Socio spatial exclusions and policy implications: a case study of Menlyn Park Mall

Abstract

Menlyn Park Mall (MPM) has recently completed an expansion project that has seen it become the largest mall in Africa (Nkosi, 2016). While MPM has significantly increased in size as well as in customer base. Public transportation users have not been provided with safe infrastructure inside or outside the grounds of the mall. Pedestrians need to cross a busy main road (Atterbury Road) or a busy side road (Lois Ave) in order to gain access to the mall and to leave the mall, resulting in pedestrians needing to dodge on-coming traffic when gaining entry into the mall. On numerous occasions pedestrians have been struck by oncoming traffic. This phenomenological study investigates spatial inequality in South African transportation systems by interrogating the implementation of planning policy at MPM, and assessing how the space is affecting public transportation users, as they have been provided with inadequate infrastructure when entering and leaving the mall. The objective of this study was to determine whether planning policy is being effectively interpreted and implemented by local government and the public sector and to interrogate the experiences of public transportation users entering and leaving MPM. The main research question of this study is: Using MPM as a case for spatial inequality in South African urban transportation systems, what are the reasons for the lack of adequate provision of public transportation infrastructure in and around MPM? The study dived into the lived experiences of the users of space around MPM and policy implementation, by way of observations, document analysis, and interviews of public transportation users, the taxi industry, MPM, the Tshwane Municipality, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Planning, monitoring and evaluation and assessment of planning policy. The study found that there is a clear lack of public transportation infrastructure in and around MPM and the majority of pedestrians interviewed do not feel safe entering and leaving the mall. The lack of regulation and formalisation of the minibus taxi industry acts as a barrier to access adequate public transportation infrastructure and causes spatial exclusion; and planning policy currently promotes integrated land use and transportation planning while providing no guide about how to achieve this integration, so municipalities are not empowered to implement it