swart), Johanna Yvonne (Jani)Waste is socio-political – a symbol of our economic and consumerist society. Since the Industrial Revolution, our manufacturing processes and materialist lifestyles produced more hazardous and nondegradable externalities than we were prepared to deal with. With environmental and consumer pressure building, we are at a crossroads between continuing with business-as-usual and justly transitioning over to a systemically different, zero waste society where the focus on waste management shifts to waste prevention so that, like Karl Marx, it challenges and eventually changes production processes, ownership, consumption, and ultimately, our connection with the natural environment and each other. South Africa’s waste landscape is characterised by two things: its reliance on landfills and the thousands of informal waste pickers reclaiming the value of discarded goods. So, what could a zero waste system that is just toward the environment and the subaltern look like in South Africa? In exploring this question, I considered the work of waste pickers, as well as the case of an urban composting initiative for an inner-city market supporting the zero waste philosophy. Synthesising these, I imagine a gradual, deep bottom-up transformation in attitude, behaviour and eventually infrastructure with regard to our relationship with the environment, ownership and use, as well as the revaluation of the material and therefore waste ‘management’. The role and insights of waste pickers and local, informal economies will be crucial and influential. Though South African waste pickers do not yet participate in the organic waste stream on a noticeable scale, the prioritisation of composting by the Warwick Zero Waste project and the National Waste Management Strategy sees the recovery and local, low-tech, low-cost composting of organic waste as a vital starting point in establishing a more regenerative food and waste system that will build solidItem Waste Age - living in a throwaway society: searching for sustainability in eastern Johannesburg(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-02) Chapel, Clare Alison; Mkhabela, SolamThe ever-increasing urban population worldwide, particularly in Africa, reinforces the pressing need for compact mixed-use neighbourhoods. My chosen study area, Bertrams and the greater Bez Valley, are ideally situated as inner-city suburbs close to the CBD. The area currently has residential, institutional, industrial and commercial zones and is occupied by a diverse range of multi-cultural residents. As experienced in many parts of Johannesburg, the infrastructure challenges of collapsing streets and pavements, lack of effective waste management, illegal dumping, decaying buildings, and neglected public space are realities that the residents navigate daily. Various creative nodes, NGOs and outreach programs are active in the area, enabling residents to participate and benefit from initiatives to uplift and empower the community. The privately developed complex of Victoria Yards serves as a creative centre, with artists’ studios and programs occupying space in refurbished industrial buildings. This complex is physically isolated from the community, however much of the community orientated initiatives are spearheaded from here, and from the adjacent Nando’s Head Office. The ongoing restorative work being done to the Jukskei River, which is initially exposed to daylight close to the complex, begins outside Victoria Yards. This vital work, implemented by employed community members, is spreading along the valley, clearing and cleaning the banks of the Jukskei River and reintroducing indigenous plants and grasses. My proposal looks at the development of a journey along the river, using its path as a connector between the existing creative programs and public spaces, and new adaptive waste-based interventions, stitching together a continuous urban experience that will focus awareness on the river, and highlight the forgotten beauty of this inner-city space.Item The In & Between: Weaving social interaction through mixed-use development in Robertsha(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024-02) Ashton, James; Jivan, SundeepCritically analysing the need for social interaction through communities. Robertsham is a location that contains a rich history dating back to 1948 when it was first established. The study focuses on the public park that splits the residential and industrial areas of Robertsham. The park was once a social interactive space for families within Robertsham and has now become a barren underutilised space. The design aims to include spaces that address an issue within each sector of Robertsham. A mixed-use development aided to serve the community as well as bring back the nature of the park with the main routes being social interaction, safety, and connection.