TRP 2018 Volume 72

Permanent URI for this collection

http://hdl.handle.net/11660/11997

Browse

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9

Open Access
The generation of competencies and standards for planning in South Africa: differing views
(University of the Free State, 2018) Sihlongonyane, Mfaniseni Fana
Since the founding of planning in South Africa fifty-two years ago, the statutory bodies governing the profession have not set the competencies and standards in order to create a framework for curriculum development, the accreditation of schools, as well as the registration of planners and their professional practice. In 2010, the South African Council for Planners, a statutory body responsible for the regulation and quality assurance of the planning profession, initiated a process of generating Competencies and Standards to deal with the many challenges that had arisen as a result of the lack of the framework. The generation of a set of Competencies and Standards has stimulated much debate in the corridors of higher learning and between the Council and other related professional bodies in the built environment. This article first traces the motivating factors for the initiation of the Competencies and Standards process; secondly, it examines the history of this process; thirdly, it discusses the debatable issues raised in the various interactive workshops during the process and. lastly, it identifies the achievements of the process. The thrust of argument in the article is that the Competencies and Standards process marks a significant step towards curriculum reform, but more engagement will be required to facilitate transformation in the planning profession.
Open Access
The underbelly of the Berea: challenges to orthodox planning for the creation of sustainable suburban neighbourhoods in South Africa
(University of the Free State, 2018) Hansmann, Robynne; Lincoln, Gilberte; Musvoto, Godfrey
Sustainable neighbourhood development is a global urban planning policy concern for the 21st century. In the global South, these concerns persist alongside increasing population and poverty levels in cities. In South Africa’s established former apartheid neighbourhoods, the challenges of creating sustainable neighbourhoods from the current post-colonial neighbourhood are unclear and contradictory. Former largely mono-functional suburban neighbourhoods of the apartheid period are undergoing changes in form, function and demography. Using the case of Berea suburban neighbourhood in the metropolitan city of eThekwini (Durban), the article explores the responsiveness of orthodox land-use planning to sustainable neighbourhood change from 1994. It focuses on a historical review of orthodox planning vis-à-vis recent policy and land-use change dynamics in the Berea. Data used include a content analysis of the Berea General Plans from 1857, Town Planning Schemes and related documents, purposively selected interviews, observations, GIS mapping of planning applications, and analysis based on South African demographic census data from 2001 to 2011. The article concludes that former largely mono-functional orthodox suburban neighbourhood planning is insufficiently responsive to heterogeneity trends on the Berea.
Open Access
From the editor
(University of the Free State, 2018) Steyn, Das
To understand the present, it is necessary to understand the past. Unfortunately, we often also deal with foul news and the distortion of the past. No wonder George Orwell warned that, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” Therefore, planners must check their facts, as incorrect information can send the future in a wrong direction.
Open Access
Considering spatial planning for the South African poor: an argument for ‘planning with’
(University of the Free State, 2018) Cilliers, Juanee; Victor, Hestia
This article considers the notion of ‘spatial planning’ in South Africa, elaborating on the challenges relating to the wide disparities between formal and informal areas. Town and Regional Planning theory and anthropological approaches are fused together in this article in an attempt to provide a more integrated approach to spatial planning, arguing in favour of ‘planning with’ poor South Africans, in contrast to ‘planning for’. By using qualitative participant observation, an ethnographic fieldwork study conducted in Marikana informal settlement, Potchefstroom, South Africa, helped form reflections that offer valuable insights in support of the ‘planning with’ approach. Marikana residents’ innovative DIY-formalisation plan of installing communal taps is considered a vivid example of pragmatic local solutions to service-delivery issues and it is argued that these solutions should be considered when ‘planning with’ the poor. The research argues that, despite being different in context, ‘planning with’ approaches have a prominent role to play in both formal and informal settlements. As such, the research elaborated on the value of ‘planning with’ approaches in South Africa, relating to environmental, social, economic, political and broader planning considerations. The article does not offer a generalizable solution to all planning challenges in South Africa. It concludes with a reflection of the ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the case study linked to broader themes of the possible planning interventions, considering the delineation of social power, context-based needs, ownership and accountability, and the importance of environmental education for all socio-economic classes, in an attempt to inspire planners, policymakers and anthropologists to find new ways of ‘thinking with’ and ‘planning with’ each other.
Open Access
