Abstract:
This dissertation investigates how
a productive landscape can increase
the carrying capacity of the
land, by analysing and responding
to the existing site and a proposed
post-industrial development
of the site done in 2010. The aim
is to effectively communicate the
influence of man’s highly consumerist
nature on resources and the
ecology on the user group. The
chosen site is located in the highdensity
urban context of Pretoria
West, Tshwane, South Africa.
The motivation of this dissertation
is for the landscape to be the
synergy between the existing
productive entities. The strategy
was to design holistically, with
the objective being to include the
larger systems at play. Systemic
thinking, in terms of production,
increases resources and the
variety of resources’ deliverability.
The only way that a productive
landscape can be resilient is
to instil positive meaning in the
user and, consequently, indefinite
stewardship. To achieve resilience,
biophilic urban design guidelines
were followed to have a positive
psychological effect on the user.
This dissertation aims to re-address
age-old theories, such as biophillia
and the “Web of Life”, as crucial
guidelines to inform interventions
for the current, real time,
global and African issues relating
to increasing resource demands.
