Research Articles (Town and Regional Planning)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/6497

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Local responses to climate change : navigating mainstreaming and transformative adaptation
(Elsevier, 2025-02) Pieterse, Amy; Du Toit, Jacques Louis
This article is based on the study done to explore the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into municipal planning The study used the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality and Thulamela Local Municipality as comparative case studies in South Africa. It identified six key factors that influenced the effectiveness of adaptation mainstreaming: leadership arrangements; networks and knowledge-sharing; information access and use; capacity, resources, and skills; institutional coordination structure and process; and intergovernmental relations and coordination. The study showed how organisational dynamics and institutional arrangements impacted on the integration of climate change adaptation into planning processes, and it indicated that balancing long-term transformative objectives with immediate concerns required a dual approach that strategically embedded transformational goals within existing systems. The study offered insights into the complexity of reconciling transformative adaptation and development priorities through mainstreaming and it expanded the current understanding of how municipalities could navigate effective mainstreaming within the context of practical governance.
Practising planners' perceptions of post-1994 planning law and settlement planning and development processes : a Western Cape case study
(University of the Free State, 2024-06) Harris, Marshallene; Oranje, Mark; mark.oranje@up.ac.za
While a significant body of academic work has been compiled on the transformation of planning law since the end of apartheid, far less has been produced on the perceptions of practising planners of these new laws, and their impacts on the planning profession's stated objective of contributing to the creation of quality human settlements. This article seeks to assist in filling this gap in the field by reporting on a study into the perceptions of practising planners in the Western Cape in this regard. The study involves research into the views of professional planners on planning laws applied during and post-apartheid and the impact of these laws on human settlement planning and development. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 25 professional planners employed in the public and private sectors. The data sample, limited to the Western Cape province, was regarded as a starting point for further research on the perception of planners in these regards in the remaining eight provinces in the country. The key findings of this study are that planners by and large welcome the new planning legislation and view it as an improvement on the old. The challenges being experienced are mainly related to the institutional and financial landscape in which the law plays out rather than the law itself, notably lengthy planning processes; a focus on meeting housing-delivery targets at the cost of other equally important settlement development objectives; and capacity, and budget constraints.
Humanizing urban planning: acknowledging the emotional and psychological dimensions of upgrading informal settlements
(Routledge, 2025) Hill, Danielle; danielle.hill@up.ac.za
The rapid proliferation of informal settlements in the twenty-first century has challenged the ways in which planners envision, design and think about urban development. While I acknowledge that planning in South Africa continues to be mainly practised by technocrats, I argue this is at the expense of considering the human factors involved. Using a case study, I attempt to demonstrate the specific ways in which the overemphasis on reaching upgrading targets within a specified time frame leaves little to no room for considerations of the psychological and emotional implications of upgrading for informal settlers. This article calls for a detailed consideration of the humanising implications for present and future planning. The case study explores, the nature of the role of planners in, and their collaboration with, the management of Thembalethu Phase 1 Upgrading of Informal Settlement Programme (UISP), between 2010 and 2014, in George municipality with a focus on the space, or lack thereof, of human considerations in this collaborative process.
Changing public spaces and urban resilience in the City of Tshwane, South Africa
(Routledge, 2022) Landman, Karina; Nel, Darren; karina.landman@up.ac.za
The City of Tshwane has experienced significant political, socio-economic and spatial changes. The lives and daily use patterns of different people in the city, as well as public spaces changed. While some people have retreated to semi-privatised space, others are enjoying unrestricted use of space in more traditional parks and quality public spaces in former marginalised areas. This raises questions regarding the impact of these changes on urban resilience, especially in the context of the new Tshwane 2055 vision calling for a “liveable, inclusive and resilient city”. This study analyses six public spaces in three different neighbourhood types in Pretoria and highlights the emergence of three trends - degradation, adaptation and transformation. The paper argues that these trends have implications for urban resilience of both the public space and the immediate surroundings in terms of diversity, intensity, proximity and connectivity in and around these spaces. Limited diversity proximity, intensity and connectivity strain opportunities for adaptation, while radical intervention at a specific point in time can expedite the trajectory of change and bring about rapid transformation. This has implications for urban planning and design in terms of deciding the level, extent and nature of interventions in particular parts of cities.
