Whose knowledges shape our city? Advancing a community-based urban praxis

Abstract

Wie se Kennis(se) Vorm ons Stad? Op Soek na ’n Gemeenskapsgedrewe Stedelike Praxis In die artikel word verskillende plekke van kontestasie en hoop in die middestad van Pretoria/Tshwane geidentifiseer, en die moontlike unieke kennis(se) wat vanuit hierdie kontekste gegenereer word, word oorweeg. Ek neem ’n spesifiekeposisie in en argumenteer dat sodanige plaaslike kennis(se) meestal uitgesluit word van prosesse wat die stad nuut wil visioneer, ten koste van onsself. In plaas van die uitsluiting van plaaslike gemeenskappe met hulle unieke visies, ervaringe en kundigheid, suggereer ek die doelbewuste bevordering van 'n gemeenskaps gedrewe stedelike praxis. Laastens bied ek die konsep van 'n Urban Studio as ’n moontlike transdissiplinere ruimte, in noue samewerking met plaaslike gemeenskappe, vir die generering van transformerende kennis, wat die moontlikheid van meer inklusiewe, regverdige en volhoubare stedelike woonbuurte kan verhoog.

In the Old Testament, there is a picture of a troubled city in the Book of Ecclesiastes (9:15). And it says, of this city, that there dwelled in the city a man, poor but wise, who saved the city; but no one remembered him. This man, to me, represents an epistemological challenge raising the question of whose knowledges shape our city, which knowledges are regarded as valid, and who is remembered in the process of revisioning the city. I refer to all cities but in particular to Pretoria/Tshwane. The absence of local and diverse knowledges from processes that shape our cities today, almost always inevitably leads to the absence of the very ones whose knowledges are not regarded. They might carry glimpses of vision and seeds of solution. But no one remembers them. In this article, I will firstly do a brief mapping of different sites of struggle and hope in the inner city of Pretoria/Tshwane; secondly, I will argue that these sites offer local and unique knowlegdes to be utilised; thirdly, I will take a specific position, arguing for a community-based urban praxis; and, lastly, I will introduce the concept of an Urban Studio,as a possible trans-disciplinary space for generating (and) transforming knowledge within local communities. Whose knowledges shape our cities? Or, more fundamentally, in the words of David Harvey: “... whose rights and whose city?”;1 because whom does the city belong to and who has a right to the city, and whose knowledge has validity to contribute to a city revisioned? In the next section, I locate my reflections in specific sites in the inner city of Pretoria/Tshwane. This will be followed by a reflection on epistemology from below or from within, and a proposal for a community-based urban praxis. Finally, the reflections of this article will be aligned to other research and a concrete space for trans-disciplinary urban engagement will be introduced.