OpenUCT :: Browsing by Author "Watson, Vanessa"

Browsing by Author "Watson, Vanessa"

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Open Access
Cape Town's urban food security plan : a conceptual framework for achieving an accessible and healthy urban food system
(2014) Van Breemen, Hayley; Watson, Vanessa
Until recently food insecurity has been thought to be a primarily a rural problem. Local, national and international food security agendas have focused primarily on agricultural production as a means to addressing food insecurity. However more recent analyses of urban food insecurity indicate that is not a result of food shortage but rather food access and affordability. This research focuses on Cape Town as a case study as its rapidly rising urban population, especially amongst the lower income groups, is placing further pressure on the urban food system as the poor are often unable to purchase sufficient food throughout the month due to income constraints. Nevertheless, enhanced food production still remains the cornerstone strategy to alleviate food insecurity and even poverty in Cape Town. The interviews revealed that urban food insecurity is absent from urban planning agendas which has consequently caused food insecurity to proliferate in the city environment, especially amongst the urban poor. Considering that urban food insecurity is a relatively new concept, especially for South Africa, it is important to understand how it manifests itself within urban contexts and understand the determinants of it in Cape Town. The research identified that food moves through the city differently between formal and informal markets and that informal markets tend to have higher unit prices. Regardless of the higher prices of products from informal markets they were still found to be key food sourcing strategy for the urban poor as supermarkets were found to be, for the most part, absent from the Cape Flats area. The challenge for urban planners in Cape Town is to understand how food insecurity manifests itself spatially and to consider what policy approaches are available to them to improve food access and thus food security throughout Cape Town. The intention of this research is to understand the extent of these problems in Cape Town and to develop an Urban Food Security Plan to place urban food systems planning on the planning agenda.
Open Access
A contextual analysis of cycling environment assessment tools in a Cape Town mobility corridor
(2016) Petzer, Brett; Watson, Vanessa; Odendaal, Nancy
Building on recent research on barriers to cycling mobility in low-income South African contexts, this study explored the role of the built environment as a determinant of cycling practices along a mobility corridor in Cape Town, South Africa. The communities surveyed reflect the demographic and income disparities of the city, and their attitudes to cycling and the cycling environment both corroborate existing findings and pose new research questions. In particular, respondents of all income levels showed that they distorted their own journeys by bicycle to avoid areas perceived to have a high risk of criminal activity, even where this meant using routes perceived to present a high risk of physical injury. A second finding was that all road users engage in informal road behaviour, including motorists, and that this is an integral aspect of the study area's mobility culture. The methods used in this study were a series of interviews with three community bicycle-shop owners, supported by focus groups held in each community, and accompanied by a mapping exercise. Fieldwork took the form of accompaniment of youth cycling initiatives and observation of commuting practices by the author. The data obtained in fieldwork were then used to evaluate a selection of cycling environment assessment tools from the USA, UK and Australia, and a pedestrian environment assessment tool from South Africa, in order to evaluate their contextual appropriateness for the local determinants of cycling. The study concludes with recommendations towards a South African cycling environment assessment tool that would capacitate local government and civil society to deliver improvements to the cycling environment and capitalise on existing pro-cycling policies.
Open Access
Development rights and conservation constraints: urban conservation-oriented controls in the City of Cape Town
(2003) Townsend, Stephen S; Japha, Derek Andrew; Watson, Vanessa
The primary intention of this study is to analyse the imposition of urban conservation-oriented controls in the city centre of Cape Town during the period 1986-2000 and to evaluate their efficacy; the secondary, but directly related endeavour, is to explore the effect of these mechanisms on development rights. In brief, the study set out to explore the themes "conservation constraints" and "development rights" and their relationship so that, ultimately, conclusions regarding the efficacy of the conservation-oriented controls can be drawn.
Open Access
Economic growth in Cape Town : An assessment and redirection of Cape Town's Spatial Development Framework
(2013) Myers, Lauren; Watson, Vanessa
A challenge presented to city planners in Cape Town concerns the need to remedy spatial injustices and economic inequalities polarizing the city’s population. However, the current SDF does not sufficiently establish that the Voortrekker Road Corridor is the likely location for Cape Town's future economic backbone. This dissertation questions the feasibility of the Voortrekker Road Corridor project by testing the hypothesis that the city’s future economic backbone is unlikely to be situated along the West-East Voortrekker Road Corridor. This is accomplished by analysing growth trends in the non-residential property market. Evidence supporting the hypothesis was drawn using Geospatial Information System (GIS) analysis of the city’s recent spatial economic development using non-residential building area completions between 2005 and 2012. Informing these findings, interviews were conducted with property brokers, development managers and a senior urban planner at the City of Cape Town in order to gain expert insight into the property market in Cape Town. Rode’s Report analysing Cape Town’s property market for the first quarter of 2013 was also consulted, along with other reputable secondary sources. The results were and formed strong case for the nature of the city’s current spatial-economic trends. It was found that the most rapid rate of spatial economic growth is occurring along two north-south axes towards the northern peripheries. These development axes are broadly situated along N7 on the West Coast and along the R300’s northern segment towards Tygervalley and Brackenfell. What is more, spatial economic development is developing in several nodes, rather than along a single corridor. These have implications for planning to remedy spatial economic injustices in the city. It is argued that the SDF overestimates the capacity of planners to shape the course of spatial development, as is reflected by the encouragement of the East-West Voortrekker Road Corridor vision.
