ROSETTENVILLE STUDIO FINAL REPORT 2016

SI X STUDIO FINAL REPORT Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 5 MAIN PARTICIPANTS 1.1 Method of analysis and reflection 6 Directors: 1.2 The strengths and limits of the Analysis, · Kirsten Doermann Reflection and Studio 7 · Aly Karam 1.3 The structure of the Report 8 Coordinators: · Jennifer van den Bussche 2. LOCATING ROSETTENVILLE IN SPACE AND TIME 8 Educators · Aly Karam 3. ROSETTENVILLE TO ROTTENVILLE AND BACK AGAIN? 11 · Amanda Williamson 3.1 Rosettenville: Looking back 12 · Anisa Desai 3.2 Changes wrought: 13 · Brian Boshoff 3.3 Converting Rottenville back to Rosettenville? · Chloe Buire City visions and people’s perceptions. 26 · Claire Benit-Gbaffou 3.4 Conclusions 29 · Craig McClenaghan · Diane Long 4. OUTSIDE LOOKING IN; INSIDE LOOKING OUT 30 · Hannah Le Roux, 4.1 Surprises: connected; accessible and ordered 30 · Hilton Judin, 4.2 Positive structures: support where it is · Kirsten Doermann needed most 33 · Neil Klug 4.3 Starting a conversation: Turning the World Inside/Out 35 · Sally Gaule 4.4 Conclusions 36 · Saphira Patel · Solam Mkhabela 5. THE CENTRE CANNOT HOLD: · Sarah Charlton FRAGMENTATION/ATOMISATION. 38 Front Cover: 5.1 Space and scale 38 Date, time, photographer 5.2 Temporality and Fragmentation 40 5. 3 Social fragmentation: trust, ethnicity and gender 42 5.4 Political fragmentation and institutional invisibility 45 5.5 Public space 46 5.6 Conclusions 47

6. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 48 6.1 Transport, access and mobility 48 6.2 Housing: accommodation and shared living 48 6.3 Public Space: 53 6.4 Community Participation 53 6.5 Pedagogy and lessons learned 54 6.6 Lessons learned for future studios 61 6.7 Lessons learnt: policy recommendations 62 6.8 Concluding thoughts 63

APPENDIX I: List of Courses and Projects undertaken as part of the Rosettenville Studio 65

APPENDIX II: Calendar of Events 68 List of Figures

Figure 1: Figure 13: Location map of Rosettenville within JHB and all of Second year student’s reflection after visiting Rosettenville W the suburbs that were included and were part of the Studio (Source: Ndlovu, E., 2014: no page number) 10 Figure 14: Portrait and wishes from the Pavement Gallery Figure 2: (Source: Gaule, S., 2014:ARPL2003:2) 35 Changes of built form along DeVilliers Road, 1800s-2040 (Source: Doerman, K., 2014: ARPL2000, no page number) 11 Figure 15: Pavement Gallery of Portraits and wishes Figure 3: (Source: Gaule, S., 2014:ARPL20031) 37 Two examples of Backyard accommodation in Rosettenville (Adapted from: Phelelani, N., et al, ARPL3013: 5) 14 Figure 16: Examples of micro-scale fragmentation Figure 4: (Source: Mahlalela, S., 2013: ARPL3006: No page number) 39 Designing for constant change (Luzulo, M, 2014: ARPL4000: 1) 16 Figure 17: Private spaces in La Rochelle Figure 5: (Nkoane, M., 2014: 63-64) 40 Formal and Informal trading along main route (Source: Kow, A., et al,2014: ARPL2000: 5). 18 Figure 18: The amplification of no go zones at night Figure 6: (Source: Kluth, C., 2013 ARPL3012:10) 42 Student poster depicting the experiences of street traders in Rosettenville Figure 19: (Source: Group 3, 2013: ARPL2009: No page number 19 Mobility of business owners in Rosettenville (Source: Hatiz-Abdullah, Y., et al, 2014: ARPL2009: Figure 7: No page number) 43 Map of artisanal mining (Source: Adank, J., 2014: 10-11). 20 Figure 20: Rental Costs Figure 8: (Source: Renting Group, 2014: ARPL2000: 10 and 14:) 50 Advertising in Rosettenville (Source: Source: Kow, A., et al, 2014: ARPL2000: 58). 21 Figure 21: Flexible row housing design ( Figure 9 Source: Doerman, K., 2013: ARPL2000: 27) 51 Informal activities on the streets and parks (Source: Suliman, E., et al, 2014: ARPL3014:15) 22 Figure 22: Flexible land use management models Figure 10: (Source: ARPL2000, 2014) 52 Paranoia Park 25 Figure 23: Figure 11: Let’s Play Menu 58 Resident mobility poster (Source: The mobility of piece job workers Group, 2014: Figure 24: ARPL2009, No page number) 27 Example of one of the posters 59

Figure 12: Figure 25: Corridors of Freedom: Turffontein Corridor Images from the Launch of the Rosettenville Game 61 (Source: CoJ, 2013:11) 28 Figure 26: Public space interventions 64 1. INTRODUCTION

Rosettenville Studio (RS), an initiative of the School of Box 1: Architecture and Planning and the Centre for Urbanism The origin of the Rosettenville Studio… in and Built Environment Studies (CUBES), took place the words of Prof. Aly Karam over the two years between 2013 and 2014 and looked towards using Rosettenville as an urban laboratory As the school was reflecting on studio, which with the intention of engaging in action research that was the School of Architecture and Planning’s key urban benefitted the community and supported the research studio from2010-2011 during 2012, I met Andrew Barker and pedagogic needs of the School of Architecture and in an Economic Development summit held in the south of Planning (SoAP). . He mentioned that he would like to introduce me to South Johannesburg Business and Tourism Forum The Studio was funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft (SOJO) to start looking at Rosettenville and La Rochelle the für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Rosa same way we did with Yeoville. Luxemburg Foundation. It also received some funding After couple of days, I was introduced to Ms Nicky Vakaloudis, support from the University of the . It who is the person running SOJO. would not have been possible without in kind support from the University’s School of Architecture and We started discussing possibilities and how the studio works Planning’. Originally the studio focused on housing, and what we can offer and what we cannot offer. We insisted that we work with the community and not with specific transport, public space, safety and security and organizations and we wanted to ensure our independence as questions of community engagement. However, over an academic institution. Some of the businesses might be the duration of the project its emphasis changed slightly able to assist in terms of space for meetings and gathering increasingly bringing in an examination of the City of space for students and lecturers to meet if needed. They Johannesburg’s Corridor of Freedom (CoF) initiative.1 also offered to connect us with different businesses and From the CoF four main threads were drawn which people important in the community. We started looking for helped to shape the areas of focus: safety, livelihoods, funding, and during that same period GIZ was looking for decay and mobility. It was also agreed that the question different projects to fund, we communicated with Dr Bettina of safety and security was vital and so became a Silbernagl and we had the proposal approved after several meetings and presentations. cross-cutting theme through almost all of the student work. The focus on safety was due to the partnership The strength of the Rosettenville Studio was that it started interests of the GIZ and the SA-German joint initiative with a strong group of people willing to participate and look of the Inclusive Violence and Crime Prevention for Safe at different aspects of the area. Another issue which was Public Spaces Programme (VCP) located within that strong when we started is that it was interesting to look at agency. The intention of the partnership between the the decline of an area which was not an inner city suburb, GIZ and the University was to support the integration but, to a certain extent, a peripheral suburb (to the original geographic location of city of Johannesburg which at the time of a safety lens into an innovative applied teaching and excluded and the rest). research programme in Johannesburg’s Rosettenville area, looking at how public space can be improved through urban planning, design and architecture.2,3 The following is a considered reflection of much of the work that was undertaken by undergraduate and post-graduate students (please see Appendix I for a full list of all of the courses and projects that formed part of the RS) including formal pedagogic submissions and the insights gained from the variety of complementary events (See Appendix II) associated with the Studio. It also offers some comment on how the RS cowwwthat were used and the obstacles and challenges that the studio faced.

It takes as its starting point the view that the perspectives

1 The Corridors of Freedom is the City of Johannesburg’s transit-oriented of the students, staff and participants are valuable and at all development programme intended to shape the future City by transport times tries to honour their insights and uses original quotes to interchanges where the focus will be on mixed-use development – high-density accommodation, supported by office buildings, retail to ensure that their “voices” are clearly audible. Thus the development and opportunities for leisure and recreation. report is full of quotes, narratives, and as much of their visual http://www.joburg.org.za/images/pdfs/corridors%20of%20freedom_s.pdf work as possible, offering a rich array of ideas, creativity and 2 VCP Result Area Factsheet September 2014 insight. The following sections discuss how the reflection was 3 Although the GIZ programme is centred on safety and security, this angle of research was not allocated funding as had been proposed in the initial undertaken, its limitations and strengths, before beginning a RS application. However it continued to be a priority issue for GIZ and was discussion of the findings of the report incorporated into the RS and most students projects at the very least touched on this issue. 1.1 also offered fresh thoughts and approaches and often Method of analysis questioned well-worn and accepted truisms, adding new and reflection perceptions, methods and ways of working. However, analytically one needs to be cautious when The information and research that is presented here is a drawing conclusions from the material: given the small synthesis of two years’ worth of student projects ranging sample sizes and the range of methods, consistent with from undergraduate architecture and planning student class teaching a wide variety of skills, capacities and ideas to projects to post-graduate research. Thus the work comes students. Furthermore, undergraduate student work from students of different years of study, maturity and ability. often demonstrates some innocence and inexperience, The research is also highly variable in quality and covers for example a lack of reflection on both their positions different methods from rigorous positivist approaches to and those of their respondents, often taking statements of more impressionistic modalities of engagement. The work respondents as absolute truth rather than seeing them as also varied from highly creative and design-orientated opinions and interrogating or considering the statements. methods with the intention of stimulating students’ This is not surprising nor problematic and is part of the imagination to traditional conceptualisations using more development of students but it does mean that some of conventional research methods. Furthermore, in most cases the work has to be read with that keenly in mind. Thus the the sample sizes and number of interviews was very small, findings and conclusions that are drawn should be taken in some cases as few as 3-4, and interviews were often very as indicative and in no way constitute a comprehensive brief. census of all aspects of the area. In many cases, they should be seen as pointing to issues which require further After having read through a large sample of the work, and research rather than absolute and conclusive findings. through discussions with the key facilitators of the studio a set of themes emerged that seemed cross-cutting and 1.3 allowed for a deep analysis. Using a standardised template of analysis a team of researchers4 then applied these themes The structure of the Report to a large sample of the work that was produced, either all of the class work that was produced or a representative sample The report begins with a short introductory section from each course. The application worked well and surfaced offering some geographic and historical context to the a set of sub-themes and new ideas which were then fed back site of study and giving a very brief overview of its history. in an iterative manner into the analysis. The end result was a The second section continues the historical narrative and highly detailed analysis matrix, which, as intended, surfaced offers an account of the remembered history of the place the students’ findings and insights as well as the community by older and newer residents. It also describes some of and respondents “voices” under a set of collective themes. the key changes that they have experienced. The section then looks at what the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) is now The team also engaged with key staff members and some proposing in order to address some of the more negative students who had had a deep engagement with the studio aspects that the Greater Rosettenville area is facing and and requested their thoughts and reflections on the studio, in discusses some of the challenges and drawbacks that order to understand what worked well, where the challenges the proposals confront as well as the responses by the lay and what recommendations they may put forward for local community. This section in a sense thus brings the future studios. Much of this is captured in the last section of reader up to date and sets the scene for the next few the report. sections, which offer engagements with some of the current issues and circumstances facing residents at the 1.2 moment. The fourth section thus offers an account about The strengths and limits of the Analysis, what was surprising and unexpected for the students and the many positive aspects that are a key part of the Reflection and Studio area. The fifth section engages with the many different sorts of fragmentation that the area faces. The final As can be seen the RS produced a rich abundance of section attempts to bring all of these aspects together material, and has focused on the stories and details of and examines the implications of the various findings people’s lives and their perceptions. The qualitative work for some of the key themes of the studio: housing, public was a powerful method for gaining insight into people’s lives space, safety and security, and transport. The discussion and daily experiences and building up a picture of everyday further considers the question of community participation experiences, thoughts and narratives of the space. It should and reflects on the experience of the studio as a pedagogic also be remembered that RS was a type of urban laboratory, tool and discusses the traps and difficulties of engaging where experience and innovation was encouraged, and in a studio in a city like Johannesburg and a suburb like process was valued as much as outcome. The students’ Rosettenville.

