The language game of South African urban and regional planning : a cognitive mapping from the past into the future

Abstract

In this thesis, in which urban and regional planning in South Africa was treated as a complex language game with a past of over one and a half century, it was argued that radical changes in the context in which this game is played, necessitate in-depth inquiries into its future. In addition to this, it was premised that a thorough understanding of the past is imperative for any probe into the future. Consequently the first part of the thesis was devoted to a cognitive mapping of the game's past, mainly by using the printed discourse of its players. The result of this endeavour was a composite map indicating where, how, by whom and according to which and whose rules the game had been played and how and why each of these had changed over time. In the second part of the thesis, in which three maps were produced, the focus shifted to the game's future. In the first of these three maps the context in which the game is played, the impact of this particular context on the game and vice versa, as well as the trends and tendencies impacting on this context, were mapped. By extrapolating these trends and tendencies it was possible to construct a range of possible and probable futures, which was done in the second map. Together with the composite map of the game's past, these two maps were then used to determine whether the game has a future, and if so, how this future could become a reality. In this inquiry it was concluded that there is a definite future for the game, the realisation of which, it was argued, requires the following from the players, viz (1) dislodging the game from its roots which are grounded in a form of modernism which treats modernity as a routine and giving it a critical modernist persuasion in which modernity is seen as an adventure, (2) regaining the fervour for the game which drove the pioneers of the game at its birth and (3) ensuring that there is a need and use for the niches/fields in which the game is played, that new niches/fields are created and that existing niches/fields created by others, are filled/entered by players of the planning game. While the study was primarily intended to make a contribution to the debate on the future of the language game of South African urban and regional planning, the maps of the game's past also contribute to the sparse literature on the history of the game, especially its founding years, which have to date, been virtually uncharted.