Browsing by Author "Comrie, Henri"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    East City Precinct Design Code: Redevelopment through form-based codes
    (2014) Muller, Wayne; Comrie, Henri; Kammeyer, Heinrich; Mentz, Adrian
    This thesis confines itself to a consideration of urban development opportunity in the East City Precinct through the understanding of it former historical character and memory which can be implemented through Form Based Codes. It locates the design process in the sub-regional context and puts forward notional spatial proposal for the physical area of the East City Precinct and its surrounds. The application of theory is tested at precinct level and emphasis remains firmly on the public elements ordering the spatial structure. With all these considerations, this dissertation presents a piece of history of District Six and the importance of memory in relation to the East City. This contested site of memory and heritage informs the area’s contextual development amid the often-essentialising multicultural in particular to the ‘new South Africa’. In turn, an understanding of District Six’s urban quality which frames the intricacies of a restitution and redevelopment plan. It also illustrates the genuine uniqueness of its principles of urbanism, in contrast to market-oriented urban development which reproduces spaces of social fragmentation, exclusion and inequality. Indeed, the vision for the East City concerns long-term urban sustainability, an investment in a city of fluid spaces, a city of difference and meaning. This dissertation contends that there is a real role for urban and social sustainability in the redevelopment potential of the study area, with its historical, social, cultural and symbolic significance. Therefore its outline the key elements and principles for a development framework prepared for the study area and discuss the prospects for urban and social sustainability. This will inform where and how to apply form based codes with in the East City context.
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    The Free[way] City: An exploration of Inner City Renewal through the removal of Settlers Way Freeway in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
    (2014) Wasserman, P C; Comrie, Henri; Mentz, Adrian; Kammeyer, Heinrich
    The inner city of Port Elizabeth has faced a series of problems since the 1960s. These include forced removals, relocation of critical functions and the implementation of obdurate infrastructure. One of the most destructive of these forces was the construction of the Settlers Way Freeway in 1963. This freeway cuts through the inner city and had many buildings and neighbourhoods demolished for it to be realised. Since then it has caused more harm than good by only serving a select few while degrading inner city public space for others. This project investigates the possibility of the demolition of the Settlers Way freeway as it is essential for the appropriate future growth of Port Elizabeth's City centre. This will also have a large positive impact on the metro area in terms of spatial and economic benefit. The city centre is centrally located in the region and has a major spatial advantage in terms of trade and commerce. This alone should be enough reason for concern when it comes to social and economic reasons. An argument is formulated for the removal of the Settlers Way freeway and suggests a viable and realistic alternative in its place. This is done through a lens of economic rejuvenation of the inner city by using the freeway removal as a catalytic device for future development by unlocking land that is currently underutilised. This initiative is now more urgent than ever as continued urban sprawl is occurring on the peripheries of the city in the form of shopping malls drawing much needed economic investment further away from the city centre.
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    A people-oriented port city : urban rejuvenation: Port Louis
    (2015) Guttee, Ranvir Singh; Comrie, Henri; Crooijmans-Lemmer, Hedwig
    This urban design thesis is a study of the urban issues and design principles pertinent to Port Cities. 'Man meets water': Our primordial psyche Man has had a relationship with water since time immemorial. Moving freely from earth to water is an activity which comes naturally to the human being. According to Eastern philosophy, Earth is the most important element. It comprises matter in a solid state, represents stability, physicality and gravity. Water is the second most significant element and represents fluidity, flexibility and adaptability (Ninjutsu.co.uk). Man meets water, in other words, is the moving from one realm to the other. In urban design terms, where 'Man meets water' is the 'in between' space - the interface. This is the area where two worlds come together - an area of interaction, interconnectedness and interrelationship. The area of study is a precinct of Port Louis - the interface between land and sea, as shown in Figure 1.1. The original urban quality of Port Louis has become degraded as a result of post-independence modernisation. The interface has been reshaped spatially and functionally. The original city of Port Louis was founded on the harbour, which was central to social, commercial and residential life. Today, the harbour is segregated from the city fabric. This thesis aims to explore the nature and design principles of places and spaces that lie within this land-water interface in order to formulate an urban design proposal wherein the land is reconnected to the water - an urban intervention for a people-oriented port city.