Open Access
From vacant space to active place: leveraging state-owned land for affordable housing - a case study of Youngsfield
(2018) Parker, Megan; Watson, Vanessa
Access to affordable housing in well-located areas across Cape Town is a pressing issue faced by low-income households. Attempts have been made at addressing the issue through affordable and free housing subsidies being implemented, but these have not improved access to opportunities for low-income households. These land distribution patterns are a result of recycled apartheid policies perpetuated by an unequal urban land market that does not allow low-income groups to participate. This research focuses on the spatial fragmentation of apartheid planning and its effect on low-income households in accessing subsidised housing in well-located areas. Through the collation of a spatial development framework, this study addresses the accessibility to affordable housing for low-income households by utilising state-owned land at Youngsfield Military Base and Royal Cape Golf Course in Wetton and Ottery, suburbs bordering the southern suburbs and Cape Flats district. The research process began with a spatial analysis which outlined the metropolitan, sub-metropolitan and site context for potential affordable housing development on well-located state-owned land. This supplied a detailed context for the needs of the site, the environmental context and confirmed the good location of the study area in relation to opportunity areas. Spatial design principles were then chosen to inform the creation of a quality urban environment with high-density mixed-use affordable housing and other economic and amenity opportunities. Relevant housing policies were analysed and ample existing policies were found which address affordable housing implementation in South Africa. Unfortunately, other affordable housing options such as social housing and subsidised loan housing are happening at a slower pace than Breaking New Ground (BNG) subsidised housing. Precedents of affordable and social housing were identified, many of which have been successfully implemented, but some still lack the incorporation of essential spatial concepts that create quality urban environments in residential developments. The concept proposal plan illustrated the use of literature and key spatial concepts informing the development of the site. Essential aspects of development were calculated to facilitate thorough planning for public facilities, public transport and affordable housing implementation. The research included an implementation section which identified the relevant stakeholders who would be engaged with during the planning process and affordable housing implementation. Using the package of plans process, the site was divided into precincts to easily streamline the development of the entire site. Appropriate social housing institutes and affordable housing companies were considered as possible institutions to manage and partially fund developments. Feasibility of cross-subsidisation was considered as a major option during implementation of the long-term phasing of the development. The research and implementation illustrates that by using existing policies and appropriate stakeholders and institutions efficiently, the creation of quality urban environments for affordable housing is possible. With the proper city officials in place and the political will for the development, housing developments on this scale can provide large numbers of affordable housing opportunities in better located areas.
Open Access
HIV/AIDS in South Africa : responsible and proactive urban development planning
(2003) Matina, Annemarie; Watson, Vanessa
Though there has been a rapidly growing body of texts that is concerned with understanding the consequences of HIV/AIDS on urban development planning (Harber, 2001; Tomlinson, 2001; Van Donk, 2003), the translation of this knowledge into tangible improvements of people's lives has not happened yet, due to a nonexistent or very slow policy response and poor implementation. Besides political obstacles, this lack of response is equally caused by the absence of clearly defined targeted intervention strategies based on a comprehensive, realistic and holistic analysis of the situation. So far HIV/ AIDS has been understood and responded to as mainly a medical problem. This dissertation pulls together the diverse dynamics and impacts of HIV/AIDS on urban development and poverty in South Africa and uses this information to develop context sensitive intervention models and implementation strategies.
