Visual assessment as a research tool for solving spatial problems in Khutsong Section informal settlement

Abstract

In South Africa there are many informal settlements experiencing worsening socio-economic living conditions, along with associated environmental and urban open space degradation. These socio-spatial problems have increasingly attracted attention and responses from the South African government and researchers. Urban designers and architects as design professionals can make use of their visual-spatial skills to play a leading role towards developing sustainable and enabling urban open spaces in informal settlements. This study employed visual assessment as a tool for urban designers and architects to address socio-spatial problems in informal settlements. A visual research methodology was explored, using Khutsong Section informal settlement as a vehicle so as to formulate a generalised approach to the upgrading of informal settlements. The study area, Khutsong Section, is located in Ivory Park township within the City of Johannesburg. The visual-spatial design process gained from the context of the study, visual analysis and interpretation of precedents as well as the analysis and understanding of the study area. The context-informed and -driven urban open space design process resulted in an integrative and consolidated spatial solution for Khutsong Section. The understanding obtained of specific socio-economic activities imbedded in prevailing spatial elements and features in informal settlements has a broader applicability in the urban design and architecture professions. Therefore, the application of the visual research method in this study contributes towards positioning urban designers and architects to be visionaries and pioneers in the sustainable upgrading of informal settlements.