Browsing by Author "Madell, Cecil"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    Applying sustainable urban drainage systems to urban floods management in area 49 planned settlement in Lilongwe City, Malawi
    (2024) Mkombezi, Edda; Madell, Cecil
    This dissertation presents a research conducted by Edda Mkombezi titled: “Applying Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems to Urban Floods Management in Area 49 Planned Settlement in Lilongwe City, Malawi”. Currently, there is a frequent occurrence of urban floods in Lilongwe City with Area 49 being the most hit neighbourhood which is also the study area for this research. Therefore, this requires management using nature-based solutions such as Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS). The main challenge is that SUDS and urban floods management are not adequately addressed in the current key spatial planning frameworks of Lilongwe City. There is a misalignment of the existing key spatial planning frameworks as far as SUDS implementation and integration are concerned. Thus, there is a need to examine what can be done in order to integrate SUDS into the key spatial planning frameworks. This includes addressing sustainable transition language, promoting participation of residents and re-imagining the role of spatial planning in water governance. The aim of this dissertation is to examine how SUDS can be integrated into the key spatial planning frameworks as a management mechanism for urban floods. This aim was achieved by collecting data through case study and discourse analysis methods. The collected data was then analysed using discourse analysis and content analysis. The results of this study show that there is room for the integration of SUDS in the key spatial planning frameworks but not as an urban flood management measure. Rather SUDS are being proposed as one of the climate-resilient infrastructure that the city needs. On the other hand, residents of Area 49 have their own knowledge and ways of managing urban floods which can be incorporated into the spatial planning frameworks. The language of sustainable transitions used in the key spatial planning frameworks is not comprehensive and misaligned. The knowledge gained from this study can inform policy review and formulation in disaster risk management and how spatial planning can be used in water governance of neighbourhoods in order to have proactive, context and site-specific responses to urban floods.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Barriers to the development of affordable housing on well-located land: A qualitative study of planning regulations and by-laws in Cape Town
    (2023) Briel, Sofia; Madell, Cecil
    The notion of adequate housing considers the economic, political, and social components of housing which in Cape Town translates to housing that is well located, affordable, and accessible and creates urban place-making. Both state-subsidised and private development has failed to deliver adequate housing in Cape Town, exacerbating an existing housing and affordable housing shortage and perpetuating spatial inequality in the city. Planning system plays a dynamic role in enabling adequate housing. It is important to distinguish between planning systems that ‘control' and ones that are ‘flexible'. This study critically explores the role of planning regulations and by-laws in the development of adequate housing by means of state-subsidised and other housing instruments. The case of the City of Cape Town's planning regulations, related by-laws and housing policies is the source of ethnographic, empirical findings. These qualitative findings have been generated by way of interviews – with professional planners working in the public and private sectors as well as members of nongovernmental organizations concerned with housing and development in Cape Town – and analysis of planning regulation and policy documentation and secondary data from media sources. A theoretical framework consisting of literature on well-located, affordable, and accessible housing, and the nature and role of planning systems in relation to adequate housing, is the basis of the analysis and synthesis of the research findings. This case study shows that in Cape Town elements of the planning regulations and by-laws act as barriers to the development of adequate affordable housing. But it is not simply the existence of these elements that is the issue. How the planning regulations and by-laws as well as other planning systems are used is also of importance. Non-statutory planning tools address adequate affordable housing to a greater degree than the regulations and by-laws, however, these tools have weak paths to implementation within the current planning systems. So, while the intentions and ideas pertaining to adequate housing do exist to a certain degree in the planning systems, there is a gap in implementation. Additionally, multiple barriers outside of the domain of the planning regulations and by-laws emerged from the findings. Overall, this study indicates that aspects of the planning regulations and by-laws are hindering the development of affordable housing in Cape Town. However, they are but one of many barriers to the development of adequate housing on well-located land in the city.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Inner-City Housing: An Exploration of Alternative Approaches for City Regeneration through the 'Housing Inclusivity Lens'
    (2022) Mapiye, Karen; Madell, Cecil