The role of planners in public open space production in contemporary African cities : a reinjection of the social agenda in planning practice
(Routledge, 2022) Makakavhule, Kundani; Hill, Danielle; kundani.makakavhule@up.ac.za
African cities face challenges of delivering quality public open spaces within set time frames, under constrained budgets, varying levels of political will and professional capacity. These challenges in conjunction with the ‘emotional’ conundrum faced by planners, continue to define the roles of planners and prohibit them from confronting the status quo. This paper argues that the planning profession needs to acknowledge that; to respond to the challenges of contemporary African public open space, an intentional deliberate paradigm is required. This paradigm requires a spatial imagination to reconcile the disjuncture between the static place of planners and the active space of citizens.
The transformation and adaptive capacity of Tsweu Street in Mamelodi, City of Tshwane
(Routledge, 2022) Kgotse, Keletso; Landman, Karina; karina.landman@up.ac.za
Cities and neighbourhoods are changing rapidly. While rapid change is accepted, it is less clear how to understand and analyse change and steer it towards a more sustainable trajectory. This paper focuses on the transformation of a particular street in Mamelodi, situated in Pretoria (capital city of South Africa). Utilizing a resilience lens, we unpack the various cycles of adaptation evident in the street. Our analysis shows that the transformation of Tsweu Street broadly followed the phases of the adaptive cycle, namely rapid growth, conservation, release and reorganization and incorporated three dimensions of resilience, namely social or community, spatial and institutional resilience. We argue that resilience thinking offers a mechanism to understand and analyse change at various scales, including the street level and that this provides planners with a tool to work with change through the application of appropriate measures at the relevant time to maximize their impact.
Planning for safe neighbourhoods in Namibia : a comparative case study of two low-income neighbourhoods in the city of Windhoek
(Routledge, 2023) Kandjinga, Laudika Jelufeni; Landman, Karina; karina.landman@up.ac.za
The safety of neighbourhoods remains challenging in developing countries due to several dynamics. This article explores the role of urban planning for safer neighbourhoods in two low-income neighbourhoods in the city of Windhoek. The study focuses on several crime attractors and generators influencing housebreaking incidents in two neighbourhoods. Various physical characteristics influence opportunities for crime in Katutura and Otjomuise, such as the location of alcohol outlets within the residential areas and large and unmaintained public open spaces. A lack of development in Otjomuise also influenced incidents of crime. However, severe socio-economic conditions and social factors also contributed to opportunities for crime. The findings have implications on planning and development in Namibia in terms of policy development and planning guidelines and assessments.
Decolonizing public space in South Africa : from conceptualization to actualization
(Routledge, 2021) Landman, Karina; Makakavhule, Kundani; karina.landman@up.ac.za
Cities and public spaces are changing. Many movements such as ‘Black Lives Matter’ are questioning the meaning of public space in post-colonial contexts. This paper focusses on the decolonization of public space in South Africa as a strategy to achieve spatial transformation. Drawing from seven years of in-depth research, the discussion explores the concept of decolonization and proposes a 3-stage process for decolonizing public space, supported by examples and implications for spatial practice. The paper shows that although fundamental spatial transformation necessitates radical mental transition, decolonization should move beyond the decoloniality of the mind towards physical intervention in public space.
