Urban space production and sustainable development: a case of waterfall city in gauteng, south africa

vital:62250The year 1994 marked the dawn of the new, democratic South Africa. It also brought its own sets of challenges to the country. One such challenge was urban space. Regrettably, the new dispensation inherited still very much race-based urban areas. Urban space is understood to be a social outcome, the result of an historical process, an unequal accumulation of time, a presupposition, and a milieu of social production (Balbim, 2016). The distinguishing feature of urban space in South Africa is the phenomenon of exclusion, which causes deformity, and disappearance of urban structure. Exclusion has become a permanent visual reality in cities in which walled and gated communities divide the urban tissue and take up a large part of the urban space. The social action and struggle against the exclusionary process of globalisation such as the commodification and privatisation of urban space have always been on the international urban agenda. The study’s literature review suggests that government attitudes towards human settlements should change, particularly in terms of policymaking to combat the contemporary urban disparities such as fragmentation (also known as “enclave urbanism”). Fragmented cities do not function as a system but more and more as juxtaposed and uncoordinated fragments drifting apart (Bénit-Gbaffou, 2008). This has an immense impact on several sustainability influencing variables. Urban fragmentation can also have profound effects on human social dynamics and well-being by reducing the number of green spaces in cities. As loss of biodiversity continues, total core area and habitat cohesion decrease while edge density and shape complexity increase. Cities are required to be more sustainable, more accessible, and equal. Cities are now witnessing the emergence of real estate products that are far from achieving the previously mentioned goals, particularly inclusivity. Inclusivity in cities can be achieved by a contemporary urban development approach referred to as ‘inclusive urban space production’. Inclusive urban space production is a pro-poor approach that equally values and incorporates the contributions of all city stakeholders in addressing development issues, including the marginalised groups. The aim of this inquiry was, therefore, to examine factors that influence urban space production to generate a responsive urban space production model, referred to in this study as the “IUSP model”. The study also aimed at examining the role of the state and xx other stakeholders involved in the production of urban space, including the private sector and the community. Participation by all of them is essential to enhance inclusive urban space production for sustainability. A theoretical model for inclusive urban space production was developed based on an intensive literature review. Also, a concurrent partially mixed method design was employed in this inquiry. A study of Waterfall City was conducted to understand exclusive developments and their effect on the larger urban system. And a survey questionnaire was disseminated using random sampling. This was to measure the postulated model. Results from these two concurrent approaches were merged to yield the final model. The findings from the case study were analysed using ATLAS.ti and the findings from the survey questionnaire were analysed using several analyses techniques including EFA, correlation and regression. Both sets of results indicated that the intention to promote inclusive developments is predicted by seventeen dependent variables categorically presented under urban development characteristics, exclusive development enablers, inclusive development barriers, and sustainability criteria. The results of this inquiry are significant because they bring together the interdisciplinary perspectives to discern comprehensively the idea of inclusivity and sustainability in urban space production. The responsive model developed as a key product of this study aims to assist policymakers, planners, designers, landscapers, and developers as a guideline for facilitating inclusive and sustainable urban development.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 202