Re-assembling the city: rapid transit as catalyst.

Abstract

The fountainhead of the tramways in South African cities occurred a century ago, when Johannesburg, in particular, experienced horse-drawn trams in the early 1890's. From a rough Babylon, this city has henceforth experienced significant changes in time and space, failing to avoid the desecration of racial segregation and the associated spatial ramifications. The contemporary city hs thus charged with the task of reconstruction and integration to redress the effects of past actions. In parallel, the renslssance of the tramway worldwide, in the form of rapid transit, has brought to light an opportunity to be exploited in the process of re-assembling the fragmented urban form. The catalytic and associated rtpple effects of rapid transit on the urban environment in nearby proximity is, considered critical to both the sustainability of the system and to the environment through which it operates. The underlying approach incorporates the notion of linking history and precedent as a means of instructing future designs. The process Is concerned w!th definition, decomposition, analysis of intermutual links, and re-assembling the whole, to achieve a higher level conceptual abstractlon and understanding. Such an understanding could facilitate the urban designer to maximise the catalytic benefits of a revived urban element.