Integrated planning : towards a mutually inclusive approach to infrastructure planning and design
(MDPI, 2021-11-23) Schoulund, Dario; Amura, Carlos Alberto; Landman, Karina; dario.schoulund@up.ac.za
Increasingly independent fields of specialization, civil engineering, and urban design find themselves practicing in isolation on the same urban issues. The result surfaces on the relative qualities of public spaces: projects that are functionally successful but spatially poor, and vice versa. This is critical in the global south, where infrastructure is prioritized, and politicized, as the key driver of change but often heedless of spatial consequences. The present study explores the dynamics of integration between logics arising from technical and spatial fields, and the planning processes under which such integration is feasible. An urban design/infrastructural project in Argentina, stalled for more than two decades under regulatory policies, was selected as a case study. An overview and background of the adopted planning/design methodologies are followed by a structural/spatial analysis, focusing on type, logistics, and construction on the one hand, and on indicators of successful public spaces on the other: access, uses, comfort and image. Aspects that a priori appeared as inevitable compromises found a common, but the critically logical ground in which urban and structural thinking complemented each other. More than a functional asset, infrastructure presents an opportunity to re-think the future of the built environment as a typology that could be conceived, designed and evaluated, on the same terms as successful public spaces.
Challenging times and planning : origins, endings and new beginnings?
(Cogitatio Press, 2021-05) Oranje, Mark; mark.oranje@up.ac.za
Planning was born in and of crisis. Given the multiple challenges facing the world, it may rightly be asked whether Planning would not be willing and able to assist in taking these on. In this short commentary, it is argued that the chances of this happening are slim, but not impossible, should a number of changes be made that put hope, belief, reason, and dream to collective task again.
Rapidly changing cities : working with socio-ecological systems to facilitate transformation
(Cogitatio Press, 2021-05) Landman, Karina; karina.landman@up.ac.za
Cities across the world are changing rapidly. Driven by population growth, migration, economic decline in rural areas, political instabilities, and even more recently, the Covid‐19 pandemic, urban systems and spaces are changing to accom‐ modate moving people and new functions. In many cases, these trends contribute to increased levels of inequality, poverty, food insecurity, and unemployment, while the warnings about the impact of climate change continue to raise concerns. Though some have called this a new urban revolution, others have referred to, in a more apocalyptic turn, the end of cities. In response, many writers are encouraging smarter cities, whereas others are promoting a post‐urban context and a return to small communities. High levels of uncertainty are characteristic, along with increased intensities of complexity, rapid fluctuation and unbounded experimentation. This raises many questions about the nature and implication of change in different cities situated in vastly contrasting contexts. This thematic issue of Urban Planning focuses on five narratives from cities across the world to illustrate various drivers of change and their implications for urban design and planning. The editorial introduces these narratives, as well as commentaries from leading academics/practitioners and highlights several divergent experiences and common threats. It argues that to deal with the rapid and often large‐scale changes, planners need to view human settlements as socio‐ecological systems and plan for change and uncertainty to facilitate the co‐evolution of humans and nature.
What could improve or hinder the implementation of spatial planning towards environmental justice?
(Routledge, 2021) Ntiwane, Bongane Cornelius; Coetzee, Johnny
The failure of spatial planning implementation (SPI) in local municipalities contributes to the growing call for spatial planning reform and overhaul. Some barriers and enablers to the implementation of spatial planning are salient both in theory and practice. However, it remains unknown and unconfirmed whether these factors could enhance or impede the implementation of spatial planning in pursuit of environmental justice (EJ). EJ calls for equality in spatial transformation to bridge the gap between fragmented development and existing spatial patterns. The text addresses the question of what factors are perceived to enhance or impede strategies of SPI whilst promoting environmental justice. The study adopts a mixed research strategy, which is applied to a sample of municipalities in six provinces of South Africa. The results reveal that there are various barriers and enablers that can promote or hinder the process of improving SPI in an attempt to facilitate and maintain EJ.
