The Creation of Lived Public Spaces by African Migrants and People of Diverse Ethnicity in the Pretoria CBD and its Implications for Urban Planning A Phenomenological Investigation

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived spaces created by African migrants and people of diverse ethnicity in the Pretoria CBD, and to determine the implications that they could have for the spatial planning disciplines. A literature study provided the parameters for the phenomenological approach to the investigation. This depended upon the researcher closely acquainting himself geographically with the selected area and building trusting relationships with the migrant community there in order to gauge the suitability of the Pretoria CBD for a large and growing population of African migrants and people of diverse ethnicity, for whom it was not originally designed. The study developed ethnographic and spatial indicators for the lived spaces that African migrants may generate in a city space context. It also expanded the concept of spatiality, to better understand the everyday lived spaces of African migrants and people of diverse ethnicity within the Pretoria CBD. Results of the investigation indicate that ethnographic indicators and spatial principles may be developed that describe the behaviour of African migrants and people of diverse ethnicity in a city space context such as the Pretoria CBD, where public spaces are not adequate for these groups of people that suffer from marginalisation and exclusion. Ethnographic indicators and concepts such as marginalisation, loss of power and spatial autonomy have a profound influence on the aspirations, perceptions and use of public space in the Pretoria CBD. Recommendations from the findings of this study are made for the spatial planning disciplines as well as the authorities that represent power in the Pretoria CBD.