Gateway to a city: a transport interchange in Vereeniging
Date
2017
Authors
Da Silva, Paulo Sousa Neves
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Abstract
This research report is an exploration of the public arena of a transport interchange in Vereeniging’s urban centre, and the opportunities created within a zone where many people of different backgrounds converge and interact. Therefore the document looks at various forms of transport converging on a single node and how best to integrate these into a single zone where all can feed off one another and enhance the experience within the public transport realm itself.
The divisions of race, class & income cannot be wished away in Vereeniging, therefore the urban context of the inner city needs to be addressed (this indirectly affects the mindsets of the city’s inhabitants).
The local informal economy, mini-bus taxi industry, bus services and rail have each appropriated responses to overcome the obstacles of segregation. The entrenched presence of the local informal economy and mini-bus taxi industry and its legal conflict with formal urban systems further fuels their independence. This still young newly found independence can mature in an urban intervention in which new rules of engagement are charted and a new tradition in the built environment begins.
Therefore a gateway is a metaphor for the integration of public transport modes into a point of convergence at an urban movement node. It is also here at the threshold of this gateway, in and out of the city, that trade is best exploited and social engagements have the highest potential. It is not about erasing but rather reassembling a viable urban future, through learning from and working within the given conditions
Description
Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Architecture (Professional) to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017
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Citation
Da Silva, Paulo Sousa Neves (2017) Gateway to a city: a transport interchange in Vereeniging, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/23646>