    Housing unaffordability has become a common phenomenon around the globe. The rate of demand for affordable housing around inner cities has seen a rise over the past couple of decades, yet the supply has not been able to keep up and has fallen far behind. In South Africa, historically, the apartheid regulations and practices forcefully removed families of colour from inner-city areas. The current state-led housing programmes in South Africa have continued to perpetuate these apartheid policies through continuing to provide housing on the periphery of the towns and cities. The private sector, incentivised by the State's inner-city urban regeneration programmes, has inevitably accelerated spatial segregation through systematic gentrification. As a result, inner cities have become unaffordable, further distancing the previously disadvantaged from economic and social opportunities and financial participation that are concentrated within inner-city areas. There is therefore a need to consider housing inclusivity in development processes and policies and more so, practical approaches and mechanisms on how it can be implemented with inner-city developments. Concurrently, the concept of affordability needs to be explored to understand what makes inner-city housing unaffordable. This research aimed to understand the underlying causes of unaffordability in the inner cities of South Africa, particularly in Cape Town, and the roles of the public and private sectors regarding the problems and solutions. The research intended to find appropriate responses and solutions to affordable inner-city housing provision, by examination of the policies and cost drivers that affect the development process and how their negative impact can be mitigated. This study purported to aid in finding a resolve for apartheid spatial planning, whilst building a broad understanding to the key issues around gentrification, inclusivity, and the ‘right to the city' in the South African context. To identify alternative development approaches for more inclusive cities, the study made use of in-depth literature analysis and case study research which includes qualitative knowledge gained from interviews with the various role players in the housing development process. The study employed a purposive and snowball sampling method to acquire eleven participants that were interviewed. The research ascertained that the lack of policy alignment between the national government and the City of Cape Town and unrefined approval processes are aiding in increasing development costs, which are then transferred to the end-user. The research further determined that the lack of well-located affordable land possess a great challenge, yet there are large tracts of state-owned land in well located areas affordable housing development could occupy. Whilst the rest of the world moves forward in adopting alternative building technology that has advanced the industry, South Africa remains on the backfoot, though reluctancy to integrate these new methods into the traditional brick and mortar way of developments. A key recommendation is for the public sector to timeously release public-owned inner-city land that is well-located for affordable housing purposes, whilst also enabling a quicker development approval process for affordable housing projects. This amongst other interventions will serve as incentive to developers in the era of implementing the inclusionary housing policy which has stirred much controversy in its wake.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Institutional barriers to an intermodal integrated public transport system in the City of Cape Town
    (2023) Jacobs, Ross; Madell, Cecil
    Across the world, public transport is acknowledged as a crucial feature of any major city. In many countries, an efficient public transport system has been achieved by establishing an intermodal integrated transport system. In other words, integrating public transport modes for better coordination and efficiency. However, public transport in the City of Cape Town is inefficient and lacks coordination. Thus, the City of Cape Town experiences high volumes of congestion as a result of increased private car use. Over the years, the City has produced many plans and policies in line with the national and provincial legislation to create an intermodal integrated transport system. However, this transport system has yet to materialise. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the institutional barriers that impact the extent to which an urban public transport system can be integrated. The aim was achieved through collecting data from several interviews with public and private professionals involved with transport in the City of Cape Town. The interview data was analysed in relation to literature and policy documents. The results of this study show that fragmentation of the ownership of public transport modes is one of the most significant and overarching barriers to integration. Solving this fragmenting has proved difficult due to continuous institutional restructuring at local and national government levels, which results in the draining way of leadership and capacity. Another significant barrier to integration is the unique difficulties of integrating the paratransit (minibus taxi) sector as it is fragmented, operates at an enormous scale, experiences resistance to integration and is characterised by instability as a result of violence. Political tensions between opposing political parties at different levels of government and within the City of Cape Town also acted as barriers since they resulted in instability and a lack of coordination. Funding constraints for various aspects of integration are also a barrier. Finally, one of the most profound barriers was that although there are plenty of policies for integration throughout the three spheres of government, the findings suggest a lack of common vision and political will behind policies hinders implementation. This is coupled with siloed planning and old mindsets. Some also argue that many overarching policy visions for integration may be entirely incorrect in the first place.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    The Development of Inner-City Inclusionary Housing: The Case of Cape Town
    (2022) Knight, Jason; Madell, Cecil