4 Margot Rubin as the team leader, Jennifer van den Bussche, researcher and Chloe Malavolti, research assistant and intern in CUBES. 2. LOCATING ROSETTENVILLE IN SPACE AND TIME

Although the work was entitled the Rosettenville Studio, it actually took place across what might be termed the Greater Rosettenville area, which included Rosettenville, La Rochelle, Turffontein and Wemmerpan (See Figure 1). The area lies in the southern part of Johannesburg and forms part of the Southern , most of which were established in the latter part of the 19th Century after gold was found5. The area has seen many changes, beginning life as a refuge, designed for the elite hoping to escape the hustle, noise and rough and tumble of a newly minted mining town and the constant noise of the stamp batteries pounding out the gold for the town’s prospectors.6 The area was named after Leo Rosettenstein who surveyed and sold the stands in the area. By the 1920s many of the southern suburbs had seen a change in profile and had become home to a working class population of English and speaking South Africans. Greater Rosettenville in particular has a specific ethnic history and from the 1940s until the 1980s there was a significant White Portuguese population constituted of migrants from mainland . It is estimated that in this period 50 000 immigrants moved into the area.7 The 1970s due to the upheaval in the former Portuguese colonies of and Angola, saw a new influx of refugees, who were drawn to the Lusophone ambience of the area. For much of its history the area maintained a largely “white” demographic profile, this was due to the Apartheid racial laws of zoning, which did not allow for legal mixed residential areas. Since the end of Apartheid and the falling away of the racist legislation, the last few decades have once again seen a change as new migrants from SADC countries have found homes in the southern suburbs and older residents have moved to newer suburbs in the north of the city.

The purely residential and fairly culturally homogenous nature of the suburbs has shifted since the late 1970s and early 1980s and now new forms of conviviality and diversity characterise these spaces, offering mixed uses, and densities, with a variety of land uses and people living cheek by jowl. There is much to celebrate in the newly evolving urban form and suburban character but there is also a darker side to the suburb: crime, violence and disenfranchisement that make Rosettenville a difficult place to research and an even more difficult place to live and work in. All of which will be explored in the next few sections and the complementary safety and security report, which forms part of the overall reflection.

Figure 1: Location map of Rosettenville within JHB and all of the suburbs that were included and were part of the Studio (Source: Ndlovu, E., 2014: no page number)

5 The southern suburbs consist of: (1886), Booysens (1887), Rosettenville (1889), Turffontein (1889), Regents Park (1904) and Kenilworth (1907) (Moyo and Cossa, 2015) 6 Khangelani Moyo & Erma Cossa 2015: ‘Ethnic Enclave of a Special Sort?’ Mozambicans in La Rochelle, Johannesburg, Journal of Southern African Studies, 41:1, 141-158 7 Smangele M, 2013: ARPL3013 Housing theory, concepts & policy 3. ROSETTENVILLE TO ROTTENVILLE AND BACK AGAIN?

Rosettenville, like many of the older suburbs in Johannesburg, has seen significant changes over time: around land use; demographic and income profiles of its residents and inhabitants, as well as a large degree of informalisation, all of which has been coupled with an increased vibrancy, cosmpolitanisation. Figure 2 indicates the progression of change over time along De Villiers street indicating how land use, public and open space has evolved and there has been increased densification and intensification of use over time.1 Long term residents treat many of these changes with a wistful nostalgia that casts the past in a slightly utopian light, but even newer arrivals who have been living the area for a few years see changes to the spatial environment that they argue have not improved conditions. The City of Johannesburg, noting issues of inner city deterioration and in keeping with their larger spatial-economic strategy entitled the “Corridors of Freedom”, has begun a process that seeks to address some of the key issues facing the community and the Greater Rosettenville Area.

Figure 2: Changes of built form along DeVilliers Road, 1800s-2040

1 Group Project, 2013: History of Turfontein, ARPL2000 Architecture Design 3.1 Those who remember the area also regretfully recall the Rosettenville: Looking back important economic role it played in the life of the city: The older residents and business

Nostalgia is often defined as the pain of an old wound or an ache owners of La Rochelle speak to return home1 or a loss of a perfect past. Such recollections nostalgically of its glory days are tempered by time and often wishful thinking. It would seem that this is the case of the Greater Rosettenville area. when the area was a commercial Older residents who were interviewed provide a narrative that hub and attracted people from is interestingly coherent, remembering the very particular Lusophone character of the area as “They used to call this around Johannesburg. One of the place ‘Little Portugal’”2, celebrating the shared heritage in a number of ways including food and festivals. “The 10th of June oldest business owners in the is Portugal Day, they used to make it here”3 remembered one area remarks: ‘this area was like of the respondents. There was clearly a sense of a tight-knit community that enjoyed their leisure time together with long- ; people would come from standing residents recollecting that many years ago “We’d other areas to do their shopping walk around and socialize…people used to like to go out to the pub, or the café… there used to be a youth club, and every here, there was high-class clothing night people used go and socialize”.4 sold here’.7 The land use was primarily residential and the memories of Nostalgia does not just rest with the longest standing and the residents cast the suburb as “beautiful” and “It used to be oldest residents, nor does it seem to have a particularly such a nice place” even, impossibly with the idea “Every yard racialized dimension, as SADC migrants who came to the had a grape vine”.5 One of the student posters described the area in the early 1980s also describe the past with a sense original character of the area as: of wistfulness: Initially, the buildings of La Rochelle She [a cross border migrant] arrived were strictly residential and in La Rochelle for the first time, business, where there was a nice enticed by her cousin, who had neighbourhood character where managed to find them both jobs at a pride in the community meant salon [that] operated out of a garage regular upkeep. Houses were used of a Portuguese woman’s home. for family, shelter and private Anna reminisced about the way gardens. The central park in La everything looked back then, all the Rochelle was a key public space houses were organised and people that united the community through knew each other. the neighbourhood’s children as housing facades face the open It seems that there is a tangible sense of loss felt by longer term residents and a sadness at the changes that have seen space.6 a loss of sense of community and sites that they associated with their cultural identities and shared experiences. The nature of changes to the area do seem to be extensive but can be characterised as demographic changes, spatial and land use changes and a break down in some of the social order.

1 Becque, S., 2015: The Pain from an Old Wound: Nostalgia and Memory in Inside Out; http://news.wsiu.org/post/siu-reviews-inside-out accessed 17.11.2015 2 LaRochelle Pearl of the South Group, 2013: ARPL3006, Comparative African Cities 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7 Moyo & Cossa 2015 3.2 Changes wrought:

The following section engages with the range and variety of changes that the site has seen over the last 30years. The table below categorised and summarises the changes that the area has seen:

Table 1: Forms of change in Rosettenville

One of the key changes that has been seen in Rosettenville is the change in the population. At the end of the 1980s the area was largely inhabited by White, English and Afrikaans speaking residents, due to the racial zoning of the previous period, many of whom had Lusophone connections. Since the 1990s many of the new residents have come from SADC countries, mainly Mozambique and Angola, these migrants worked in many of the lower skilled jobs in the area such as domestic work and assistants and cleaners in local businesses. It has also been reported that a number of these more recent migrants lived in the backyards and domestic quarters of the main houses. At the same time as the in-migration of people from across the border, a number of the older residents began to move to other parts of the city. Often this was because their children had professionalised and moved to more aspirant and expensive parts of the city. However there is some implication that for some it was to move away from what was seen as an Africanising space that was no longer familiar or comfortable for the older community. Although actual data is not available, anecdotal evidence suggests that since the early 2000s new migrants have continued to enter the area and those from neighbouring countries seem to have been joined by migrants from further afield, including Nigeria, Ghana, and Somalia as well as a small but important presence of people from South East Asia. There is however, a spatial difference in where migrants have settled, since the 1990s so that the northern part of the research area has seen more changes and increase in the migrant population and the south has seen fewer changes. Spatial and physical changes Aside from a change in the origins and nationalities of the residents, there has also been a socio-economic shift and many of the newer residents and land users are less well- off than those in the past. The newer migrants are often less formally employed and often less well educated than their predecessors and many people are engaged in piece work or casual labour.8 There is also a burgeoning informal sector, with many people especially women, earning their income from street trading, trading in the market and hawking.9 The changes in the socio-economic status of many of the new residents also seems to have been a contributing factor to the exodus of more middle class residents to the north: La Rochelle in particular has seen demographic change. Language does seem to play a key role in the labour market (and in attracting people to the area, which will be discussed in a slightly later section) as Portuguese-speaking piece workers find jobs with either Portuguese speaking residents or with Portuguese-speaking employers who come to Rosettenville in search of Lusophone labourers.10 In a general sense the migrants are often quite young, single and in Johannesburg with the stated-intention of finding work and sending money back home.