Open Access
The institutional dynamics of participatory slum-upgrading processes: the case of Langrug informal settlement
(2013) Siame, Gilbert; Watson, Vanessa
Since the 1990s, South Africa has faced a high rate of urbanization and increasing formation of informal settlements. However, the focus of urban planning has not changed to accommodate new urban trends. The current dominant practice of urban planning, still rooted in the global North realism, reflects an increasing discord between current approaches and growing problems of poverty, inequality, informality, rapid urbanisation and socio-spatial fragmentation. Traditional urban planning approaches and state-led direct settlement interventions have arguably served to exclude the urban poor with a marked failure to sustainably address the problem of informal settlements. This research examines the case of Stellenbosch, Western Cape, and argues that the concept of coproduction is an alternative dynamic model that could be used to achieve inclusive and sustainable urban environments. Re-organising institutional relationships would arguably lead to a more successful service production approach and engagement between the state and the urban poor. I use the lens of coproduction to assess partnership-based in-situ community-driven informal settlement interventions. The research uses the Langrug informal settlement upgrading programme as a case study to analyse the institutional arrangements and to examine power relations in a context-specific coproduction process. The research uses semi-structured interviews, field observations and secondary data to examine the nature of the partnership, institutional relations, scope and approach of the Langrug upgrade programme. The study concludes that the Langrug upgrade programme depicts a typical coproduction arrangement where many institutions are collaborating to improve the living conditions of the urban poor in Langrug. Further, the study establishes that the success of this partnership depends on on-going effective management of power and institutional dynamics and low-level conflicts. The study recommends that the Slum Dwellers International (SDI) alliance needs to build stronger grassroots structures in Stellenbosch to increase local capacity in community mobilisation and advocacy. Besides the need to incorporate the media, the partnership must improve the communication system among partners and stakeholders to avoid mistrust and ensure productive state-society engagement. Finally, more comparative case research needs to be done to consolidate arguments on the concept of coproduction vis-à-vis planning practice in the global South.
Open Access
Land and housing practices in Namibia: cases of access to land rights and production of housing in Windhoek, Oshakati and Gobabis
(2019) Delgado, Guillermo; Odendaal, Nancy; Watson, Vanessa
As in many other places, socio-spatial production in modern Namibia has been a top-down practice approached in professionalised and standards-oriented ways, focused on outputs. 'Participation’ or involvement of 'beneficiaries’ has over time been added to the repertoire of such practices, but this remains driven by a one-dimensional definition of what’s 'better’. Even when the modernist and centrally-controlled practice of Apartheid is generally condemned, its ways with regards to spatial production remain largely unquestioned and, by consequence, preserved and expanded. At the same time, the urban transformation that Namibia has seen in recent decades has been astonishing. These changes expose the limits of previous approaches and at the same time lay bare new openings for socio-spatial production. There are various practices that have been part of this urban transformation, but they remain largely undocumented. Furthermore, even when they are approached, they tend to be assessed in terms of their outcomes; relegating the ways of the process as a matter of lesser importance. My research accounts for three practices of socio-spatial production in three urban areas in Namibia today. These spaces have been the result of a considerable number of iterations, and have been made possible through the contribution of a wide array of participants; many of them performing beyond their 'main’ role. I have documented these practices from their beginnings up to the point in which they are today. My research is structured as a case study. Within it, I have undertaken semi-structured qualitative interviews with participants, and also employed maps, official documents, and photographs to triangulate the accounts. I have then brought these together with debates on co-production and autogestion, exploring whether the practices can be understood in these terms. Other subsidiary debates fundamentally related to these two are those on state and civil-society divisions; the nature of grassroots associations ('social movements’); and on-going and long-standing debates on land and housing. My analysis suggests that, while the way in which the practices take place varies greatly, they can be considered the sites of various kinds of innovation. I have also found that the 4 ways of the grassroots, while having legitimacy and equality as strong values, show new options in terms of representation. I have found that co-production, as understood in the more recent literature, is a useful way to understand the practices, particularly if a variety of strategies is recognised. Autogestion is a useful term to keep in mind, and although such term has some overlaps with the recent concepts of autogestion, only some understandings of the term stemming from practice enable a reading of the cases I document. The division between civil society and the state today consists of a constellation of parties not necessarily fitting in these two categories. The practices stand also as the more recent evidence within a trajectory of production of space undertaken through a social process involving the grassroots in Namibia, one in which visibility and participation are no longer the only aims, but where negotiation and some degree of autonomy is sought. Lastly, land ownership (real or perceived) emerges as a powerful force in making the process collective and enabling socio-spatial development. Land rights are exercised throughout, often irrespective of the degree of de jure tenure at stake. Housing becomes a devise for savings and resource mobilisation, as well as an income-generating activity sometimes enabling further livelihoods. My study adds to on-going debates on co-production, and to some extent to those on autogestion. For the first, it expands on earlier observations that brought the term to the socio-spatial realm and provides new openings for the term to establish bridges to other debates. It also contributes to the archive of socio-spatial practices in Namibia, and to the pending project of a socio-spatial history of the country. It provides new insights for those engaged in socio-spatial production of what are the experiences and the openings for a new kind of practice that moves away from the assumptions that have placed us in the urban crisis that characterises our times.