    This minor dissertation investigates the challenges experienced by private sector developers in supplying inner-city inclusionary housing and explores possible interventions by the state to overcome these challenges to advance such developments. This research used a case study method with various primary and secondary data collection techniques such as a literature review, precedent analysis, development appraisal and semi-structured interviews. The data analysis was undertaken using pattern matching and descriptive statistics. The research findings put forward specific state interventions such as inclusionary zones, pro-active up-zoning, area medium income, in-lieu fees, density bonuses, fast tracking planning applications, access to subsidies, making well-located public land available, and access to infrastructure. The most significant context appropriate intervention identified was the need to fast track statutory approval processes for inclusionary housing development applications, density bonus and making well-located public land available at a reduced price to assist private developers to supply inclusionary housing developments in inner-city areas such as Cape Town, South Africa.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    The Housing Conditions of Township Neighbourhoods: Assessing Housing Performance in Langa, Cape Town
    (2023) Gool, Zayd; Madell, Cecil
    The shortage in the provision of housing is one of the most urgent needs facing the majority of South Africans. The provision of proper housing has shown the stark difference in equality within the postApartheid housing landscape of South Africa. Much of the Apartheid regime had led to racial segregation through the forcible displacement of people from their places of employment and residence to government created peripheral townships neighbourhoods (Dewar & Uytenbogaardt, 1977:4). This had resulted in people of colour living within neighbourhoods with poor and subpar access to resources such as education, sanitation, employment, and critical opportunities for growth such as employment. These disadvantages had led to a major decline in the housing conditions associated with these township neighbourhoods. This dissertation set out to explore the housing conditions of township neighbourhoods within South Africa through the means of establishing a conceptual analytical framework. This provides a basis in which to assess township neighbourhoods throughout the country, through a shared history, which has shaped the housing conditions of township neighbourhoods. The conceptual analytical framework is based upon the performance criteria previously established by Dewar & Uytenbogaardt (1977). This dissertation aimed to provide a basis for which further research into housing conditions could be conducted. The main research question was focused on the physical and anthropological lens of housing conditions, and a recommended direction for further research could be that of the political and financial aspects surrounding housing condition within township neighbourhoods. The conceptual analytical framework had centred around the criteria of liveability, affordability, and sustainability, which is encapsulated by housing performance within township neighbourhoods and its relationship with scale, built form, elements of neighbourhood design, and activities. The conceptual analytical framework had been used as the basis of this dissertation to highlight the intricacies of housing conditions within township neighbourhoods as well as providing insights as to the various components surrounding it such as tenure options, housing environment and services and facilities associated with these neighbourhoods. It has also provided an understanding of the importance of the historical and contemporary interlinkages associated with housing conditions to be highlighted due to its immense impact on township neighbourhood residents' way of life.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    Tourism as a local economic development strategy in townships. Langa, Cape Town
    (2024) Maraka, Limpho Mokakose; Madell, Cecil
    According to Blakely (1989) local economic development is a process by which local government, community-based groups manage their existing resources to enter in a new partnership arrangement with the private sector or each other to create new partnership arrangements with the private sector to create new jobs and stimulate economic activity in a well-defined economic zone. The primary goal of local economic development is the creation of business development and increase the variety of jobs. Township tourism has been a growing phenomenon representing attractions within impoverished areas. The growth of township tourism has been attributed to the prevalence of rich culture and history that presents a special interest or niche cultural heritage tourism that offers tourist an ‘authentic' experience into townships (Booyens, 2021). The commercialisation of township tours as leisure activities has led to the popularity of township tourism suggesting that there is a strong relationship between tourism and socio-economically marginalised people (Booyens and Rogerson, 2019). Regardless of the limited or inadequate provisions of infrastructure in townships these areas present strong attractiveness to the international market. South African townships represent a creative consumption focused economy, where the elements of culture and heritage encourage active learning and participation experiences, the development of cultural clusters and creative event (Booyens and Rogerson, 2019). The benefits of township tourism to the wider market are greatly explored however of concern is to whether the locals are able to benefit from township tourism in creating employment opportunities and alleviating poverty. Hence the aspect of slum tourism referring to the voyeurism and marketing of slums (Franzel et al, 2015). It thus becomes important in investigating tourism as an appropriate local economic development strategy within townships in an effort to understand if and how tourism-based development can be an appropriate local economic development strategy in alleviating unemployment and poverty in poor communities. The study draws from established literature and interviews using Langa in Cape Town as a case study in attaining the prerequisites for tourism to work within townships.