An interesting facet to the nature of demographic change is the issue of intentionality: for many of those who moved away, it was intended to be a short-term measure: Some Portuguese families, whose children had bought houses elsewhere, decided to make money from their properties by renting them out to incoming black families. ‘They thought that it was a way to preserve the houses and that eventually they would return to La Rochelle when the changes brought by the post-1994 dispensation had stabilised’.

Johannesburg and Rosettenville are very often seen as neither permanent nor home for many of the migrants.11 Similarly for many of those who have come into the area, it was supposed to be short-term measure to earn some money Figure 3: and go home, however for many migrants this has become a Two examples of Backyard accommodation in Rosettenville state of permanent-temporariness, a life half-lived between (Adapted from: Phelelani, N., et al, ARPL3013: 5) two places.

8 Mahlangu, J and Mamatela, R., 2014: ARPL3013 Housing, Housing theory, concepts & policy.; Moyo & Cossa 2015 9 The mobility of piece job workers Group, 2014: ARPL2009, Mobility Patterns 10 Moyo & Cossa 2015 11 Balyoi, N., and Njapha,P., 2014: ARPL3013 Housing theory, concepts & policy Moyo and Cossa note that the transitory nature of the substantially from Anna’s generation of backyard dwellers community occurs across a number of axes: and domestic servants…The living arrangements, however, have not changed, as the majority still live in backrooms La Rochelle is a temporary home,.. (cottages) or rent a room in a house”.14 Mozambicans in La Rochelle typically share Many of the students attempted to engage with these questions living quarters, such as sublet rooms in a of change and the transitory nature of many of the community house or cottage, to reduce living expenses. members, mapping the changes in interesting ways ( Figure When probed about the reasons for moving 4) and offering design solutions such as a “cultural centre as often as they do, participants cited for asylum seekers”, which was conceptualised as a space of transitional refuge and designed and run for refugees and rental hikes, lack of security, and personal by refugees15. disputes with landlords. The following excerpt illustrates this point:

I first lived in Rosettenville, on High Street. This is the fourth house. My first house was a cottage; the second house, I had a room; third house, I was sharing a garage with my brother, and then we decided to split. I now live in a flat that I share with other people.12

Thus residents persist in a type of psychological and spatial limbo. Such situations have spatial, social and community implications, which will be discussed in the last section.

There are however some interesting disruptions to this narrative of change, which demonstrate continuities rather than cleavages with the past: the first, is that the history of Mozambicans and other Black African migrants extends well into the pre-democratic period. “A priest in one of the Portuguese Catholic churches in La Rochelle reported that, Many Mozambicans already lived here before all Figure 4: Designing for constant change the changes in government. At that time, (Luzulo, M, 2014: ARPL4000: 1) they did not own houses, as they were not permitted. They were also not permitted to Physical changes can be seen at a variety of scales: at the live in this area, but they have always lived micro-scale inside people’s homes, at the scale of changes here in rented houses, that either belonged to to houses, streets and neighbourhoods. To add more their bosses, or the Portuguese would rent to detail: originally the houses in the areas were home to a family member and the Mozambicans lived one household, with designs mainly copied from other low and middle income suburbs of Johannesburg primarily in in the backrooms. There have always been the 1920s-1940s. These consisted of single stands with Portuguese and Mozambicans here”13. gardens and patios16. Currently many of these houses have now become sub-divided and sub-let, often with backyard accommodation of varying quality and type in what were gardens and yards (see Figure 3).17 The new residents and Many older residents report that although the nature of owners have also changed some of the architecture that employment has changed, the accommodation and living was a feature of the area and adapted the units for multiple experiences has remained consistent: “The profile of Mozambicans currently living in La Rochelle has changed

14 Ibid. 15 M Luzulo, 2014, ARPL4000, BAS (Honours 2014). 12 Moyo & Cossa 2015 16 LaRochelle Pearl of the South Group, 2013 13 Moyo & Cossa 2015 17 Class Project, Ekhaya Magazine, 2013: ARPL3013 Housing theory, concepts & policy households, more of which will be said in later sections. The streets and the parks have also seen spatial change with Some of the students argue that the changes to the internal the pavements becoming home to a vibrant assortment of structure of the houses is because “The new residents may street trading retailing, manufacturing and services that are not feel a sense of attachment to them [the original houses] provided. Many of the street traders sell basic goods, such as as they treat them as a dormitory, even putting additional fruit and vegetables, single cigarettes and sweets, but there informal structures.”18 It would however seem likely that are also tailors and shoe repairers22 (see Figure 5). The backyard accommodation and changes to the original main roads do host the majority of informal traders but many layouts is a useful source of supplementary income for the people said that business was good and so informal traders many households who are reliant on casual employment have spread to the secondary roads and quieter areas that and state grants and may have little to do with attachment are slightly off the main thoroughfares.23 or lack thereof.19 The quality of the houses and their upkeep has also changed significantly over time and Moyo and Cossa Original inhabitants remember that: “The central park in La report that there is a view that: Rochelle was a key public space that united the community through the neighbourhood’s children”24 and one respondent During the Little Portugal era, the Portuguese spoke of how on a “Sunday one could go the park and enjoy houses in La Rochelle were distinguishable a picnic while watching the fountains and live singing at the lake”25. One could also take part in recreational activities from the non-Portuguese by their renovations such as a ferry ride or rowing at the lake. Students remarked and better maintenance. However, the that “Heritage representation in this park and the area opposite is true for current Mozambican- was vital to create a sense of community and Portuguese occupied houses, which are distinguishable culture”26. However the streets and the parks have also been taken over for other purposes and residents describe how by the widespread dilapidation and illegal the pavements are used by young men for gambling and for secondary structures at the back of the main activities that spill out of the shebeens and nightclubs that properties. have been established in the area. Most of the parks are not used for leisure and recreation but have been colonised for Older residents argue that that the area has moved from more nefarious activities such as drug taking or have become a wealthier to a less wealthy demographic and from a waiting areas, where casual labourers wait to be picked up population of owners with a clear shared sense of social- for day work.27 There were also reports of informal activities psychological cultural identity i.e. a shared Portuguese such as barbers and informal traders operating in the parks. heritage to one comprised of people who see themselves in It could be that a small sub-economy has developed to cater transition. There have also been significant changes in the for those waiting in the parks. The range of informal activities housing stock: units are now sub-divided and sub-let and has contributed to the conviviality of the area and points to often the residential stock has seen some dilapidation due to the flexibility of the built form to be able to adapt to the needs absentee landlords and owners who are less able to invest in of poorer peo the upkeep of their homes,.

However, the changes to the units are not just around quality Another vital change in economic activities has been the but also around use, as houses are no longer just used for transition from formal to informal or “artisanal mining”. residential purposes and many of the houses are now host Although a very difficult community to access due to the to spaza shops and other income generating activities20 (see illegal and “underground” nature of the work, students were Figure 5). Some of the student groups noted the changes and able to get some sense of where these activities were taking speculated on the reasons for these changes: and the extent of their activities (Figure 7). What becomes clear from the student work is that although many of these The fence of some of the houses has been cut spaces are formally closed, miners have been working these out to form a shop where people passing in claims at a very small scale and sometimes for many years, the street can buy goods, this is followed by eking out a living when the bigger commercial mines no people converting their garage to shops as longer find such activities profitable or feasible. well, which maybe is a reaction to growth in business opportunity in the area.21

22 Group Two, 2013; Group One, 2013: ARPL2009 History and future of planning Histories & Futures of Planning 23 Ibid. 18 LaRochelle Pearl of the South Group, 2013 24 LaRochelle Pearl of the South Group, 2013 19 Mahlangu and Mamatela, 2014 25 Interview on 03.03.2014, BAS Honours Postgraduate Program 20 Group Two, 2013: ARPL2009 History and future of planning 26 Ibid. 21 LaRochelle Pearl of the South Group, 2013 27 BAS Honours Postgraduate Program, 2013 Figure 5: Formal and Informal trading along main route (Source: Kow, A., et al,2014: ARPL2000: 5).

Figure 6: Student poster depicting the experiences of street traders in Rosettenville (Source: Group 3, 2013: ARPL2009: No page number Figure 7: Map of artisanal mining (Source: Adank, J., 2014: 10-11).

The students also conducted a small analysis of advertising Issues of Safety and Security in the study area and found that the largest number of adverts in the area were for security and abortions (see figure below). One of the key themes that participants returned to over This does seem to be indicative of the needs of the community and again was that of safety and security. Many argued that and some of the major concerns around safety and security. Rosetttenville has deteriorated and is now characterised The question of abortion advertising is more difficult to by vice, crime and lack of safety. The full array of concerns interpret as it may indicate a lack of access to formal health will not be discussed here as a complete report has been care systems typically found in migrant communities or the developed with GIZ with a focus on safety and security1. high demand for such services but the actual reasons are not These issues were only the focus of one of the course taught clear and would require more research. through the studio but the students became aware of these issues as they were mentioned frequently by people who lived and worked in Rosettenville and so became an important The changes and repurposing of the sites for different area of discussion and learning.More will be said of the activities that have been described would seem to be largely pedagogic aspects of the RS later in the report. benign. However a real concern in the area is the changes in land use towards criminal activities and the subsequent fears There is a powerful narrative summed up neatly by a that residents and land users experience around their sense respondent who said “According to me, Rosettenville of safety and security, which is discussed below and in the has gone downhill...when you drive around at night you complementary safety and security report see prostitutes and drug lords...these days people call Rosettenville, “Rottenville”2

1 Report entitled “Rosettenville Studio Through a Safety Lens: report back and reflection” submitted to GTZ, June 2015. 2 Main Street Group, 2013: ARPL3006 Comparative African Cities Figure 8: Advertising in Rosettenville (Source: Source: Kow, A., et al, 2014: ARPL2000: 58).

