13 years after abolition of Apartheid, places like Diepsloot continues to 滋生 on South African landscape. Why are the symptoms of Apartheid planning continuing in Post-Apartheid era?
There is no other story about Johannesburg more urgent than examining the cause of continuation of spatial apartheid in the Post-Apartheid era.
Personal narratives are not interesting. Most Johannesburgers are lost anyway- lost in greed, lost in complacency; lost in apathy. Few have the ability to see above and beyond; even fewer are trying to make changes. Lives take place in many parallel places and spaces, as scattered, dispersed experiences (notion of parallel cities).
Architects and urban planners have not taken the opportunity or the responsibility to overcome spatial apartheid. There is no other discourse more poignant than counteracting the consequence of apartheid on an engineered landscape. What are the strategies?
Architecture is caught on as an instrument of urban and social warfare. Yet architecture and urbanism’s ultimate task is provide better and critical alternatives to existing spatial, programmatic, aesthetic and management setups. Can architecture, as a discipline, survive in Johannesburg?
Actors and Agents
1) What are the remaining planning regulations from Apartheid era which perpetuate spatial segregation and programmatic segregation?
2) What is the governmental urban planning departments doing?
How ‘planned’ is Johannesburg in Poat-Apartheid era? What are the underlying planning principles? Programmatic, density, plot size, building height, comprehensive infrastructure, transport-related facilities, public facilities, green ratio guidelines?
What does urban renewal mean in Joburg? Making more precincts. Compartmentalizing areas and concentrate activities. What are the advantage and disadvantage? Does it work? How does it work? Research area: New Town and inner city. New Town cleaned up, money comes in, gentrification.
How is Sandton and Midrand planned? Why are the developments unchecked?
3) What are practicing architects and urban planners doing?
Eg. MMA’s 2010 FIFA masterplan can manage the crowd? The plan is truly catalyst for urban re-generation? Can Joburg be saved by FIFA?
Eg. San Souci project illustrate how top-down and bottom-up have no intersection.) (Individual architectural efforts and moments do not add up; ad hoc; no substantial or accumulative output. This refers to governmental planning strategy.
4) What is the architectural and planning education doing?
5) What are the developers doing?
6) What are the community leaders doing?
Eg. Kliptown, Bolo talking about project here, project here. All the projects are in phase 0.1; nice fantasy and imagination. There is no method or framework to channel governmental planning process , ie. Community participation without comprehensive framework or structure.
7) What are people doing?
Who are the residents of Diepsloot? Why do they settle in Diepsloot? Where do they work? Where are they from? How do they live (salary R1000 per month)? How do they build? How do they move around the city? What does local government do about this settlement?
Who are the residents of Dainfern? How is the property acquired? How do they relate to Diepsloot and its residents?
(interview and analysis in scale)
1) What are the remaining planning regulations from Apartheid era which perpetuate spatial segregation and programmatic segregation?
2) What is the governmental urban planning departments doing?
How ‘planned’ is Johannesburg in Poat-Apartheid era? What are the underlying planning principles? Programmatic, density, plot size, building height, comprehensive infrastructure, transport-related facilities, public facilities, green ratio guidelines?
What does urban renewal mean in Joburg? Making more precincts. Compartmentalizing areas and concentrate activities. What are the advantage and disadvantage? Does it work? How does it work? Research area: New Town and inner city. New Town cleaned up, money comes in, gentrification.
How is Sandton and Midrand planned? Why are the developments unchecked?
3) What are practicing architects and urban planners doing?
Eg. MMA’s 2010 FIFA masterplan can manage the crowd? The plan is truly catalyst for urban re-generation? Can Joburg be saved by FIFA?
Eg. San Souci project illustrate how top-down and bottom-up have no intersection.) (Individual architectural efforts and moments do not add up; ad hoc; no substantial or accumulative output. This refers to governmental planning strategy.
4) What is the architectural and planning education doing?
5) What are the developers doing?
6) What are the community leaders doing?
Eg. Kliptown, Bolo talking about project here, project here. All the projects are in phase 0.1; nice fantasy and imagination. There is no method or framework to channel governmental planning process , ie. Community participation without comprehensive framework or structure.
7) What are people doing?
Who are the residents of Diepsloot? Why do they settle in Diepsloot? Where do they work? Where are they from? How do they live (salary R1000 per month)? How do they build? How do they move around the city? What does local government do about this settlement?
