Exploring the effect of spatial planning in delivering access to socio-economic opportunities to address spatial inequality - The case of the Tswaing Mega Project and the Marikana-Soutpan community
Date
2024-02
Authors
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Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
South Africa is challenged by persistent spatial inequality inherited from previous regimes, which contributes to various socio-economic challenges and hinders the sustainable development of urban areas. Consequently, poverty tends to be more severe in previously marginalised areas where poor residents, the majority of them being black, still suffer from a lack of proximity to adequate socio-economic opportunities (Harrison & Todes, 2013). Several urban and spatial policies have been adopted and implemented, but spatial fragmentation persists. The Department of Human Settlements proposed adopting Mega Projects to develop large-scale, new housing projects integrated with infrastructure, in greenfield sites which are located in urban peripheries. Mega Projects also aim at attracting private sector investment. However, this strategy has been criticised for disregarding planning ideals of compactness and integration with existing economic centres and job opportunities, and for putting forward plans that lack details (Ballard, 2017; Turok, 2015). Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate how spatial planning and infrastructure investment could be used to promote access to socio-economic opportunities for marginalised people in spatially fragmented urban areas by focusing on the case of the Tswaing Mega-Project in the Marikana-Soutpan community in the periphery of the City of Tshwane. Unlike other Mega Projects designed on vacant land, the Tswaing Mega Project covers an already existing informal area, the Marikana-Soutpan informal settlement. Qualitative research methods informed the research, drawing from three types of primary and secondary data: (1) qualitative interviews, (2) documentation review and (3) participant observation. Research findings describe how the Tswaing Mega Project plan, launched in 2015, experienced delays and was eventually cancelled, with the adoption of the Upgrading of Informal Settlement Programme (UISP) in October 2022. Additionally, the long waiting period for government intervention and the lack of transparency from the government have proven to worsen the state of marginalisation for the Marikana-Soutpan Community. At the completion of this research project, the Marikana-Soutpan community is in for another, possibly long, waiting period as the UISP initiates. Therefore, this research speaks to the analysis that is critical of Mega Projects for offering poorly detailed project plans, lacking transparency, and lacking consideration of the complexities of human settlement development. Based on the findings, it is argued that the now-revoked Tswaing Mega Project has contributed to the further marginalisation of the Marikana-Soutpan community.
Description
A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, School of Architecture and Planning, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Development Planning, in 2024.
Keywords
Spatial Planning, Spatial Inequality, Socio-economic Opportunities, Tswaing Mega Project, Informal Settlements, Peripheral Settlements, Marikana-Soutpan community, Upgrading of Informal Settlement Programme (UISP), City of Tshwane, South Africa, UCTD
Citation
Malope, Kgomotso Mirriam. (2024). Exploring the effect of spatial planning in delivering access to socio-economic opportunities to address spatial inequality - The case of the Tswaing Mega Project and the Marikana-Soutpan community. [Master;s disseration, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WIReDSpace. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/38866