Figure 9 Informal activities on the streets and parks (Source: Suliman, E., et al, 2014: ARPL3014:15) Box 2: in particular the ‘Nigerian drug lords’. They also speak of how dumping has become one Remembering the Parks of the biggest reasons of why the area has deteriorated. There’s no sense of ownership When talking about the dam and the park Lyn and Ang reflect with fond memories. They tell us about the wonderful park of personal space and belongings to people. and the musical fountains. They tell us about how they used Again people feel a sense of entitlement but to visit the park every Sunday and take the kids with. There they often don’t want to do the work. ”No one used to be a Ferry that would take the kids around the dam cares” says Lynn.7 and little boats for rowing. Ang spoke about the rowing club that makes use of the dam and wondered if it was still there These residents reflect a fairly common attitude in the as she hasn’t been to the park in ages. She also spoke about area that blames immigrants from particular countries for the public pools which they would frequently use until they problems in the area. were closed due to people washing their clothes in the pool. In general they spoke of this place with a great fondness and There have been attempts to make the parks safer through a sense of sadness that they can’t use the park anymore. fencing them off and restricting access: there are now only a few points of entrance and egress. Furthermore, there are (Source: Interview on 03.03.2014 BAS Honours Postgraduate apparently guards who walk through and patrol the parks in Program) an attempt to make them safer for users.8

There is also a general sentiment that the crime and For many residents and users of the area there is a perception perception of crime in Rosettenville has made the daily that vice and crime are rife and that there are a vast number experience of many people difficult, affecting when and how of house-breakings, muggings and murders. Respondents they do business, what times they open their shops or start argued that there were a number of places including parks, trading and when they knock off to go home. There have also which were simply “no go” zones day or night and where been claims that since customers from the northern suburbs it was likely that a person would be attacked.3 Night time are afraid to go to Rosettenville many formal business have seems to amplify these sites and makes a number of streets been forced to close or relocate out of the area.9 and areas places that the average resident dares not to enter. Factors such as age and gender further restrict residents’ Despite concerns over the reliability of the police, residents movements so that young girls and elderly women move in still felt that increased policing and presence of those in groups to try and protect themselves.4 authority would be useful in combatting crime and assisting with dealing with criminality and violence.10 It was also The blame is cast in many directions, on the invasion of suggested that improved community engagement and urban drug-takers and drug-lords, some of which is then exoticised management in the form of better street lighting and safer with blame being put on specific ethnic migrant groups. transport would also be helpful. The lack of adequate policing, and corruption in the police force whereby policemen are in cahoots with local criminal The question of safety and security was also dealt with in doyennes are seen as key issues.5 A fragmented community imaginative and innovative ways by the students who played with little invested and a general sentiment of a lack of trust with notions of public space, surveillance and the spatial and people “hustling” to get ahead have also been cited as imaginary. Students moved beyond conventional approaches reasons why crime and criminality is so high in the area.6 of design and allowed their imaginations to soar, thinking Long time residents state that some of the worst deterioration about new ways of making space and making place whilst is actually quite recent: using traditional building blocks of street furniture, CCTV monitoring and “mundane building components”, but with According to both Aunty Ang and Lynn the a twist. In these cases, students took their inspiration from area has under gone a lot of change in the popular culture, contemporary music, film and dance and the last 12 to 15 years but the last 2 to 3 years has results were surprising and in some cases such as Figure 10, seen a substantial change. This they blame Paranoia Park, disquieting, forcing the reader to engage and on the high influx of foreign natives but more re-think preconceptions and ideas.

3 Kluth, C., 2013: ARPL3012, Corridor Cultures; Segooa, T., 2013: ARPL3012, Corridor Cultures; 4 Nkoane, PT., 2014: Safety and Security: Differences in experience among Black South African and African Migrant women in public and private spaces of La Rochelle, Research 7 Interview on 03.03.2014, BAS Honours Postgraduate Program Report submitted in partial completion of degree of Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional 8 Student Submission, 2014: ARPL3012 Urban Design. Planning with Honours to the University of Witwatersrand 9 Exploring mobility of business owners in Rosettenville, Group, 2014: ARPL2009 5 Main street group, 2013 Mobility Patterns; Market Group, 2013: ARPL300, Comparative African Cities; Group Three, 2013 6 Ibid. 10 Nkoane, 2014. Figure 10: Paranoia Park

3.3 of corridors have been identified across the City, but it is Converting Rottenville back to the Turffontein Development Corridor that is most likely to effect to the Greater Rosettenville area.13 Many of Rosettenville? City visions and people’s the students individually and in groups engaged with perceptions. issues of transport, accessibility and the new plans of the CoJ, attempting to understand and evaluate them, particularly from technical perspectives as well as from The CoJ is not unaware of many of the issues facing the the perspective of residents and land users. residents and users of the suburb and has over the last few years developed programmes and of late plans to try and Key to the development of the Corridors of Freedom is assist in regenerating and improving the area.These have a transport plan, which is essentially an extension of been encapsulated in the Corridors of Freedom initiative. the Bus Rapid Transit system that has been put in place The Corridors of Freedom, which has been influenced by the elsewhere in the city combined with the promotion National Development Plan, the CoJ’s Growth and Development of mixed land use and densification of residential Strategy and the Regional Spatial Development Frame (RSDF) opportunities along the major routes and especially 14 attempts to use transport oriented development as a means at the key transit nodes. The students asked various to achieve the City’s goal of becoming a World Class African respondents for their views on the proposed new routes City of the Future.11 The idea is for the city to move to a more and there were two sets of responses, both of which compact form with “high intensity movement corridors” or were quite disturbing. According to the students “Our “arteries” around which development of infrastructure and survey of the area however reflected that most of the investment (both and private) will be crowded in.12 A series participants were not aware of the Corridors of Freedom project or its proposals”.15 In point of fact many of the

11 Moremoholo, M., 2014: Rosettenville “Corridors of Freedom” development Framework: Assessment and Recommendations, ARPL5009: Spatial planning, 13 Chimenya, 2014. Transport and infrastructure. 14 Mngaza, B., 2014: “Rosettenville Corridors of Freedom Development 12 Chimenya, B., 2014: Rosetteneville ‘Corridors of Freedom’ Development Framework Assessment and Recommendations, ARPL5009: Spatial Framework, ARPL5005, ARPL5009: Spatial planning, Transport and infrastructure. planning, Transport and infrastructure. 15 Resident Mobility in Turffontein,2014: ARPL2009, Mobility Patterns groups and individuals identified lack of knowledge around city-wide water and power shortages.22 the entire Corridors in the Greater Rosettenville area, “There was a complete lack of knowledge about the Corridors - There were also findings that suggested that the of Freedom project among the respondents, even those Corridors of Freedom are steeped in the goals of who engaged with city politics and were widely and well government rather than the stated needs of the read”16 This was somewhat unsurprising as students and local community.23 staff who attended the CoF public consultation meetings In Rosettenville during the RS witnessed the almost complete - The framework mentions no plan to work with the lack of resident participation in the discussion, although the existing (informal) densification practices in the reasons for this were not clear. area and how it seeks to retain the well-functioning aspects of the existing housing typologies.24 When the students informed the participants about the plans or found people who did know about the plans from the City The recommendations and plans of the CoJ can be a number of the respondents seemed to feel that the plans contrasted against the ideas and needs for improvement and were not appropriate: concerns are around congestion and the recommendations from the residents: distance that people have to walk to get to bus stops and “We need to have police everywhere” stations, need greater infiltration of transport modes into the side streets rather than just more modes on the same “Security at every street corner will make the place routes although congestion is a clear issue. Also there was a feel more safe” sense that buses were the wrong mode as what was needed was transport that could access smaller streets. Cost is a “We need to have a reliable police station that is a further concern as is the time that would be taken to use walking distance”” the proposed inner circle route in Turffontein. There are not many issues of connection or accessibility, in fact many of “We need to have more facilities in the area such as the residents stated that the area had been chosen by them schools and clinics so that we can have a better life because of its good access, and the students found that it and feel confident in the streets” seems quite easy to get to the rest of the City, and so the “If we improve the spaces and get rid of the city’s stated intent of the BRT enhancing accessibility seems abandoned houses, we might feel safer” a little misplaced.17 Cut the grass and trees to create better visibility, so as to reduce the crime and making Wemmer The students also identified some key concerns with the Pan safer, by preventing criminals “hiding in the proposals in the Corridors of Freedom, including: bushes.”

- Densification of residential land use right next to a “Build a church, it would bring change to the high 25 landfill18 levels of crime in the area”

- The appropriateness of social housing for the area, There is also a need to have a relationship with the given the very low incomes and the higher rentals Department of Home Affairs in order to reach an demanded by this form of housing19 agreement that will also favour foreign nationals as they form part of the people that stay there. - The proposed formalisation of various activities They have to acknowledge the fact that most of the such as informal trading and the imposition of land foreign nationals are either renting the houses or management controls, which may force people to living in the backyard, this forms part of the income close down or relocate both of which would have of the household therefore a carefulconsideration negative impacts on some of the poorest residents should be made when formulating policy with and land users20 regards to this issue26 - The ability of the current infrastructure to deal with densification and the concern that the cost of retrofitting services will be prohibitively expensive,21 as well as a lack of engagement with national and

22 Godsell, A., 2014: The NDP and the Turffontein Node Structural development plan: apparent relations and hidden departures. ARPL2007: Development policy and processes in . 16 Resident Mobility in Turffontein,2014 23 Gwabeni, S., 2014: ARPL2007: Development policy and processes in South Africa. 17 Transport ARPL2006: planned BRT routes 24 Mavuso, N., 2014: Re- modelling of living spaces in La Rochelle, designing for adaptable living spaces in Johannesburg, South Africa Research Report submitted in 18 Chimenya, 2014 partial completion of degree of Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Planning 19 Ibid.; Murtagh, R., 2013: ARPL3013 Housing theory, concepts & policy with Honours to the University of Witwatersrand 20 Mngaza, 2014 25 Nkoane, 2014; BAS Honours Postgraduate Program Interviews, 2014 21 Moremoholo, 2014 26 Khulile, U., 2014: ARPL2007, Development Policy & Processes Figure 11: Resident mobility Turffontein poster (Source: The mobility of piece job workers Group, 2014: ARPL2009, No page number)

Figure 12: Corridors of Freedom: Turffontein Corridor (Source: CoJ, 2013:11)

3.4 Conclusions

Through their fieldwork the students were able to uncover the memories and the perceptions of change that residents in the area have experienced, and also in more critical voices students unpacked some of continuities and cleavages between the past and the present. They were also able to critically engage with the future plans of the City, which aim to address some of the present problems and concerns. Their work highlights some of the difficulties around city/society engagement and the unfortunate mismatch between the state’s perception of what is needed and the residents’ and users’ actual needs, which is largely attributable to the lack of interaction between the two sectors. This issue of perceptions of those not living and working in the area but looking in is continued into the next section and attempts to destabilise some the myths and discourses that the studio was so useful in dismissing through work and research. 4. OUTSIDE LOOKING IN; INSIDE LOOKING OUT

