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.