The effect of housing type on householders' self-reported participation in recycling
(Emerald, 2020-12) Du Toit, Jacques Louis; Wagner, Claire; jacques.dutoit@up.ac.za
PURPOSE : The purpose of this article is to examine the effect of housing type, relative to demographics, on householders' self-reported recycling across low-, medium- and high-density housing without recycling facilities by using the theory of planned behaviour. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : A survey was conducted amongst 580 households across houses, townhouses and apartments in Pretoria, South Africa. The household member most responsible for recycling completed a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analysed using factor and reliability analyses, decision trees and multivariate analysis of variance. FINDINGS : Age was the strongest predictor; the older the respondent, the more likely the household recycled. Housing type was the second strongest predictor with a significant increase in recycling in houses compared to townhouses and apartments. Subsequent analyses focussed on young respondents to control for age. Housing type had an overall non-significant effect on the factors behind recycling. Post hoc tests, however, suggest that young respondents in townhouses and apartments felt significantly less able to recycle, particularly because of lack of space and support from managing agencies. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS : For recycling to be acceptable to young people in medium- and high-density housing, interior architects and site planners should find innovative ways to make individual and communal facilities as convenient and accessible as possible to tenants, owners and recycling companies. The role of managing agencies is also critical. ORIGINALITY/VALUE : This study is one of the first to systematically examine recycling across three different housing types with recommendations for planning, design and further research.
Inclusive public space : rethinking practices of mitigation, adaptation and transformation
(Springer, 2020-09) Landman, Karina; karina.landman@up.ac.za
Recent decades have brought about an increased focus on public space as part of building more inclusive and sustainable neighbourhoods and cities. Not only are the development of public space highlighted as important in the Sustainable Development Goals and in the New Urban Agenda, but they have also become the focus of movements such as New, Sustainable and Tactical Urbanism. However, recent events such as the outbreak of Covid-19 and protests by Black Lives Matter, have shaken our ideas and perceptions of public space. It forces us to pause for a moment and reconsider the meaning for and threats to inclusive public space.
Climate change adaptation mainstreaming in the planning instruments of two South African local municipalities
(Routledge, 2021) Pieterse, Amy; Du Toit, Jacques Louis; Van Niekerk, Willemien
This article reflects on the role of urban planning in climate change adaptation and the role of planning instruments in facilitating the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation. An analytical framework is introduced to analyse primary spatial and integrated planning instruments in the City of Cape Town and Thulamela Local Municipality in South Africa, as comparative cases with core similarities and contextual differences. The findings are discussed in terms of where adaptation should be included throughout the planning process and the extent to which the cases have been able to mainstream climate change adaptation within their planning instruments. The findings show that local municipal plans and policies are recognising the impact of climate change on settlements and the role of planning in responding to these impacts. However, there is little evidence of addressing these long-term impacts through programmatic and coherent approaches using short- to medium-term planning instruments.
Towards deliberative democracy through the democratic governance and design of public spaces in the South African capital city, Tshwane
(Springer, 2020-09) Makakavhule, Kundani; Landman, Karina; kundani.makakavhule@up.ac.za; karina.landman@up.ac.za
Many political, economic and social transformations have occurred in South Africa since the first democratic elections in 1994. The country has made significant efforts in trying to establish and rebrand its cities as multiracial and multicultural hubs with democratic public spaces. In an ideal city, public space represents and embodies the ideology of deliberate democracy as postulated by Habermas. However, attempts in South Africa to re(design) public spaces also reflect instances of alienation, conflict and anxiety. This article focusses on the governance and design of public space in the capital of South Africa, the City of Tshwane. The analysis highlights the challenges encapsulated in the governance and design of different types of spaces towards enabling opportunities for deliberate democracy in Tshwane. The paper argues that to address these challenges, urban designers and local authority officials need to focus on both the process and product of urban design, through an emphasis on Spatial Democracy; to readdress governance practices, and Democratic Space; to redirect design practices, both of which have a significant impact on the use, misuse and lack of use of public space.