One of the objectives of the pedagogic process was to authority do not always realise the level of need that exists. challenge students’ and staff’s preconceptions and to try Similarly the CoJ has apparently has found it difficult to verify and look beyond the surface and to explore what lay beneath. the homeless population in the area and they assume people The findings were often surprising sometimes delightfully so “who might be assumed to be homeless from their dress, and in other cases what was revealed was a darker and quite work, etc. such as informal recyclers, exchanging ‘trash for disturbing underbelly (see Figure 13). One of the students cash’”.31 Such assumptions are not always useful as those summarised the experience beautifully in authority seek to address the situation with the provision of housing rather than with access to affordable rental. The research in Rosettenville was a good experience in how to find the real problems The students also came to appreciate the skill and innovation of households and how they have found ways to live and work in an area, especially after doing interviews together in ways that support livelihoods and offer some with different people who all experience the quality of life: area in a different way. It was interesting to see how people have different interests thus The project has helped in understanding their vision of the area and perceptions were how ‘hidden rooms’ in Rosettenville play a directed towards what their interests are. pivotal role in accommodating the low income The project enabled us to find another layer households and it was also surprising how of information that was not first visible from cleverly hidden these rooms were as one just walking through. This information showed could not see them from the street, but another depth and more diversity in to the through careful observations and interviews area that we did not know existed...27 from the residents of the area….32 It was also striking to see how households have adapted and 4.1 created rules which allow for communal living and shared Surprises: connected; accessible and accommodation, without the need for formal recourse: ordered Mutual respect for people’s living areas The students were surprised by a number of features of the (boundaries set by the divided bedrooms for area: how desirable it was for work and residence; how much example). Tolerance levels for other peoples order existed beyond the perception of informal; how little cultural backgrounds. Set of rules that could be judged from appearances and the extent of support govern the manner in which these people live structures and NGOs that exist within the area. together within these limited spaces.33 The desirability as a place to live and work stemmed from the good connections of the area to the CBD and other parts The highly organised nature of the informal accommodation of the city, since “it is well connected to major regional and and the tolerance that households sharing accommodation district nodes through major arterials such as N12 and N17, was certainly an eye-opener for many of the students and Turf Road, Rosettenville Road and Von Weilligh Road, which staff. are conjoined to the main roads that are a vital spine or corridor to the CBD”28, allowing many people to walk to work Of all these findings, the one I found most or spend relatively little on transport”.29 interesting was about the allocating chores The facades of the houses often seem formal and in many to the different people living in the house cases there is the appearance of financial stability, however30, as it was a clear sign of structure and many of the residents were either facing food insecurity or organization within a set-up that we prior to very inconsistent and low incomes. The students expected that given the more formal appearance of the houses that getting there, thought would be disorderly and the tenants would be better off (See Box 3) and argued that fragmented.34 this discrepancy can be misleading as it means that those in

27 Group Project, 2013 28 Shared Living Spaces Group, 2013: ARPL3006, Comparative African Cities 31 Mahlangu, J and Mamatela, R., 2014: ARPL3013 29 The mobility patterns of residents in Turffontein Group, Housing, Housing theory, concepts & policy. 2014: ARPL2009, Mobility Patterns 32 Nathoo,N., Letsile, L and Lephondo, P, 2013: ARPL3013 Housing theory, 30 Letsile L., 2013: ARPL3013 Housing, Housing theory, concepts & policy concepts & policy. 33 Shared Living Spaces Group, 2013 34 Reflection of student, 2013: ARPL3006, Comparative African Cities owners even looked after or stored informal business’ stock and goods.37 In addition, informal trade seems to be relatively lucrative and there is certainly optimism about the future of the area as a place to do business. Also contrary to the view that the area is deteriorating some of the formal shops owners said that they were busier now than they had ever been and expect the trend to continue.38

When looking at the politics of survival it was also surprising to find that there was less competition than expected amongst some of the poorest inhabitants, apparently this was because “Mostly the people [piece job workers] are from the same area or country so there is no/minimum violence amongst themselves. They all appreciate each other and respect each other’s boundaries”.39

However the question of xenophobia and community coherence and enclaving was far less consistent that expected. Some of the students found that “Everyone gets along, South Africans mixed foreigners all get along”.40 Figure 13: However as will be discussed in the next section, there Second year student’s reflection after visiting Rosettenvill were also high degrees of fragmentation both between South Africans and non-South Africans41 as well as within communities of ex-patriots: “For example, among the migrants from Mozambique, we found no connections to The students also had some of their gender perceptions suggest a close-knit community resembling that of the previous white Portuguese residents of the area.”42 challenged when looking at the accommodation in the area: There is also a sense of lost potential: when looking at maps and the history of the area it would be imagined that many Upon arrival to the house, its physical of the facilities would provide opportunities for a range of condition was to what I had expected however individuals and economic activities, however that is not the what was shocking unexpected was the case; the transport museums, annual “Lusitoland” festival; the musical fountains etc should all create a hub but this kind of people we found living there. (...) In is not the case. So too should the market and the old main my mind I could imagine only males being street. Parreirinah, in Rosettenville has been included in the able to live in an abandoned house that was list of “10 best Johannesburg restaurants you must visit” dilapidated and lacked proper services such compiled by Travelstart Blog (2013), prawns are their “forte“ as clean toilets. This was not the case in and a range of local and Portuguese wine.43 However, almost all of these facilities are under-utilised. It would seem that this house as 8 of the 10 occupants were this is in part related to issues of crime and violence but it women of an elderly age with only one of the also seems that many of these spaces have just been allowed occupants being male. They came together as to decay without input from the city for their upkeep and homeless individuals in search of a place to maintenance. sleep at night.35

As mentioned in the previous section, it is apparent that Rosettenville has seen an increase in the number and range of informal activities. However there were a number of surprises when analysing the informal sector, including the sense from many traders that Rosettenville is “Ideally located for business” and there is a “good relation with building owner” and “good relationship with nearby shop”.36 Thus the 37 Group Three, 2013 poor relationships between the informal and formal sector 38 Group Two, 2013 39 The mobility of piece job workers Group, 2014: ARPL2009, were apparently absent and in some cases formal business Mobility Patterns 40 Market Group,2013: ARPL3006, Comparative African Cities 41 Tayob, and Sibiya., 2013 42 Moyo & Cossa 2015 35 Mavuso, 2014 43 Mahlangu, J., Mamatela,R., and Xaba, N., 2013: ARPL3013 Housing theory, 36 Group One, 2013 concepts & policy 4.2 Positive structures: support where it is My Lilies of Hope is a Non-Profit Organisation needed most (NPO) that lies in the heart of La Rochelle. What this organisation aims to do is provide a safe haven Although the Greater Rosettenville area has a number of for those women who are faced with social as well issues and problems, the students were also able to uncover as physical insecurities in the public and private a host of philanthropic institutions dedicated to trying to spaces of La Rochelle.47 improve the quality of life for many of the area’s poorest and most in need. The following provides an outline of the We take girls in, who want to come off the streets activities and people that these institutions serve: or who are being abused in one way or another at home. They live with us for about a period of three we found] 3 Kotze Street Overnight Shelter [ months. Within those three months, we teach in , and at, Fremar Christian Centre, them important skills. We have a reading room Resthaven Ministries, and St. Patrick’s Mother and some girls who stay here also go to school. Teresa Church in Rosettenville, as well as along We basically teach girls to be independent so as to the stops (, and Lighthouse), decrease their level of vulnerability in the public where people were getting food from St. Patrick’s world. Mother Teresa soup kitchen.44

When speaking to the staff members of Resthaven However, outside of these institutions it was found that there is some degree of social coherence and sets of Ministries they explained that they have their networks which allow people to survive and resist shocks feeding scheme on a Tuesday and feed +/- 60-85 and disasters that befall them. Students argued that “they families. The staff members of St. Patrick’s told [the poor] keep good relations with community members us they assist between 400 to 600 people on the and family members in order to strengthen their abilities to streets; in addition they are also giving out 49 x survive48 food parcels every week to poor families at their homes and St Vincent although not certain about There were also odd moments of support from unexpected directions, such as the case of people living illegally in an the exact numbers stated that on average, more abandoned building, who told the students that: “No there than 150 come in one day (possibly 500 people in hasn’t been anyone who has been interested in buying the the week)45 house and the police have not tried to evict us, instead they come by to see how we are doing”49 Many of the other services that are provided by institutions such as Fremar target more specific The students reported a number of ways in which the State was present and assisting in Rosettenville. In housing terms, and in need groups and not just people that are the Council owns the CoJ Old Age Villages (rental units for homeless. Fremar feed, clothes, shelters and elderly people who are 60 years old or above), and rental rehabilitates women, drug addicts, the homeless, flats in Pioneer Park (rental space for people who are 21 children and the elderly in the hope that these with dependents)”50. This State intervention, be it limited in people may be able to re-join society as a scale, is seen in a rather positive light: functional and ordered member of society. It seems as if residents living in council Bienevenue Shelter is one that focuses of refugee housing or some sort of subsidized housing from women and children who have immigrated into the state were satisfied with their accommodation the country but are now finding it hard to make although expressing a few issues they would like a living. This shelter supplies these people with to be improved on such as having access to hot food, clothes, and shelter and offer classes in water.51 language to help them be more attractive to job opportunities while also improving their skills Importantly, the State is also present through the provision in services such as sewing. The Lighthouse is a of social grants. Interviews led by students showed that a social grants play an important role in the lives of some shelter that has dedicated itself to serving the needs46