Open Access
Leveraging the private sector to enable the delivery of well-located affordable housing in Cape Town
(2015) Hogarth, Kate; Watson, Vanessa
Affordable housing in Cape Town tends to be located far away from economic opportunities, social facilities and public transport infrastructure, which serves to reinforce inequality, burdening poor households and the City. This dissertation explores the current challenges in bringing well-located, affordable housing units to market in Cape Town; the opportunities for greater private sector participation; and the public interventions required in order to enable actors to overcome these challenges and capitalise on the opportunities. These issues were gradually refined from a global scale to a local area, beginning with a review of the relevant urban development and housing economics literature in order to form a theoretical framework, followed by an overview of the local housing market and national housing policy. Precedent, interviews and a workshop were then conducted with participants from the private and public sectors, NGOs and academia in order to explore the key challenges, opportunities and potential solutions in Cape Town. Finally, these challenges and opportunities were investigated and interventions proposed in a particular context, namely Parow train station precinct within the Voortrekker Road Corridor (VRC) in Cape Town. While a comprehensive review of national housing policy and funding is required, the focus of this dissertation is on the many city-scale interventions which are possible within a short- to medium-term, which tackle inefficiencies in the market and regulatory system in order to leverage the power of the private sector towards the goal of well-located affordable housing. The findings for Cape Town indicate that the greatest challenges for developers are the limited availability of well-located land at affordable prices; lack of depreciated, higher-density buildings for redevelopment; excessive parking ratios; delays in the development process; and a lack of nuanced market demand information. Fortunately, there are many opportunities, including a capable and facilitative municipality in Cape Town; growing private sector interest in affordable housing; the power of small-scale landlords and innovative design; a shift from ownership to rental; and potential synergy between affordable housing, transit-oriented development (TOD) and urban regeneration (provided policy and public spending are aligned). Key recommendations for public intervention, applicable both city-wide and to the Parow Study Area, are: firstly, to urgently develop programmatic (national and city scale) and area-based (precinct scale) strategies which position affordable housing (including social housing) as a catalyst for urban regeneration and TOD, and align public investment in order to incrementally densify appropriate areas; secondly, to protect and package public land for affordable housing and other public benefit uses; and thirdly, to remove obstacles to private sector provision of affordable housing by both institutional and small-scale actors (for example, by reducing parking requirements and restrictive development parameters (potentially through affordable housing overlay zones), making market data available and fast-tracking approvals). An essential institutional intervention is the creation of an inter-departmental 'affordable housing task-team' within the municipality to champion and facilitate such interventions.
Open Access
Participatory Planning and the Global South: A Case Study of Local Planning and Development in Vrygrond
(2014) Davies, Craig; Watson, Vanessa
Urbanisation is occurring most rapidly in the global South, where cities are characterised by increasing levels of poverty, socio-spatial inequality, and informality. Mainstream planning theories have tended to originate from the North, responding to a context that differs greatly from that of cities of the South where theories have been uncritically adopted and imposed. State planning systems in developing countries often reflect traditional technocratic approaches and have become increasingly disengaged from rapidly changing urban conditions. In a context in which neoliberalism is becoming increasingly hegemonic, such planning systems may serve the interests of capital over the needs of the poor. There has therefore been a call to focus on developing descriptive and explanatory theories through case research from which new and more contextually appropriate approaches to planning might emerge. I offer the case of Vrygrond as a contribution to this ongoing endeavour to ‘theorize from the South’, regrounding planning theory and practice in the realities and complexities of global South contexts. The case study explores the nature of development in the densely populated, low-income settlement in Cape Town, from 1997 to 2014. The main research question asks how services, public facilities and amenities have been secured in Vrygrond, and how planning theory and practice might learn from this experience. The dissertation therefore draws on semi-structured interviews to understand the interaction between development processes adopted by key actors and contextual factors which include racial and ethnic diversity, power struggles, oppositional forms of citizenship, mistrust, and pervasive crime. The findings are then interpreted through the application of three contrasting theoretical frameworks of technocratic planning, communicative and collaborative planning, and co-production. I argue that the assumptions underlying technocratic and communicative planning are problematic in the context of Vrygrond, and that co-production might be better placed to respond to a lack of access to public facilities as well as a broader sense of disempowerment and marginalization. Recommendations include institutional rearrangements that might foster a social context that would be more receptive to co-production. I call attention to the nature of citizenship in postapartheid communities, to social difference and power relations, and to the impact of crime and gangsterism on local governance, as important considerations for participatory planning approaches such as co-production.
