Skin and bones: creative cities and the transformation of an urban garment district

Set against rising levels of confidence within a new creative economy, creative industrial clusters are increasingly emphasizing their roles as significant drivers of local economic development. Fashion is recognised as one of these “creative industries”. As this multi-billion dollar global industry moves manufacturing operations from local sites to third world countries abroad, garment production has become a sum of disparate entities. This phenomenon is no different in the South African industry. Johannesburg’s Fashion District, located on the eastern edge of the downtown CBD, is a tangible reminder of a region once at the forefront of the South African fashion industry. It serves as a symbol of a city in transformation and a precinct rich in future creative and economic potential. Without a successful garment district, or industry centre the fashion industry faces a difficult future. Although the changing racial landscape of the Post- Apartheid inner city revealed the organic clustering of micro practitioners into the district, this economic incubator remains an unidentifiable home to an invisible industry hidden in the carcasses of its many neglected buildings. The injection of millions of Rands worth of public sector upgrades, has done little for the development of this ‘creative industrial cluster’. The successful transformation of this industrious urban garment district requires a radical rethinking of local context and production processes. The vertical integration of these parts could see the Fashion District become a clustered urban garment campus, a point of congregated resources synonymous with global and local centers of creative excellence, providing the tools for the regeneration and transfiguration of urban space consumption not only to its former glory as a once thriving garment district, but to its aspiration as an uniquely African precinct in an attempt to re-connect production and the cit

Innovation and evolution of forms and materials for maximising dew collection

A year long study focusing on maximising dew collection using new and novel forms and materials commenced with a literature review and then the testing of nearly two hundred materials and forms using a dew simulation chamber. The research asserts that whereas present and past dew collection studies have focused on passive slippery, hydrophobic, inclined planar forms, that there are other forms that show potential for collecting dew. These include hydroscopic metallic and carbon foams with large interstices where dew can collect but which are also slippery and hydrophobic so that the dew can be rejected by gravity and then replaced by more dew. These types of forms could be used in semi-passive systems where people are at hand to extract the dew. Biomimesis, particularly with regards to cacti is investigated and materials with spiny / lanceolate projections show positive results as do some open foam materials. Other forms / materials derived from nature which are investigated and which require further study include airfoil shaped forms derived from beetles, corrugated and ribbed/finned shaped forms derived from leaves, particularly cacti, as well as insects. The study also investigates high emissivity materials. The testing of the forms and materials in the dew chamber provides a means for comparing their ability to collect dew. However as the dew simulation chamber is not a device specifically designed for dew research the results cannot be used definitively to predict the amounts that could be collected out doors. The research, however presents a number of potential new paths for maximising dew collection which should be taken further and tested in the field

LSE Cities: ‘Reconstructing Sarajevo’ report

The challenge of reconstructing a city after the devastation of war far surpasses the act of bringing together its pieces. Never has this been truer than in the ethno-cultural complexity and geo-political density of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s (BiH) capital city of Sarajevo. Words by Bronwyn Kotzen and Sofia Garcia

The sustainable vegetables that thrive on a diet of fish poo

We currently rely on shipping large amounts of food across the world, leaving us remarkably vulnerable to disruption from wars, climate chaos, or volatile oil prices. Growing as much food as possible locally could boost resilience and allow us to start taking more control of what we eat, and reduce the intake of salt, sugar and preservatives, which drive diabetes and heart disease. Aquaponics is a sustainable and intensive alternative to both growing in soil and to hydroponics

The potential for combining living wall and vertical farming systems with aquaponics

Aquaponics is a method of food production, growing fish and vegetables in a recirculating aquaculture system. Aquaponics uses the water from the fish to feed the plants in a totally natural way and like hydroponics, aquaponics is considered to be more sustainable as more plants can be grown per square metre compared to normal agriculture. However, as is the case with normal agriculture, in aquaponics plants are grown within horizontally. In aquaponics, using the UVI system, the ratio between fish tanks:filters:plant tanks is 2:1:5 which means that the plant tanks are occupying close to half of the production space. In order to reduce the spatial requirement for plants, which would make production even more sustainable, this research investigates aspects of combining living wall and vertical farming technologies in aquaponics. It is considered that by growing the plants vertically less space would be required. In this research living wall system are investigated but the main focus is on the potentials of using various inert substrates in the living wall systems for vertical aquaponics. The results showed that a pot system performs better in terms of management of the systems. With regard to substrates, horticultural grade coconut fibre and horticultural grade mineral wool outperformed other substrates