47 Nkoane, 2014. 48 Mahlangu, and Mamatela, 2014 44 Kgosiemang, M, 2014: ARPL3014 Housing theory, concepts & policy 49 Mavuso, 2014 45 Mahlangu, and Mamatela, 2014 50 Nqoqwana, L and Mndawe, T., 2013: ARPL3013 Housing theory, concepts & policy 46 Ibid. 51 Mahlangu, and Mamatela, 2014 of the residents52: “Approximately half of the sixteen It profoundly reflected the common humanity and dreams interviewees are currently unemployed, a quarter of them that are shared amongst all people. are reliant entirely on the special needs organisations and grants. These grants consist of child grants, pension grants, and disability grants.”53 The most common types of Box 4: grants reported in interviews were the child support grant Turning the World Inside/Out Wishes and the old persons grant. “Families were reliant on these grants as they assisted them in providing for their own basic I wish for more shoes needs even though they still had to go to soup kitchens to get fed.” (ibid). A third important way in which the State is I wish to see my children go to University present in Rosettenville is policing and surveillance. There are two police stations and a number of CPFs. However, this I wish for health and more time with family police presence is described as inconsistent: “Respondents I wish to see the next generation of my family and watch my made known to the fact that police surveillance is prevalent grandchildren grow in La Rochelle; however, it only occurs in certain parts of the area.”54. Moreover, most residents interviewed tend to I wish to be a business man, and work for myself distrust policing services: “The women also voiced the fact that they cannot put all their faith in the police system, as I wish to be an architect most of them in La Rochelle, already “cannot be trusted”55. I wish for a job and money 4.3 I wish to have a business Starting a conversation: Turning the World Inside/Out 4.4 The students and staff realising how much was surprising and how little was known of the stories of the people Conclusions who lived in Rosettenville founds ways to try uncover the Through the studio students and staff were able to confront personal narratives and every day experiences of the some of their own prejudices and preconceptions, what they people of Rosettenville. The staff had come across the found instead was that the community is in many ways far work of artist and photographer known as JR who had used more functional and ordered than expected. The informality, ‘photographic portraits to share their [communities] untold which is a feature of the site is not anarchic and at all scales stories and images of people in their communities’. (TED from within households to the scale of the street there are Talk 2011 - http://www.insideoutproject.net/). Thus the task relationships and rules, which order activities of the people set for students was to ask people who lived and worked in who live and work in the space. Furthermore, despite the Rosettenville if they were willing to have their photographs sense that Rosettenville has a number of social problems, taken and publicly displayed and then asked about their individuals and organisations are already in place and dreams and wishes. attempting to engage with and assist those who need help. Once the photographs had been taken the team went However, it is also apparent that these organisations are in back and created a gallery, displaying the photographs need of far more support, especially from the City if they are on the fence of a local primary school (see Figure 15. to continue and to continue making a difference.57 Once displayed “Passersby stopped to ask what we were doing, were the portraits of ‘wanted’ people some asked? ‘Were they dead’ others wanted to know? Once again we explained our project, and many of the residents stopped to look at our ‘expo de rue’ –our sidewalk gallery.”56 The wishes were diverse and included everything from the fairly mundane, and humorous to profound and desperate wishes (See Box below). The exhibition started a conversation amongst the residents and users of Rosettenville; the community and the students; and the students and the staff.

52 It should be noted that students did target residents who were seeking assistance thus this sample is not random and should not be considered representative of the Figure 14: larger community. Portrait and wishes from the Pavement Gallery 53 Mahlangu, and Mamatela, 2014 (Source: Gaule, S., 2014:ARPL2003:2) 54 Nkoane, 2014. 55 Ibid. 57 Msibi, A., 2013: ARPL3013 Housing theory, concepts & policy 56 Gaule, S., 2014: Turning the World Inside/Out, Installation Report

Figure 15: Pavement Gallery of Portraits and wishes (Source: Gaule, S., 2014:ARPL20031) 5. THE CENTRE CANNOT HOLD: FRAGMENTATION/ATOMISATION.

This section explores the various aspects of fragmentation The present mining and industrial belt form occurring in Rosettenville. The students reported a significant a barrier and have acted as decaying and amount of social, political and spatial segregation, separation deserted spaces, especially at night, and and discontinuities which contribute to the fragmentation of Rosettenville’s community. These manifest themselves prevent people from moving through the through space and scale, temporality, social fragmentation, areas58. political fragmentation, safety and security, public spaces, and community structures. Each of these is explored in more There was also a sense that despite actual distance, the detail in the following sections. southern suburbs are removed from much of Johannesburg’s core functions. In this regard, an interviewee, female Indian 5.1 student living in Rosettenville expressed this North/South Space and scale divide: “I think life as a professional will be much easier if I live in . The northern suburbs are close 59 Spatial fragmentation was a key theme that kept coming to everything.” Students noted that Rosettenville remains up in the students’ work. This spatial fragmentation can be isolated from major economic development, which mainly 60 visible or hidden, and can be expressed at various scales. occurs in the CBD .

At the scale of the city, Rosettenville is considered to be in Internal spatial divisions within Rosettenville can be observed a close relationship with the inner city, but the area is also through the diversity of housing typologies to be found in the affected by the North/South divide in Johannesburg and Rosettenville is commonly defined as a “southern suburb”. The students acknowledge the and 58 Murtagh, 2013 its influence on the present morphology, which embeds the 59 Group Project, Ekhaya Magazine, 2013: ARPL3013 Housing theory, north south division: concepts & policy 60 Exploring the mobility patterns of business owners in Rosettenville Group, 2014

Figure 16: Examples of micro-scale fragmentation (Source: Mahlalela, S., 2013: ARPL3006: No page number) area. A number of different housing typologies have been Land in central areas is generally in high reported. These are: flats (common feature in the area); demand and therefore expensive. Thus, the shacks; semi-detached houses (often subdivided, rent from low income households in Rosettenville R1000 to R1500); back rooms; single houses (predominantly used for rental instead of one family occupying the house); especially those who derive their income from shared complexes; and alleyways61. This variety of housing the informal sector are forced to occupy as typologies shows that visually, the space is heterogeneous, little space possible, which leads to very high with a variety of built forms which can be observed. population densities and unhealthy levels of At the same time, there are less visible forms of fragmentation overcrowding in their settlement as they often which occur within living spaces. This fragmentation has share rent with other families to reduce rent been observed by visiting buildings, houses and flats, and costs. conducting interviews on the nature of living spaces. It appears that there is a high level of fragmentation within homes; through sub-divisions and sharing of living spaces. The students understand such situation as being the result of the high prices of land:

61 Ibid.

Figure 17: Private spaces in La Rochelle (Nkoane, M., 2014: 63-64) Internal spatial divisions often seem to be functioning at certain times because of criminal activities taking place. well for the residents. For example, a student portrayed a For example, interviewees on Main Street indicated that situation in a house where the occupants came together they tend to avoid the 7th and 5th Streets in La Rochelle on from different backgrounds in search of a place to reside. weekends and sometimes at night during the week because The student described harmonious management of shared criminal activities are known to take place66. There are also spaces, with mutual respect for people’s living areas significant differences between weekdays and weekends. (boundaries set by the divided bedrooms for example), For example, the market tends to get much busier during tolerance levels for other people’s cultural backgrounds, weekends67. as well as a set of rules that govern the manner in which these people live together within these limited spaces. Moreover, residents develop strategies to share and manage communal spaces in order to benefit everyone (see Box 5: Figure 16 and Figure 17) “Subdivisions were made in such a Rosettenville 24/7 way that each family is able to reach the services provided easily. This can be identified in a manner where each room can access the shared facilities in the house.62 A master plan cannot tell you the story of this place.

The formal/informal divide further illustrates the visible and It cannot show you the twilight-zone drug-dealing that occurs invisible aspects of spatial fragmentation in Rosettenville. across the spaza shop bars, it does not tell you the story of Indeed, informal economic activities taking place in the mother who, after having tucked her children in for the Rosettenville are visible from the streets and public spaces. night, now has to put on her red lipstick to prepare for her At the same time, informality also takes place within living ‘night shift’ and it most certainly cannot make you hear the spaces, through informal sub-divisions of spaces and laughter of the teasing soccer boys chasing the girls behind informal management arrangements, as described above. their gates as they play in the streets.

Informal activities constitute one of the main ways for It does not reveal the melancholic tone of late afternoon people in Rosettenville to make a living due to the low transforming into evening and of the old women returning levels of formal employment. This is particularly the case home in pairs, from the grocery shop, so as to avoid being for foreign nationals, who face more barriers of access to targeted on the unlit pavement. It does not tell you the story formal employment. Findings show that the vast majority of the grandmother who sits on her couch with her front of the people who live in Rosettenville are of a lower socio door wide open allowing you a glimpse of the photos of her economic status and most of these people derive their grandchildren on her living-room wall and it cannot express 63 income from the informal sector . Rosettenville is described her concern for the future of those same grandchildren. as an area providing many opportunities for the unemployed in the form of street trading and entrepreneurship. The area It can show you distance and scale, roads and topographical is seen as supportive of small sustainable businesses. The features but it cannot show you the glitzy inner-city lights area’s close proximity to the CBD contributes to the thriving that overlook Rosettenville and pose as a constant reminder second economy.64 of a city that has let these residents down. It might show you density and land use but it will not capture the genius loci of this place and how the activities merge together to result in 5.2 a mass of street life and potential. Temporality and Fragmentation (Source: Kluth, 2013:3) Rosettenville is also temporally fragmented. Findings show that there are clear differences between activities and who conducts them over time. Residents spoke of the differences There is also the sense that the dangers are worse at night between day and night time activities taking place in and some of the residents mentioned that they “…don’t feel Rosettenville, because of the differences of levels of safety particularly afraid to walk around during the day but at night and security and the criminal activities. An interviewee in you don’t walk, you’re a lot more wary”.68 In an exploration Main Street stressed that point: “It’s difficult to find a decent of no-go areas and so-called dead zones i.e. spaces in place; you have to know what it’s like during the day and at which there was little activity, one of the students noted night and you have to find a place that is close to areas where that both types of spaces expanded dramatically at night you can get transport and easy access to supermarkets such (see Figure 21 and Figure 22)69. It is also apparent from the as Shoprite...”65 Residents attempt to avoid certain places

62 Shared Living Spaces Group, 2013 66 Main street group, 2013 63 Group Project, 2013 67 Market Group,2013 64 Ibid. 68 06_03_14 Interview cited in BAS Honours Postgraduate Program, 2014 65 Main street group, 2013 69 Kluth., 2013; Segooa., 2013 students’ work that few people gather in public spaces at 5. 3 night and prefer to stay at home or visit formal institutions Social fragmentation: trust, ethnicity 70 such as bars and the bowls club. However, other residents and gender contradicted this differentiation between night and day and felt that one of the biggest detraction of the area was the Students describe high levels of social fragmentation in fact that they had to be constantly vigilant and never felt Rosettenville. This social fragmentation manifests itself in that they could feel at ease within the space.71 a great amount of distrust between the residents and the different communities. Fieldwork conducted in Main Street The issue of safety and security also means that some demonstrates such distrusts: businesses and traders are restricted in when and how they operate. They wait for formal shops to open or more “People in the place are either selling people to be on the street before they are willing to start something or taking something from you, work. This places constraints on their operating times, with an interviewee saying: “We are unable to open shops trying to make a living. A sense of community early because they are mugging and robbing us, even in the is portrayed to the passing by person but morning. …”72 and from a female traders who states “This for the residents, life is about hustling and used to be a quiet place [but] now crime is bad when Spar looking out for one`s selves.”74. closes I also close”. A female cleaner in the market felt so unsafe that she was unable to complete her duties, with Further, the legal status exacerbates social fragmentation a researcher reporting that “She does not feel safe inside by constructing a situation separating those who can access the market because there are guys gambling and robbing a range of social goods and have opportunities and those 73 people so she only cleans outside the market…”. who cannot, due to the absence of legal status. Some interviews express how the lack of legal status can exclude one from the community: “Now she is always being referred back by the lawyers that are in-charge of her case, saying that her documents are not yet ready. This amputates their ability to confidently engage in other activities in their community and it also amputates their chances of having a sustainable and successful life in South Africa”75

There also exists an uncomfortable range of social and ethnic stereotypes: South Africans often blame foreigners, especially Nigerian migrants, for the vice and drugs in the area, and foreigners in general are seen as contributing to the deterioration of the area, as “they don’t care”. Conversely, foreign migrants are often disparaging of South Africans, and one respondent mentioned that “South Africans are lazy, they need to wake up” These prejudices embed and reinforce the divisions within the area and ensure that there is no sense of a “community”.