Who are the residents of Dainfern? How is the property acquired? How do they relate to Diepsloot and its residents?
(interview and analysis in scale)
Radical Intervention
Zoning concept, such as using terminologies like precinct, is outdated. It is the old cliché of modernism, garden city planning principles, which fundamentally rendered spatial apartheid. What are the strategies?
1) Abolish zoning plans: need radical planning strategy which maximize mixture of programmes, density, users, 24hour programme, time share, building heights, mobility devices etc.
2) Radical re-zoning: conceptually and physically perpendicular to Apartheid divisions.
Existing city is compartmentalized into enclaves of sameness. Ie. Each sub-city, such as Midand, Sandton or CBD, has the same ingredients within itself , but each sub-city is zoned for different purposes. This is essentially the spirit of spatial apartheid. The old zones or compartments have to be completely subverted and re-divided for maximum mixture of ingredients. So that municipalities have to deal with all realities of a city- rich, poor, density, centre, periphery, main roads, commerce, social facilities, etc.
Zoning concept, such as using terminologies like precinct, is outdated. It is the old cliché of modernism, garden city planning principles, which fundamentally rendered spatial apartheid. What are the strategies?
1) Abolish zoning plans: need radical planning strategy which maximize mixture of programmes, density, users, 24hour programme, time share, building heights, mobility devices etc.
2) Radical re-zoning: conceptually and physically perpendicular to Apartheid divisions.
Existing city is compartmentalized into enclaves of sameness. Ie. Each sub-city, such as Midand, Sandton or CBD, has the same ingredients within itself , but each sub-city is zoned for different purposes. This is essentially the spirit of spatial apartheid. The old zones or compartments have to be completely subverted and re-divided for maximum mixture of ingredients. So that municipalities have to deal with all realities of a city- rich, poor, density, centre, periphery, main roads, commerce, social facilities, etc.
New Civic Life
What are the new forms of public/civic life?
New civic space is open or limited? New rules of inclusion and exclusion?
Measure and map the physical, visual and tangible
Evaluate spatial typology, location: Constitutional Hills (civil), Braamfontein (street), Zoo Lake (park), Walter Sisulu Square (monument), etc.
Management mechanism behind the spaces and events (research)
How social lives take places in new civic spaces (observation)
Commercial porgrammes: casino, shopping mall are where all races go for entertainment and consumerism, but this does not provide basis to formulate a community. After leaving commercial enclaves, people no longer communicate; lives deviate. (illusions of Post-Modern life)
Limited Access
Road closure map
Ladder diagram: omnipresence of cul-de-sac
Privatization: schools, sports, security, road (how can these civil rights be private!!!?)
Access = civil rights. One can access places and spaces by freedom, under the protection of laws.
Making things public = making life public
2010 FIFA opening the City?
Opening and securing the city for once 2010 FIFA for all time afterwards
What should be the positive input of FIFA for Joburg?
How does FIFA Johannesburg master plan work?
How will visitors be moved around the city?
Crowd management before and after a game
Celebration, drinking, hangout
Security measurement, policing, patrol route, barrier fence
The effort to guarantee an open city is to confine small areas of openness?
How open is this openness and to whom? Outside this open zone is less open than before FIFA? (more open inside = less open outside, because unpleasant things will be excluded to the outside?)
How to measure inside and outside?
How will inner city react to FIFA effect? Ground level programmes and activities will be squeezed upwards into vertical setup? Is this an opportunity to formalize different ‘tribes’ in vertical compartments?
Opening and securing the city for once 2010 FIFA for all time afterwards
What should be the positive input of FIFA for Joburg?
How does FIFA Johannesburg master plan work?
How will visitors be moved around the city?
Crowd management before and after a game
Celebration, drinking, hangout
Security measurement, policing, patrol route, barrier fence
The effort to guarantee an open city is to confine small areas of openness?
How open is this openness and to whom? Outside this open zone is less open than before FIFA? (more open inside = less open outside, because unpleasant things will be excluded to the outside?)
How to measure inside and outside?
How will inner city react to FIFA effect? Ground level programmes and activities will be squeezed upwards into vertical setup? Is this an opportunity to formalize different ‘tribes’ in vertical compartments?
Need research source:
1) Government road plans and road closure maps
2) Johannesburg Metropolitan Region master planning blue prints
3) 2010 FIFA master plan
2) Johannesburg Metropolitan Region master planning blue prints
3) 2010 FIFA master plan
