Varsity
Date
2019
Authors
Newby, Nathan
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The Metropolitan area of Ekurhuleni
is experiencing a sluggish
transformation in its spatial,
economic and social qualities. The
deserted infrastructure established
in the prosperity of the mining boom
now lays dormant with a tentative
future.
The town of Springs suffers from
a degeneration of commercial and
industrial activity, resulting in the
general abandonment of social
enterprise. Due to the effects of
urban degrowth and urban sprawl,
it has lost its qualities of community
and unified ambition. There is
however, still the opportunity to
change direction.
Local municipalities have developed
a strategic goal of establishing an
Ekurhuleni University. Those with
authority on the initiative have
stated that the “university is no
longer a matter for discussion, it’s
a developmental imperative for the
City’s future and that of the country.”
Their intention realises that the
trial of a new generation striving
for education is founded in their
restricted access to institutions.
However, it neglects the re-imagining
of the existing infrastructure and
facilities.
The intention of this project is to
understand how this decline in
Springs, can form a solution for the
multi-racial, post-colonial town in
a changing country. Bound to this
intention are the questions around
the future of South African tertiary
institutions and the realisation of a
decolonised university.
Though these questions of an entire
university campus, finely inserted
into an existing town, cannot be
answered with this project, a single
inclusive intervention is proposed to
form the spine of a future, expansive
university. It gives an example and
proof that the broader scheme
could result in a new direction for
Ekurhuleni and its people.