There is some contradiction around the desirability of the area, it seems that some who can afford it decide to live somewhere else, creating a clear division between Rosettenville and other parts of the city. For example, students have shown that a number of business owners in Rosettenville prefer to live outside of the area: “they are Figure 18: willing to spend time and money on commuting every day to The amplification of no go zones at night work. When asked why, they pointed out the poor quality of (Source: Kluth, C., 2013 ARPL3012:10) urban management in the area and high levels of crime”76. Figure 19 shows the mobility patterns of business owners

70 Kolabhai, M., Hassim, H., Cardoso, S., Walaza, L., Kharidzha, F., Mabuza, M., and Brecher, E., 2014: Gathering and move, ARPL2000 Architecture Design. 74 Main Street Group, 2013 71 Main street Group, 2013: ARPL3006 Comparative African Cities 75 Ibid.

72 Main street Group,2013 76 Exploring the mobility patterns of business owners in 73 Market Group , 2013 Rosettenville Group, 2014: ARPL2009, Mobility Patterns in Rosettenville. This pattern also contributes to the organisations and the lack of involvement in the community. fragmentation of Rosettenville as people use the space in Some residents stress the experience of crime and various ways. insecurity. Others stress the ethnic diversity and negative experiences with members of other communities (see section identity and gender). Some residents also stress a generation gap “There is still some [sense of community] with the older generations, or pockets around the two main Portuguese restaurants in the area but the younger generation has left the area.”79.

The issue of gender surfaced in a number of ways in and in all scales and spaces from the highly gendered domestic and reproductive roles of women in shared living spaces; to the difficulties of navigating public spaces and the dominance of men in street-trading and the local market. What became apparent is that space is highly gendered and for the most part gender roles are still very traditional. Within the micro-scale of shared living spaces, “It seems that the ladies of the house are responsible for keeping their home neat and presentable. The household chores are divided between days (on a specific day; one lady is responsible for the household chores).”80 Men are not expected to, nor do they contribute to cleaning and cooking wtihin the domestic environment.

Fragmentation in the form of dysfunctional domestic relationships was also apparent and quite difficult for the students to engage with. It would seem that within the area, there are high levels of domestic violence, as evidenced by the range and type of NGOs in the area (see Section 4.2). There were also heart-breaking stories of abuse: She [the respondent] was not safe at home. Figure 19: Mobility of business owners in Rosettenville Their living situation involves them sharing (Source: Hatiz-Abdullah, Y., et al, 2014: a space and that space was divided by a ARPL2009: curtain. She was at home, at the time she was fourteen, she’s eighteen now. While I was sitting with her, she asked me; ‘How can my The fieldwork explored the idea of community and what mother leave me with these guys?’ She told are the particularities of Rosettenville as a community. me that the guys, we live with, who live in the Although there are many “positive community structures” findings express a certain extent of fragmentation of backrooms come into the house and help community organisations and a lack of involvement themselves whenever they want81 in the community. Firstly, residents report negative experiences with the community, which most of the time relate to experiences of crime: “Negative experiences and The idea of gendered roles and gendered space continues interactions between diverse community members leads to into the public realm: within the Dias market the spaces are people resenting their neighbourhood77. Secondly, findings divided up into men’s and women’s spaces: stress a lack of involvement in the community: “There is no sense of community in the area, thus it is difficult to The tavern and the butchery for instance hold community meetings that will involve the voices of attract males and thus such spaces are all the different people to be represented”78. Several sets dominated by them. This allows them to of reasons can explain this fragmentation of community establish territories within the public market

77 Tayob, M and Sibiya, Z., 2013: ARPL3013 Housing theory, concepts & policy 79 Interview 06.03.2014, BAS Honours Postgraduate Program 78 Tayob, M, Sibiya, Z., and Hadebe, C., 2013: ARPL3013 Housing theory, concepts & 80 Shared Living Spaces Group, 2013 policy 81 Nkoane, 2014. limiting women’s engagement. A salient in La Rochelle. As for the sense that one example of this is illustrated by a spot that belongs in a community, opinions of the has been claimed as a ‘gambling area’ by the residents interviewed indicated an awareness males making it uncomfortable for women to of fellow migrants, but most people relate with the space. Women are confined to immediately distanced themselves from talk spaces which have little significance to male of commitment to friendships, stating clearly interests.82 that their encounters with neighbours are purely casual…86 The idea of male dominance in the market also plays out in how space is allocated whereby “the men occupy specific 5.4 Political fragmentation and institutional invisibility points for conviviality and leisure and women occupy Rosettenville is increasingly becoming an area of interest for the ‘remains’ as a means to make a livelihood through political intervention (see CoF section plans for the future). In informal trade.” And thus women are left to make do with 83 this regard, research in the area explored the ways in which the leftovers . Female cleaners do not feel welcome in the the State is present or absent, visible or invisible. Findings space of the market and argue that “there are guys gambling suggest that the State is barely present in the daily resident’s and robbing people so she [the female cleaner] only cleans experience of Rosettenville, and where it is, it is in disparate outside the market. She thinks the level of crime in the 84 ways that are not always consistent. The Rosettenville area market is high”. is host to a number of different wards, and thus does not have coherent political leadership or structure. The pavements and streets are also seen as male dominated spaces, colonised by men gambling and drinking on the At the same time, students reported a number of ways in streets and watching women going by, often making which the State is absent or missing in Rosettenville. The comments. Many of the women living and using the area thus most striking indicator of such is the distrust amongst find themselves as the subject of unwanted male gaze and residents towards State agents. For example, interviewees attention, and behave accordingly by rarely walking alone, Ang and Lynn felt that the city agents were not doing their and clustering trade stalls or street activities. There are also allocated tasks in the area: “The city workers come and instances where age and gender make some of the residents drink at the “shebeen” and do not do their work”. Moreover, doubly vulnerable. This was made real by the words of Buhle they believe that “They are also paid off by the kingpins of and her friend Lwazi [schoolgirls who live in the area] who illegal activity.87 Some findings also stressed the absence said: “I never consider walking alone around this place, of the State in the area: “people in La Rochelle expressed especially at night because it is unsafe for me as a girl...” frustration in how the City is not doing anything to improve the state of their living conditions within the neighbourhood. The question of ethnicity was quite controversial and there They said that they do want the City to intervene in the area are questions as to whether it was a divisive or unifying in providing better places for them to live, with adequate factor. There were ideas from some of the groups that: “The infrastructure as well improved access to job opportunities. sense of community in La Rochelle at present is very diverse However, emphasis from their side was put on these in its multitude of cultures and nationalities, however due interventions maintaining affordability and inclusivity.”88 to the need to compete for job opportunities the sense of comradery has become fragmented and has caused people This absence of the State is particularly acute when dealing to group together in their respective nations.”85 However with safety and security in the area. Residents complain about even the idea of enclaving has been questioned and findings the absence of the state: “Rosettenville was better when it by Moyo and Cossa, suggest a high level of atomisation: came to crime prior to the world cup during 2008 and 2010. One of the reasons was that there were police officers who were on stand by within Rosettenville at night and during the The few pockets of connections we observed day. After the world cup the crime rate increased and people do not go beyond dyadic and small groups of were unable to walk freely at night since the standby officers friends who gather at weekends over a few were no longer available.”89 Moreover, there is a general lack bottles of beer and, sometimes, a barbecue. of trust between residents and State agents: “People are Notions of community and hierarchical forms unable to trust police officers because they are not reliable (ibid). Furthermore, the absence of the State reflects into of leadership seem not to permeate everyday the lack of community participation and consultation on the discussions among Mozambican migrants CoJ’s plans for Rosettenville.