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    The Safer [D]urban Core: An exploration of urban safety and the use of situational crime prevention in the inner-city of Durban, South Africa
    (2014) Steenkamp, Ilana; Comrie, Henri
    This thesis explores the notions of safety and the usage of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design methods for creating safer spaces within cities. The project examines the inner city of Durban specifically, grappling with the issues of crime and grime and the perceptions of the city as a space of vulnerability. The project examines the historical and current context of Durban with regards to perceptions held about the inner city. The Project then delves into the links between crime and the city and examines the extremities of crime within South Africa and Durban. It then turns to a study of crime and place theories which attempt to explain the connections between the offender, the targets and the location in which crimes take place. Particular attention is paid to possible implications for urban form. The thesis also investigates various ways in which Durban’s landowners, developers and residents have attempted to create islands of safety throughout the city, after which international and local examples of urban crime prevention are discussed. From these theories and case studies, a few principles are highlighted as guidelines for producing safer spaces. An exploration of design strategies follows. The city is analysed according to a set of elements of the city or a layering of the city on the scale of the Central Business District. This is then taken into a proposal for development. A precinct scale analysis investigates the finer details of Pickering precinct, an area notorious for criminal activity. Such detailed explorations of the built fabric are not possible at the scale of the city, but have an impact on smaller urban acupuncture proposals on a street segment scale. A number of routes that run through the precinct are then explored in terms of potential adjustments to the built fabric, in order to support pedestrian activity and safety along the routes. This project illustrates an alternative approach to creating safe spaces within the urban environment of Durban. Through providing a safe urban core, the city can allow for positive interactions to take place within common spaces and hence fulfil the role that cities have to play in fostering growth in society.
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    Solving residual spaces: a template for cities in envisaging disregarded public space into places that encourage and promote socio-economic development and prioritise pedestrianism
    (2015) Rawoot, Azraa; Comrie, Henri
    This document intends to chronicle a narrative working process which is the basis of this urban design project. The research involves a sixmonth investigation into current urban design theory and practice applied to the city as well as site scale. The design commences with an intention which is informed by a combination of theoretical, surrogate, factual and contextualised factors. The process has been one of reconciling the blurred boundaries between conflicting ideas of a design that is economically realisable in the short term and experimenting with new and largely unexplored ways of city-making in radically changing cities in which urban land is scarce and increasingly valuable. Parts One and Two of this document are intended to be independent of Parts Three and Four. The initial chapters are an investigation into challenges of any modern city and the final chapter is an illustration of a solution to only chosen site.
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    [Urban] anchoring of Retreat Road: The contribution of a [transverse connector] into an urban development corridor
    (2009) Beetul, Sajjiv Ashvind; Comrie, Henri
    This dissertation investigates the urban anchoring of Retreat Road in the Southern Suburbs as a potential transverse connector for the metropolitan urban corridor around Main Road linking Central Cape Town and the Southern Suburbs in the Western Cape of South Africa. Its close proximity to Main Road makes it into a potential transverse connector providing energy and life to that portion of the metropolitan urban corridor. Even though showing great promise as a possible localised activity strip, the development of Retreat Road seems to have been frozen in time. The awkward geometry of the connection of Retreat Road to Main Road is one of the main causes of this stagnation. To facilitate the flow of energy, this dissertation proposes the realignment of Retreat Road, thus giving birth to a New Retreat Road while at the same time keeping the Old Retreat Road. This new simple geometry also provides the possibility of creating a gateway for Retreat Road on Main Road. Urban anchoring of Retreat Road is investigated through an urban design strategy of a properly structured public realm. Theory along the lines of Dynamic City, The Capital Web and Neo-Rationalism was very useful in understanding the incremental, catalytic and complex nature of urbanism and subsequently the notion of public anchoring. Various case studies and precedents, local ones as far as possible, were consulted with a view to understand the practical application of theory. A significant conclusion drawn from this investigation is that a transverse connector is very crucial in aiming to achieve integration between an urban corridor and the surrounding tissue falling short of the corridor. Transverse connectors are usually associated with nodes or cores of high energy in a corridor. Usually, these cores situate themselves around or next to a transport interchange as an urban anchoring element.