Open Access
Planning for urban food security: leveraging the contribution of informal trade in the case of Bellville Station precinct
(2018) Park-Ross, Robyn; Watson, Vanessa
South African cities, similarly to other cities across the Global South, experience high levels of food insecurity. Urban food insecurity is particularly prevalent in lowincome households, with 72% of households in low-income urban areas in Cape Town identified as food insecure in a 2013 African Food Security Network survey. In the context of rising urbanisation, poverty, and unemployment levels this issue is expected to increase into the future in the absence of proactive intervention. Despite the severity of the issue, urban food insecurity continues to be largely neglected by planners and policymakers. This invisibility can be attributed mainly to the persistence of the popular conceptualisation of food insecurity as an issue of production, resulting in a focus on increased rural food production and urban agriculture as the panacea for food insecurity. This limited rural and productionist framing has resulted in a persistent neglect of the dimensions of access in food security, specifically in urban settings. This neglect has included the invisibility of the contribution that informal trade makes to urban food security through supporting access to food. Through the case study of the Bellville Station Precinct in Cape Town, I argue that informal food traders are playing a crucial role in supporting urban food security through enabling greater access to food for economically stressed urban residents. This argument is made through the exploration of the extent that these traders are using various entitlement enhancing strategies that support physical and economic access as well as access to viable food options that cater to food preferences. Based on the understanding and acknowledgement that informal food traders, in this case, are supporting access to food for economically stressed users of the space, I then explore the role that spatial planning should play in leveraging this contribution. This is done through exploring the myriad of challenges faced by the traders currently in making this important contribution, and specifically through highlighting how this role has been undermined by the way the City has interacted with, intervened in and managed the space. While the research reveals a reality where traders currently face a myriad of compounding and growing challenges, I argue that a different path is possible. This path necessitates spatial planners acknowledging and valuing the contribution of informal trade to urban food access as the basis for taking responsibility for protecting, supporting and maximising it. This is explored through a three-pronged supportive planning proposal for the precinct. Firstly, this proposal includes necessary legislative and institutional changes. Secondly, it provides a spatial design concept for how food trade could be spatially priorotised as the precinct develops through the provision of a system of supportive infrastructure. Lastly, the proposal outlines a transition to a form of management that is grounded in collaboration and facilitation through the gradual rebuilding of trust between stakeholders. In this way, this dissertation provides an indication of the form that context-specific food sensitive panning could take in the case of the Bellville Station Precinct.
Open Access
Regional Spatial Development Framework for Mossel Bay Municipality
(2013) Vorsatz, Wesley; Watson, Vanessa
Undertaking a regional planning exercise to guide the development of a region in the global South has become an increasingly important ask in light of the challenges that the regions in the developing world face in the twenty-first century. Regions in the global South need to suitably adapt to a plethora of challenges such as globalised economy, rapid growing population and impacts of climate change in order for the inhabitants of regions to prosper. This dissertation therefore aims to guide the development of the Mossel Bay Municipality in the Western Cape Province of South Africa to improve the spatial form, functioning and performance of the municipality that will benefit all people in the municipality by the year 2040. The regional spatial development of the municipality is based on a set of normative values and principles which include social justice, environmental sustainability and human development. It guides the development of the municipality through adopting a spatial targeting approach to the municipalitys development whereby most future public and private investment is directed to the main town of Mossel Bay which is home to the majority of the municipalities economic activity, population and infrastructural elements. The spatial targeting approach is selected based on the findings of a literature review of regional planning, the analysis of the environmental and humans settlement systems of the municipality and legislative context which the municipality operates under. The desired spatial form of Mossel Bay Municipality is then spatialised in three separate frameworks namely the environmental management framework, economic development framework and the settlement and services framework and collectively the three frameworks forms the regional spatial development framework of the Mossel Bay Municipality. The strategies formulated in each framework are firstly, formulated to achieve the vision of the municipality by the year 2040 and secondly in response to spatial opportunities and constraints that currently exists in the municipality. Through these strategies the regional spatial development framework aims to turn Mossel Bay Municipality into a socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically viable region.