Communicative mapping as a means for promoting legal land tenure: the case study of the Goedverwacht Moravian Mission Village, in the Western Cape, South Africa
(University of the Free State, 2018) Pinfold, Nicholas
The newly enacted Western Cape Land Use Planning Act (Act No. 3 of 2014) repeals the Rural Areas Act (Act No. 9 of 1987) and requires that all land within a municipality be incorporated into an existing municipal zoning scheme. The prospect of this has created uncertainty among the residents of the Goedverwacht Moravian Mission Village (Goedverwacht) in the Western Cape regarding the future of its communal church lifestyle. In anticipation of change, students from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) have embarked on a community mapping service-learning project at Goedverwacht to explore the usefulness of communicative mapping as a means for promoting legal land tenure. This article argues that communicative mapping is a valuable way of creating spatial awareness in a communal settlement. The findings show that creating an interim cadastral map using general boundaries at an accuracy fit for purpose is a feasible way of creating spatial awareness and provides a means for promoting legal land tenure.
Open Access
Environmental justice in the context of planning
(University of the Free State, 2018) Ntiwane, Bongane; Coetzee, Johnny
In recent years, environmental justice has been central in many Social Sciences discourses; yet it has gained limited recognition in planning, particularly in spatial planning theories. The extent of environmental justice in planning theory remains unrecorded or subtle in planning research. This study evaluates planning theories against the criteria that constitute the dimensions of environmental justice. The results of the work reveal that planning theories generally incorporate environmental justice to a limited extent. The study recommends the introduction of a new environmental justice paradigm shift in planning to bridge the identified gap in planning theory and practice. Regarding planning practice, the study highlights the need for planners to apply the principles of environmental justice in planning to achieve fairness in distribution, recognition, participation, capability consideration, and effects in monitoring and evaluation.
Open Access
Do social grants contribute to the jobless population growth in the former South African homelands?
(University of the Free State, 2018) Geyer, Herman; Ngidi, Mawande; Mans, Gerbrand
The former homelands and tribal authorities have large populations and high densities with low levels of economic activity and low employment. Population growth in these settlements is in contrast to expectations of population declines, due to urban migration. A possible reason could be the high level of dependency on social grants in the former homelands. The article analyses population growth rates, economic growth rates and the ratio of social grant recipients within former homeland settlements between 1996 and 2011. By using weighted multiple regression tests, the article determines whether the phenomenon of population growth, in the absence of significant economic activity, is linked to welfare transfers. The results indicate that population growth is the product of increases in age cohorts qualifying for social grants in rural areas, due to high birth rates and pensioner in-migration from urban areas. By contrast, other age cohorts show population declines.
Open Access
Greening the South African economy: scoping the issues, challenges and opportunities
(University of the Free State, 2018) Schoeman, Calie
The title of the book deals with a very relevant focus, namely greening the South African economy. Practitioners, developers and related role players such as decision makers are aware of the need to integrate the greening debate in planning and implementation activities. The title is thus addressing an important focus in transforming planning and development thinking and approaches.
Open Access
Post-industrial urban quarries as places of recreation and the new wilderness – a South African perspective
(University of the Free State, 2018) Vosloo, Piet
The objective of this article is threefold: To re-evaluate the concept of wilderness as a place to be experienced by human beings as part of their outdoor recreational needs; to investigate if reclaimed post-industrial urban quarries can fulfil these needs, and to investigate the legislative frameworks in South Africa within which such reclamation and re-use can be undertaken. The objective is not to present detailed case studies of post-industrial urban quarries that have been rehabilitated or redeveloped for a different land use, but rather to demonstrate the potential of such quarries. The majority of South Africa’s population is urbanised and has hardly any prospect, due to various constraints, of ever visiting natural or even ‘man-made wilderness’ areas for recreational purposes. The currently held concept of wilderness is critically evaluated and the need to change our perception of wilderness is discussed. The biophysical and socio-economic nature, as well as the legal framework, within which the redevelopment potential of our ubiquitous post-industrial urban quarries must be viewed, are examined to determine whether they can be reclaimed as outdoor recreation places and a new ‘urban wilderness’. It is shown, through a literature review and examining five case studies, that reclaimed quarries can satisfy urban dwellers’ innate need for outdoor recreational spaces and natural or wilderness areas, albeit man-made and despite the procedural challenges posed by the requirements of the South African regulatory urban spatial planning frameworks and Acts.

Browse

Browsing TRP 2018 Volume 72 by Issue Date

Results Per Page

Sort Options