Colonial conceptions and space in the evolution of a city: Evidence from the city of Bloemfontein, 1846-1946
Date
2012
Authors
van der Westhuizen, Diaan
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The South African Journal of Art History
Abstract
Mainstream understanding of how the urban form of South African cities developed over the past century and a half is often traced back to the colonial town plan. Writers argue that the gridiron and axial arrangement were the most important ordering devices. For example, in Bloemfontein—one of the smaller colonial capitals in South Africa— it has been suggested that the axial arrangement became an important device to anchor “the generalist structure of the gridiron within the landscape to create a specific sense of place”. Over the years, the intentional positioning of institutions contributed to a coherent legibility of the city structure in support of British, Dutch, and later apartheid government
socio-political goals. During these eras, it was the colonial conceptions of space that influenced the morphological evolution of the city. This paper suggests that an alternative process guided the expansion of Bloemfontein. Drawing on the theory of natural movement, I suggest that Bloemfontein grew mainly as a result of its spatial configurational properties. Using longitudinal spatial mapping of the city from 1846 - 1946, empirical data from a Space Syntax analysis will be used to construct an argument for the primacy of space as a robust generator of development. The paper offers an alternative interpretation of the interaction between urban morphology and the process of placemaking in a South African city.
Description
Keywords
urban form; colonial cities in South Africa; conceptions of space; place-making; Space
Citation
van der Westhuizen,Diaan. 2012. Colonial conceptions and space in the evolution of a city: Evidence from the city of Bloemfontein, 1846-1946. The South African Journal of Art History 2012