Open Access
The relationship between urban food security, supermarket expansion and urban planning and policy in the City of Cape Town: a case of the Langa Junction Mini Mall
(2016) Pulker, Alison; Watson, Vanessa
For many years, urban food insecurity has been 'invisible' to urban planners and policy makers. This is due to the misconception of food insecurity as being primarily a rural issue and attributable to a lack of supply of food; however, it is clear that the issue of urban food insecurity is systemic, embedded in socio-economic and spatial disparities. Rapid supermarket expansion in low income areas in the City of Cape Town (CoCT), has in many ways limited access to food security, due to the urban poor's lack of financial access to this food. Through a case study method approach, the area surrounding the Langa Junction Mini Mall was used to explore the effects of supermarket expansion in low income areas on the urban poor's access to food security. Fieldwork consisting of observations at the Langa Junction Mini Mall, semi-structured interviews with the Langa Junction Mini Mall manager, the Langa Shoprite manager, informal street traders around the Langa Junction Mini Mall and City of Cape Town land use and spatial planners, as well as three focus groups conducted with Langa residents was conducted. The research findings show that supermarket expansion in Langa has drastically reduced the amount of informal street trade which is an important point of access to food security for the urban poor. Therefore, the Langa Junction Mini Mall has had an effect on the way in which the residents access food security. In addition, these findings suggest that the increase in supermarket expansion in the area are contributing to the food desertification of Langa. Despite an Urban Agriculture Policy, the City of Cape Town has made no spatial or land use interventions in order to alleviate urban food insecurity within the City. Due to the systemic nature of urban food insecurity, interventions must take place at an institutional level in order to appropriately address this issue. This research provides recommendations towards the creation of a Municipal Urban Food Security Policy for the City of Cape Town through the formation of an Urban Food Security Policy Council, an Urban Food Charter as well as an Urban Food Security Strategy. Land use and spatial planning interventions are recommended as ways in which an affordable and equitable urban food system can be created. In addition, this research suggests that there is a need to increase awareness regarding urban food insecurity amongst land use and spatial planners within the City of Cape Town.
Open Access
The right to the City (Centre): a spatial development framework for affordable inner-city housing in Cape Town's Foreshore
(2018) Weber, Megan; Watson, Vanessa
There is a spatial dislocation between jobs and people in Cape Town, which is largely caused by financial exclusion through urban land markets. The majority of low-income households - who also constitute the majority of the city's population - live on the urban periphery, where property is affordable but opportunities are scarce. This places the burden of high transport costs on the shoulders of those least able to pay, and reinforces the patterns of segregation imposed by apartheid. This deep-rooted spatial inequality has recently been brought to the fore through a series of housing-related protests by Reclaim The City and others. These movements prove that the need for well-located, affordable housing is only getting more urgent. If Cape Town is to overcome the spatial legacy of apartheid, it needs more affordable housing in areas of economic and social opportunity. This dissertation demonstrates how affordable housing can be provided in one well-located, inner-city site: The Foreshore. Situated in the City Bowl, the Foreshore is close to the abundance of employment opportunities and social facilities of this established and growing district. Further, the City of Cape Town has recently begun a tender process for development of the Foreshore. This included a request (albeit vague) for affordable housing to be included in the resulting project. Building on the City's intentions, this dissertation presents a spatial development framework for the Foreshore site that prioritises affordable housing and a mix of uses. The need for affordable, inner-city housing was established through an analysis of Cape Town and the City Bowl. Through this analysis, the Foreshore emerged as a prime site for fulfilling this need. A review of housing policy and legislation, together with an assessment of Cape Town's housing market, determined that Social Housing is the best model for achieving sustainable affordability in an urban context. However, it was found that the involvement of private sector is crucial to realising developments that are feasible and diverse. Further, it is important to take a demand-driven approach to housing delivery, which is sensitive to market nuances and which draws on a range of spatial planning principles. This helps to create holistic, liveable neighbourhooods. These principles were demonstrated in the spatial development framework for the Foreshore. This showed that developing the Foreshore presents an opportunity to reintegrate society, and to reconnect the city to the sea. It is possible to develop 8500 residential units in the site, most of which would be affordable to households earning R3500 to R15000 per month. To achieve this, it is vital that the elevated freeways be replaced with ground-level roads, which will in fact reduce traffic congestion. The city's historical connection to the sea should be restored by reconstructing the Adderley Pier and creating a Foreshore promenade. Realising these projects in manner that is feasible, sustainable, and socially just would require an efficient and tactical implementation process. Discussions with experts in the field of affordable housing development revealed some key implementation strategies for this. These included the package of plans process, land value capture, and the strategic use and release of state-owned land. Together, these would enable the controlled involvement of private sector in the Foreshore development, and would help to find the project's infrastructure. These findings are not entirely exclusive to the Foreshore, and could therefore give guidance to affordable housing projects in other parts of the City Bowl. Therefore, developing the Foreshore to prioritise affordable housing could initiate the socio-spatial reintegration of Cape Town's fragmented city centre.