A qualitative study of interdisciplinary near-peer research mentoring in professional training
(American Psychological Association, 2019-02) Wagner, Claire; Du Toit, Jacques Louis; claire.wagner@up.ac.za
Although literature on interdisciplinary training has shown some promise for enabling students to cross disciplinary barriers, little is known about how being mentors to near-peers in other disciplines could initiate psychology trainees into their future role in a multidisciplinary team. This article aims to describe the experiences of psychology and urban planning students who participated in a near-peer interdisciplinary research mentoring program to understand how psychology trainees could benefit from interdisciplinary collaboration. Three focus group discussions were conducted with the students about their experiences of the program and a thematic analysis was performed on the data to distill themes focusing on the interdisciplinary aspects of the mentoring. Four themes regarding the students’ experiences were generated: challenges regarding disciplinary roles, challenges regarding the clarity of interdisciplinary collaboration, the value of interdisciplinary collaboration for academic outcomes, and the value of interdisciplinary mentoring for professional identities. The findings indicate that, despite experiencing some challenges, students from different disciplines can benefit from guiding and being guided through the research and writing process. In particular the psychology students were able to see how their role as mentors contributed to the development of their personal and professional identities as future researchers. Interdisciplinary collaboration may present psychology trainees with an opportunity to demonstrate the unique contribution that psychology can make to a shared issue and assist them to develop a collective, multiple understanding of a research topic that could also model power sharing with clients.
Land (and settlement) reform post-expropriation : shifting the focus to the 'sustainable human settlement development' imperative
(University of the Free State, 2019) Oranje, Mark; Van Wyk, Jeannie
Land reform in South Africa has paid less attention to the creation of fair and viable postapartheid urban human settlements than it has to rural land reform. While expropriation of land with or without compensation will deliver land, the question as to what happens post-expropriation has not been addressed. A reconsideration and redesign of the South African legal, policy and institutional frameworks, and spatial planning instruments are required, in order to enable the process of urban land reform to deliver on the development of sustainable human settlements. Since a number of countries have successfully dealt with large-scale restructuring and redevelopment, an examination of the methods employed in two countries, namely Rwanda, post-the genocide in 1994, and The Netherlands, post-World War II, is undertaken to facilitate that process.
City-making from below : a call for communities of resistance and reconstruction
(University of the Free State, 2019) De Beer, Stephanus Francois; Oranje, Mark
This article laments the exclusion of small, local communities, voices and visions, from participating in making the city. It makes a case for ‘small communities’ practising resistance and reconstruction in multiple ways and places. Instead of viewing such actions as naïve or a-political, it calls for an understanding of such practices as alternatives to ‘top-down’ urban processes, and, as such, representing a different and necessary, critical political imagination. In doing so, it fuses insights from equity planning theories, praxis-based liberation theological approaches, and emancipatory community development approaches. It argues that communities, aware of the forces that would seek to tear them apart, can play a significant role in making cities ‘from below’. This, it is argued, would be even more possible through such communities finding each other, and nurturing deep solidarities, until broad-based, interconnected movements take shape, embodying concrete signs of wholeness.
Developing research skills for the future workplace through interdisciplinary near-peer mentoring
(Routledge, 2020) Wagner, Claire; Du Toit, Jacques Louis; claire.wagner@up.ac.za
Experiential learning is touted as an effective way of imparting research skills. This suggests that master’s students undergoing training in research psychology should be exposed to managing projects and supervising interdisciplinary research teams and projects before entering the workplace. The Department of Psychology and Department of Town and Regional Planning at a South African university developed a near-peer mentoring programme in which the psychology master’s students mentored undergraduate urban planning students who were writing their final-year research reports. Focus group discussions with the psychology students about their experiences of the programme were analysed using phenomenography. The psychology students experienced their role as mentor in five hierarchical variations. The first four were seen as challenging, while the benefits were only experienced at the highest level of the hierarchy. Lessons learnt from the mentoring relationship that mirror certain workplace research skills are discussed followed by recommendations for improving the mentoring programme.

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