Negotiating the future city: cataloguing consequential spontaneity in the static city

Abstract

The exclusionary landscape of Moreleta Park is defined by SLOAP (Space(s) Left Over After Planning) and can be viewed as a hyper-densified trope of South Africa’s tense suburban state – and of its possible future (Creswell 2013). Empty pockets of land (aiding in the increasing emergence of spontaneous urban settlements) create barriers between isolated developments and the only planned attempt at stitching these suburban islands together exists in the form of wide roadways (City of Tshwane 2018).

The main objectives of this study are to address root issues instead of symptoms of root problems, recognise the legitimacy of kinetic urban currents and ultimately, mitigate spatial injustice in suburbia through decentralised, prototypical built forms (Roy 2005; Mehrotra 2008 and Hamdi 2010). In response to these objectives, the role of the architect in this study, is one of facilitator, anticipator and technifier - working alongside community members to valorise local skills, materials and knowledge systems in order to enable a self-sustaining urban future.

It is argued that the multi-scaler spatial response proposed by this study has the ability to articulate the dialogue between the static and kinetic cities – revealing spatial connections and other means of mitigation. This study visualises that it is crucial for the static city to engage with kinetic urbanism and absorb crucial parts of the kinetic city, so that essential socio-economic principles can be shared between the formal and informal city, expanding networks and connections to increase the overall resilience of Moreleta Park. The kinetic city shows the importance of a needed systemic shift, from consumption driven development to the creation of value and value chain based networks (Meagher 2018).

Architecture as a method of articulation provides, through its immersive design process and outcomes, a platform for mitigation - whereby negotiations between polarised users can be facilitated. Through this method it is revealed that collective and accretive knowledge systems have the potential to translate theory to structure - and eventual syntax of design.