Open Access
The role of planning in new urban settlements: The case of Nyagatare in post-conflict Rwanda
(2013) Gregory, Carmel; Watson, Vanessa
The study of urban planning in post-conflict settlements is an area of research that has not yet been thoroughly explored. Yet planning occupies a unique position at the interface between communities, the state, and the physical environment, and is strategically located to deal with many common long-term impacts of conflict in societies. As such it deserves greater attention and consideration for the contribution it can make to reconstruction and peace-building. This study interrogates the notion of post-conflict urban planning within the case of Nyagatare, Rwanda, a town that has been almost entirely settled by returned refugees and post-conflict migrants since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The town has seen rapid population growth and this year was designated as one of six secondary cities selected for focused investment and further population growth: this post-conflict rise from village to secondary city in less than two decades is unprecedented in Rwanda. Field research was conducted and qualitative data collected through interviews in the field. Further information and analysis came from NGO and government reports, as well as drawing from work by previous researchers. The research found that there are still several lasting impacts from conflict, including disputes over land, weak civil society, weak local democratic process, lack of social cohesion and high rates of social distrust, and suspicious attitudes towards the state. Nyagatare is likely to be a hotspot for resettlement, voluntary or otherwise, of returning refugees who have lost their protected status under the recent invocation of the refugee Cessation Clause by the Government of Rwanda and the UNHCR. Post-conflict impacts are thus likely to be compounded with ongoing influxes of population, both through refugee resettlement and domestic migration. Yet current spatial planning fails to address these impacts of conflict as well as failing to appropriately anticipate the needs of future populations of the town. This study thus seeks to propose an alternative framework for planning that directly addresses the lasting impacts of conflict. Recommendations for planning include adapting co-production and strategic spatial planning to the local context, incorporating traditional mediation structures to allow for a safe venue for engaging communities. Focused strategic interventions, rather than a master plan, are recommended in order to allow for flexibility and uncertainty as the town grows and society stabilises.
Open Access
Scarcity, government, population: The problem of food in colonial Kenya, c. 1900-1952
(2018) Duminy, James; Watson, Vanessa
Food security in Africa is a foremost development challenge. Dominant approaches to addressing food security concentrate on availability and increasing production. This 'productionist' focus arguably limits the capacity of government policies to address contemporary food problems. It does so by obscuring both the specific food insecurity dynamics linked to the continent's ongoing urban transitions, as well as the potential for more systemic food strategies. Yet existing research provides an inadequate historical understanding of how a production and supply-oriented bias has emerged and become established in the African context. This undermines the capacity of scholars and policymakers to critique and reform food security thought and practice. The thesis addresses this gap in knowledge by critically and historically examining the emergence of food scarcity as a specific problem of government in a particular African context: colonial Kenya. Understanding how colonial officials and other actors conceived of and responded to food scarcities in Kenya is the primary question addressed. The specific roles and duties of the state in relation to this problem are also investigated. The thesis employs a Foucauldian-inspired approach to the historical analysis of government and problematizations. Primary data were gathered from archives in the United Kingdom. The argument is that food scarcity, as a problem of government, shifted from an uncertain and localized rural issue to a risk encompassing the balance between market supply and demand at a territorial scale. The role of the state shifted from a last-resort provider of relief to a regulator of maize production and demand, with a focus on ensuring adequate supply for territorial self-sufficiency. Accordingly, anti-scarcity techniques became increasingly economic and calculative in nature, and longer term in focus. This mode of conceiving and addressing food scarcity existed in Kenya by the end of the Second World War, and was stabilized in the immediate post-war period. Elements of this system are recognizable in contemporary food security policies in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa. The thesis contributes to historical knowledge of African food insecurity and colonial government. It moves beyond previous work by focusing on Kenya, and by examining food scarcity as a distinct problem of colonial government. It enhances knowledge of the conditions under which contemporary modes of food governance have come into existence.
Open Access
Social and spatial exclusion in a coastal area of Cape Town: The case of Kalk Bay, St James and Fish Hoek
(2014) Dyer, Samantha; Watson, Vanessa
There are many areas in Cape Town and other South African cities, which historically have been diverse and integrated in terms of race and income. This research is concerned about the quality of these urban areas in light of numerous factors that have the potential to lead to social and spatial exclusion. The aim of this research is to focus on the coastal areas of Kalk Bay, St James and Fish Hoek situated on the Cape Peninsula as a case study of urban exclusion in a global South context. These areas are relatively economically mixed and, in the case of Kalk Bay, racially diverse. The research focuses on exclusion on the basis of income as economic exclusion is no longer strictly bounded by race in the post-apartheid period. The overarching research question asks: what are the extent and outcomes of factors that lead to the social and spatial exclusion of lower income urban residents in the Kalk Bay-St James-Fish Hoek study area? Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected through interviews, document analysis, analysis of archival records and field observations. These research findings were interpreted according to an analytical framework consisting of eight significant factors that lead to the social and spatial exclusion of lower income urban residents in cities of the global South. The research finds that the factors that may be having the greatest exclusionary effect on lower income urban residents in the study area are: the lack of affordable housing and the limited potential for future development within the area; the financially exclusionary property market; the commercialisation and privatisation of public spaces; gradual processes of gentrification; exclusion from decision-making; and limited employment opportunities within the area. While current spatial policies in Cape Town seem to prioritise the spatial goals of integration and inclusion, they do not seem to address the economic factors that are often central to exclusion in the study area and in other areas of Cape Town. In light of these policy gaps, this study proposes a number of recommendations to address these exclusionary factors in the study area.