Further investigations of Aquaponics using brackish water resources of the Negev Desert

Outdoor, floating raft aquaponic systems using the brackish waters of the Negev Desert in Israel and a fresh water control are described. 7m2 of vegetables and herbs were grown in each recirculating system with Tilapia sp. fish. Plant growth was excellent for species such as celery, Swiss chard, spring onions and watercress, and fish health and growth were good. Growth rates for fish were, however, low, with an upper limit of 1.1g per day and would have increased with ad libitum feeding. Water quality was well controlled, and iron chelate was added to correct chlorosis problems. Leafy growth was very good, but fruiting could be improved with the addition of potassium (K) and other micronutrients

Potentiation of the abscopal effect by modulated electro-hyperthermia in locally advanced cervical cancer patients

Background: A Phase III randomized controlled trial investigating the addition of modulated electro-hyperthermia (mEHT) to chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer patients is being conducted in South Africa (Human Research Ethics Committee approval: M1704133; ID: NCT03332069). Two hundred and ten participants were randomized and 202 participants were eligible for six month local disease control evaluation. Screening F-18-FDG PET/CT scans were conducted and repeated at six months post-treatment. Significant improvement in local control was reported in the mEHT group and complete metabolic resolution (CMR) of extra-pelvic disease was noted in some participants. We report on an analysis of the participants with CMR of disease inside and outside the radiation field. Method: Participants were included in this analysis if nodes outside the treatment field (FDG-uptake SUV>2.5) were visualized on pre-treatment scans and if participants were evaluated by F-18-FDG PET/CT scans at six months post-treatment. Results: One hundred and eight participants (mEHT: HIV-positive n = 25, HIV-negative n = 29; Control Group: HIV-positive n = 26, HIV-negative n = 28) were eligible for analysis. There was a higher CMR of all disease inside and outside the radiation field in the mEHT Group: n = 13 [24.1%] than the control group: n = 3 [5.6%] (Chi squared, Fisher's exact: p = 0.013) with no significant difference in the extra-pelvic response to treatment between the HIV-positive and -negative participants of each group. Conclusion: The CMR of disease outside the radiation field at six months post-treatment provides evidence of an abscopal effect which was significantly associated with the addition of mEHT to treatment protocols. This finding is important as the combined synergistic use of radiotherapy with mEHT could broaden the scope of radiotherapy to include systemic disease

Living Walls for Vertical Farming ‘AQUAPONICS’

Workshop PowerPoint presentation on the potential for living walls to be used in aquaponic sytems for more sustainable and profitable aquaponic food productio

The power of landscape: the power of the landscape architect

This paper discusses three aspects of power. Firstly the power of landscape architects to influence projects. LA’s are often seen to be ‘at the bottom of the food chain’ when it comes to large scale development and design matters. However, my experience working with Arup International on some of the largest development projects in Europe such as Stratford City illustrates that landscape architects can have enormous power in the decision making process and the impact of development regarding location, look, scale and content. Stratford City is a mixed-use development project in Stratford, London. The site includes new parks, pedestrianised and ecological areas. The talk will illustrate how the author (the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment [LVIA] project landscape architect) had to convince the developers that the imposed scale of the Stratford City project was misguided. Additionally the proposed expansion of the proposals immediately adjacent to railway lines was thwarted through a study of precedents. The above discussion is based on the fact that the landscape profession has grasped the field of LVIA and is also intimately involved amongst other things in the aspects of ecological, acoustic, civil engineering and hydrological design. Thus the 2nd part of this paper discusses how the landscape architect is a necessary force for good and how the fields of opportunity are expanding. These fields will provide additional power to the landscape profession particularly with green roofs and urban agriculture and particularly aquaponics. I argue that landscape architects must get involved in ‘urban ag’ as this is a key part of the Green Cities’ agenda. The third aspect of power is due to LAs having a holistic and broad view of the world, bringing other disciplines together. This will be discussed in the light of the speaker as Chair of the newly established EU funded COST project on the creation of the ‘Arid Lands Restoration and Combat of Desertification: Setting Up a Drylands and Desert Restoration Hub’ commencing in June 2012