The role of decision making and management of construction projects in fostering sustainability for intensive urban development through public housing initiatives in South Africa.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The current discourse in sustainable development is centred on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals stipulated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as the New Urban agenda. The resilience, inclusiveness and safeness of human settlements and the need to readdress the manner in which these are planned, financed, developed, governed and managed is at the forefront of the narrative. In the South African context this soughtafter target of integrated and sustainable human settlements delivery has seen a trajectory riddled with a myriad of policies and programmes. One of the predicaments at the heart of the new urban agenda globally, and South Africa specifically, is whether population growth should be accommodated by extensive or intensive urban development. Both approaches have gained support in the South African context in recent years. The research looked at the role of decision making and management of construction projects within the context of producing sustainable housing through intensive redevelopment in South Africa and particularly in Durban. The intensive redevelopment approach indeed seems to address the ideals of the New Urban Agenda, however a case study analysis and an overview of recent research related to intensive redevelopment through building conversion and renovation has revealed that efforts to date do not address sustainability issues comprehensively. The study paid special attention to the social aspect of sustainability, which reflects recent increasing awareness that the construction industry must support the sustainable development agenda by including social considerations throughout the construction project life cycle in hopes of achieving sustainable buildings and communities. An environmentally friendly building requires only the minimizing of its environmental impact, however a sustainable building asks for more. The sense of a community is fundamental for a sustainable building, since it should increase social equity, cultural and heritage issues, human health and social infrastructure, as well as safe and healthy environments. The research adopted a multi-dimensional approach involving an extensive literature review, individual and focus group interviews with stakeholders, a questionnaire-based survey conducted with the occupants of buildings involved in intensive urban redevelopment and case studies’ analysis. Findings demonstrated that the New Urban Agenda needs to recognise and respond to drivers such as the demand for central city living from low and middle income groups desperate for the access to amenities and economic opportunities it provides. Core urban areas, inner suburbs and old transport routes are full of derelict and under-utilised land, former buffer strips and run-down buildings in need of renewal and regeneration. There are unrivalled opportunities within South African municipalities to rehabilitate worn-out infrastructure, to install new energy and communication systems, and to refurbish and construct better buildings. Rerouting capital flows to retrofit existing urban assets makes sense from a resource efficiency perspective. Long-term considerations, global thinking and local action, responsibility and transparency from a management and decision making perspective, and the purposive application of the principles of sustainability throughout a project lifecycle and to all stakeholders promotes continual improvement and distinctive steps towards archiving sustainable buildings and communities through the process of conversions and rehabilitation of existing buildings in urban areas

Low income rental housing, a neglected component of urban regeneration strategies in South African inner cities : a case study of the Durban inner city.

Master of Housing. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2016.Various factors are responsible for the degeneration and decay of South African inner cities, many of which are directly linked to the country’s history of political, social, economic and spatial inequality. In attempts to remedy the injustices of apartheid planning, the government initiated a major push in the National Housing Policy for a better integration of housing within inner cities. Breaking New Ground (BNG) put great emphasis on the role of social housing as a driver for urban regeneration. Stating that low-income rental interventions may also be used to facilitate the acquisition, rehabilitation and conversion of vacant or dilapidated buildings as part of a broader urban renewal strategy. However, the urban regeneration strategies implemented by the municipalities have been similar in terms of their vision and content. The primary focus has been centred on economic growth. The core of the strategies generally emphasise attracting sustained private investments and creating a functioning property market leading to a rise in property value and displacement of the inner city poor. Emphasis has also been on the improvement of municipal infrastructure, the regulation of informal trading and the eradication of crime and grime. Unfortunately these strategies are characterised by a glaring weakness of the housing component. This dissertation was aimed at expressing the need for development of low-income rental housing within South African inner cities as an effective yet neglected component of urban regeneration strategies in the country. The study made reference to the inner city of Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal in particular. The study sought to; assess the current state of urban decline and the housing situation within the Durban inner city, discuss urban regeneration strategies implemented nationally and internationally, and showcase the potential role of low-income rental housing as a driver of regeneration strategies. Primary data was sourced through observation and semi-structured interviews with municipal, provincial government, ward counselor and Section 21 company officials. This was done to answer the question, ‘why has low-income rental housing become a neglected component of urban regeneration strategies within the Durban inner city, despite the apparent need and it being highlighted as such in Housing policy’. The information gathered from the interviews was analysed using thematic analysis. After analysing the information, the following were some of the findings; the Durban inner city was in dire need of regeneration as well as low-income rental housing that is not limited to social housing, as the majority of the inner city poor do not meet the income bracket requirement. Data also expressed challenges such as land availability and financial constraints had limited the scale of low-income rental housing development within the inner city. Perhaps the most integral finding was that, despite the push in housing policy of low-income rental housing as a driver of urban regeneration, strong linkages between the two had not been facilitated through a corresponding national regeneration policy or municipal programmes and initiative. The study made a number of recommendations, such as; EThekwini Municipality needs to strongly consider developing Community Residential Units (CRU) in order to accommodate the inner city poor who earn below R1500 per month; the development of a national urban regeneration policy which makes strong linkages between low-income rental housing and urban regeneration. With regards to the issue of land availability, the Municipality should use Land-Use Schemes to deny development consent instead of low-income rental housing within the inner city