Open Access
A spatial development framework for the Northern Inner Cape Town Sub-metropolitan District
(2009) Gryzagoridis, Alexia Voula; Watson, Vanessa
In recent times, against the backdrop of a spatially and socially divided city, private development has flourished across the City of Cape Town (CCT), taking advantage of well-serviced, accessible land to generate upmarket residential and business spaces with picturesque vistas. Consequently, the socio-economic disparities characteristic of South African cities continues to shape the CCT, perpetuating the segregation and spatial distortions that originate in modernist philosophy, ultimately affecting the overall city functioning. With this in mind, it is evident that there are major issues in specifying the nature of future development in the CCT. Additionally, from a planning perspective, it is fundamental to ascertain how to optimize land use and development for the benefit of the city at large. The 'northern inner' district of the CCT has emerged, in some ways out of necessity, as a location of high development potential. It comprises both private and state-owned land, including that of the commercial Century City development and Ysterplaat Air Force Base, as well as deep-rooted low to middle income residential areas. The proximity of this site to major movement routes (i.e. the N1 and N7) and economic activities elicits a highly sought after parcel of land. However, it currently lacks coherent structure, resulting in the need for a sound development strategy to direct future growth in this locality. Through an assessment of the complexities of the urban system at the metropolitan scale, as well as an analysis and interpretation of local conditions, this dissertation aims to create a strategic spatial development framework (SDF), underlining the role and potential of the northern inner district of the CCT.
Open Access
A tale of two Sea Points: gentrification, supermarkets and food security for lower-income residents
(2018) Ordelheide, Robert L; Watson, Vanessa
This research is founded on the argument that food systems are (and should be) a core mandate for urban planners, particularly as food is connected to many other functions relevant for built-environment professionals. To date, city officials and built-environment professionals in South Africa have adopted a laissez-faire attitude to food systems, simply assuming that for their constituents, food security can be easily solved by supporting urban agriculture projects and allowing the private sector to open new supermarket retail outlets across a city. While the literature on food security in South Africa's poorer areas is vast, no other published South African studies have considered the ways in which inner city regeneration and commercial supermarket expansion combine to impact the food security of the urban poor. Using a case study approach, this research aims to uncover the food security implications, which arise from gentrification and the growth of the commercial supermarket sector, for middle- and low-income households in Sea Point, an inner-city neighbourhood of Cape Town. This study used techniques including interviews, photography, mapping, food-price recording, document and archival research, and direct observation. It was discovered that gentrification creates an environment where local food systems are altered by policy prescriptions and improvement projects which, in turn, enable the growth of commercial food retail and high-end food service outlets. This research shows being located close to a supermarket is no guarantee of being able to afford what's being sold, and this is important because inadequate access to good-quality food has implications for health and human development over time. The experience and knowledge gained from this research has been used to support appropriate food security policy recommendations for the City of Cape Town.
Open Access
TOD in the context of Cape Town: a case study of Bellville
(2018) Juries, Jason; Davies, Craig; Watson, Vanessa
This paper investigates Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in the context of Cape Town focusing on the case study area of Bellville. This investigation seeks to answer questions relating to the implementation of TOD such as: How to translate metropolitan TOD principles and development objectives into local area interventions? How to implement TOD on the ground in the Bellville Central Area? How do we get buy-in from the private sector? The research was conducted using the case study method and various primary and secondary data collection techniques were used. These techniques comprised of a policy analysis, a contextual analysis of the case study area, a conceptual framework that included a targeted literature review, international and local precedent studies, semi-structured interviews with key informants, and surveys. These techniques assisted with the formulation of the TOD local area spatial development framework and associated catalytic projects for the Bellville Central Area. This dissertation proposes TOD catalytic projects geared towards the established vision for the Bellville Central Area to become a vibrant, diverse and an interconnected TOD node, with a unique sense of place within the city. Furthermore, policy recommendations in the form of a TOD district overlay zone are proposed in order to ensure effective regulatory controls for the Bellville Central Area which includes: development zones (Intensification zones, active zones and transition zones), pro-active planning and streamlined development applications, transport management tools such as a parking management system and pricing strategy, as well as informal street trading, and crime and safety strategies geared towards improved urban management for the area.