82 Market Group,2013 86 Moyo and Cossa, 2015 83 Ibid. 87 Interview on 03.03.2014, BAS Honours Postgraduate Program 84 Ibid. 88 Mavuso, 2014 85 LaRochelle Pearl of the South Group, 2013 89 Main street group, 2013 5.5 tuck shops and do most of the street trading in the suburb.”95 Public space The uses of public spaces are also fragmented across genders. In particular, women tend to use public spaces The fragmentation at place in Rosettenville is also reflected less and more cautiously than men: “Observations revealed into the uses of public spaces. Public spaces include the that women occupied public spaces mainly by walking to and parks, the pavements and a whole host of nodes and spots in from specific areas, selling goods informally in the streets the area. These public spaces are often seen as dangerous or the tuck-shops or found in the parks.”96 The reason for and controlled by violent and criminal elements. There are this differentiated use of public spaces is women’s feeling few if any spaces for the community to meet or spaces which of insecurity: “An additional main reason was lack of people are “owned” by the community as a whole. (passive surveillance) security. The women feel that the streets would be safer if there was more activity occurring The parks are considered as key public spaces in in the streets. The activities that men engage with in public Rosettenville. Interviews conducted within the parks show spaces also cause a hazardous effect for women.”97 that residents use the parks in various ways: to find job, to perform economic activities, or to relax. A number of 5.6 interviewees were using the parks to find a job. Mavuso Conclusions stresses that: “Hunt Park is known within the area for being the location for freelance workers who wait in the park for Thus the Greater Rosettenville area seems to be fragmented day jobs in work such as bricklaying and plumbing”90. For in a number of different ways: ethnically, socially, and example, to the question: Why do you go to Wemmer Park?, spatially. There are deep lines of disconnection, some of Nelson responded: “I go to find work. I give tours there. I which are embedded in long-standing stereotypes around have no reason to go besides work.”91 ethnicity and gender; whilst others seem to be due to a lack of resources and the competition that is engendered as people However, it appears that the park was underused as a try and survive or get a little ahead. What does become clear place of relaxation for families. Some interviewees indicated as a result is that the notion of a “community” or even “the not going there because of crime issues. For example, community” in Rosettenville is highly misplaced. Philip indicated not going to the park with his family: “I go occasionally on weekends for braais (..) I don’t take my child and wife to Wemmer Park”92. Public spaces are also defined in terms of spaces that are used and spaces that are unused. Some spaces are defined as “no go zones” for people within the area. Interviews conducted on Main Street showed that residents avoid certain spaces because of criminal activities. These spaces include, for example, 7th and 5th street in La Rochelle.93

Furthermore, some findings suggest that the lack of urban management has resulted in the territorialisation of public spaces by individuals and groups. This was the case, for example, of the market: “The market gradually fell into a state of decay and the spatial dynamics within the market changed and took on a new form. The current spatial dynamics within the market reflect how people have since redefined and colonized space by establishing certain ‘territories’ within the market.”94 The use of public spaces can also be differentiated across ethnicity. For example, some findings describe street life and the ways in which it is experienced by different communities: “This intimacy with the streets is absent among the Mozambicans in La Rochelle, who prefer to remain invisible and lead quiet lives out of the public eye. Thus, by their own admission, they are not always on the streets, as are the Congolese, who run

90 Mavuso, 2014 91 BAS Honours Postgraduate Program, 2014 92 Ibid. 95 Moyo & Cossa 2015 93 Main Street Group, 2013 96 Nkoane, 2014. 94 Market Group,2013 97 Ibid. 5. THE CENTRE CANNOT HOLD: FRAGMENTATION/ATOMISATION.

The students’ work seems to reveal a community that is There is a clear demand for small rental accommodation at all in many ways riven by different currents of fragmentation income levels, but especially at the lowest end of the market creating a situation of intense difficulty for people who live with people earning very low wages. Figure 20 demonstrates in the site but also a site that is highly desirable and full of the range of low income options that are available and conviviality and street-life. The next section will discuss the shows that rental rarely exceeds the R1200-R1700 for implications of the many forms of fragmentation, as well shared options and R2000-R2600 for better quality, less as the historical cleavages and continuities, surprises and densely occupied housing.1 The sense of impermanence “the unexpected” which were key themes that the studio and identification of home as somewhere else means that attempted to engage with. It also seeks to consider the many people would prefer to rent and invest as little money pedagogic method and some of the lessons learnt. as possible in a space that they see as being temporary and not constituting the notion of “home”. Households are low 6.1 income but find the Greater Rosettenville area extremely Transport, access and mobility desirable due to its proximity to the CBD and connections with the rest of the city as well as the burgeoning informal Student work indicated that the area is well-connected to the sector and opportunity for casual jobs. rest of the city and many of the residents have a variety of What is also clear is that there is great deal on which to build, transport from which to choose. A number of the residents findings show that “Subdivisions were made in such a way said that they walk to work or school. Furthermore, the area that each family is able to reach the services provided easily. seems to be well-served by the formal systems through This can be identified in a manner where each room can buses and through the informal market with numerous access the shared facilities in the house.”2 taxis. However there was some concern that many residents have long walks to bus stations and taxi ranks, however once there the connection with rest of the city is very good and trips seem to average half an hour at peak times. Furthermore, there are indications that households have figured out ways of living together in ways that are very The use of different modes of transport is dependent on tolerant of each other’s needs and have instituted house socio-economic position – those who can afford to choose rules, which “work” and can be abided by and instituted to use private cars citing lack of safety, time and times of by households. This brings into question the need for operation not being suitable. For those who used public professional intervention in terms of design as it seems that transport there were some key concerns, especially around households are able to design and adapt environments to drivers being unreliable with irregular timetables, busses meet their needs. Similarly it brings into question the need infrequent and often full, particularly at peak times. There for institutionalisation, regularisation or formalisation by the were indications that the cost of transport is expensive state or other bodies, considering how well-managed most for some of the residents who are paying over half of their of these spaces are by the people who live in them. incomes. There is also a key question of land use management, The proposed transport interventions into the site and previous land use management and zoning regulations affecting the area as part of CoJ’s wider scale CoF initiative require a largely mono-use space with high streets set were seen as being quite concerning and possibly targeting aside for commercial areas. Given the socio-economic the wrong set of issues of residents and users of the space: needs of the people and the desirability of the area, such a there was certainly a concern that the proposals do not scheme is unrealistic and does not meet the needs of the support the needs of pedestrians or people who walk to get to current population. Higher density residential opportunities, their modes of transport. These include having tertiary forms especially backyard rooms and cottages, provide cheap rental of transport connected to the main routes so that people do accommodation and complementary incomes for many not have to walk so far to transit points and to improve the households. Eradicating these units or even formalising safety and walkability of the environment. Street-lighting them may damage this fragile from of housing provision. In and better urban management were seen as more desirable addition, many houses now have some form of commercial than more buses along the same the same routes. activity that takes place on their premises such as spaza shops, tuck shops, salons etc, these too assist in providing 6.2 households with either additional or primary income. Thus Housing: accommodation what is needed is a two-fold approach: better designed and shared living higher density housing, such as that which the studio conceptualised (see Figure 21) and second, more flexible The demographic and social features of the people living zoning and land use management scheme that legalises such in Rosettenville have implications for what sort of housing activities (Figure 22). In addition, retrofitting infrastructure in terms of tenure and typology would be in demand. The current formulations and self-management of units also offers useful innovations and thoughts about what might be appropriate for the site. 1 Renting Group, 2014: Rental housing, ARPL2000 Architecture Design. 2 Shared Living Spaces Group, 2013

Figure 20: Rental Costs (Source: Renting Group, 2014: ARPL2000: 10 and 14:) for higher densities and different kinds of activities would be 6.3 useful in supporting these income generating opportunities Public Space: and housing typologies which respond to need. Many of the students raised concerns around the proposed interventions What is clear from the students’ work is that public space has of row housing and social housing, arguing that these forms a set of different meanings for the residents and users of the of housing would be highly inappropriate and out of reach Greater Rosettenville area than for the City of Johannesburg of many of the existing residents. Rather what is needed is and more traditional conceptualisations of land management. cheap, well-managed communal rental housing, ideally for In many cases, public spaces such parks, streets, pavements single people or small family units. etc have been colonised for other uses including gambling, Since many households are temporary or see their stay in selling and recreation. Due to a lack of policing and lack of Rosettenville as temporary, care has to be taken to manage formal urban management, these spaces are now controlled the housing properly and to ensure that landlords provide by different constituencies who determine the “rules” of decent accommodation and renters respect the properties acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Thus there are a set and maintain the units. There is also the need to facilitate of socially determined regulations which shape how space the highly temporary and circular forms of migration by is used and by whom. Whilst these rules usefully provide offering shorter leases and more transitional forms of some kind of structure and certainty for public life, they are accommodation.3 also determined by the whims and prejudices of the most powerful groups. Thus gendered control of public spaces constructs spaces of inclusion and exclusion and moments of discomfit for women.

3 Group Project, 2013.

Figure 21: Flexible row housing design (Source: Doerman, K., 2013: ARPL2000: 27) Figure 22: Flexible land use management models (Source: ARPL2000, 2014) The lack of policing and urban management also creates a and newer and better forms of engagement were needed to situation where public space can become dangerous for users ensure true participation, engagement and buy-in of local and residents. As these spaces become refuges for criminal residents and users. activities this assists in creating spaces which ensure people are made vulnerable i.e. lack of street lighting, over grown In contrast to the City, the students attempted to engage verges etc. Furthermore, the lack of urban management with the issues surrounding public space by thinking also means that there is litter, broken pavements and other creatively around how to invite people back into public physical objects which may prove detrimental to people’s spaces. Using exhibitions and installations (see Figure health. 32 and Figure 30) such as the Turning Outside/In and the installation of benches, students and staff found ways to Since many of the public spaces have been reterritorialized start conversations with community members.5 for other uses, there are few places for recreation and community gatherings, which in turn exacerbate the atomisation of the community. 6.5 Pedagogy and lessons learned The parks have also been fenced off, sub-divided and put under the care of various organisations and clubs, this has In the final analysis the RS was still a pedagogic project, meant that in an attempt to assist with safety and security hosted at a university and with the intention of teaching and public space has become highly exclusionary, denying learning, knowledge creation and the fulfilling of pedagogic access to certain groups and individuals.4 Unfortunately, the principles. Underlying the studio approach was the desire proposals of the Corridors of Freedom could also contribute to understand the regulation and substance of everyday life to privatisation of public space as they suggest further of the area and to contribute the understanding in a way divisions and control, whereby social housing institutions that would be useful for the local community. Lecturers may be tasked with fencing off and controlling parts of and students were not expected to conform to specific various parks and public spaces. There is no question that briefs and many came up with their own themes and topics more creative approaches will be needed to engage with within the overall studio. This gave the studio a sense of issues of public space and ensure that they are accessible a potpourri – a mix of variety of approaches, thoughts, for the majority of people. intentions and engagements. 6.4 Some of the earlier lack of clarity about the studio and Community Participation how it should unfold, provided a “double-edged” sword, on the one side, there was not necessarily coherence in The studio attempted to use an action-research the pedagogic practice and the various projects did not methodology, which relies on the input of the community necessarily build on each other. However, on the other side, to direct research and feedback. However, this became the spread, variety and creativity that such an approach extremely difficult in the case of Rosettenville and allowed ensured that innovation was a key feature of the implications for the work that was carried out. studio and the ability to respond to different community and From section 5 it can be seen that this is a highly stakeholder needs could be consistently accommodated. fragmented area with deep schisms both physical and However, despite the advantages and the fascinating work social. The lack of cohesiveness and the dearth of available that was produced there were a number of challenges that facilities where people can meet contribute to the schisms such a project faced within the Rosettenville as well as the and inability of people living in the area to engage effectively value that students and staff found in the experience and with the state and with each other. The very fragmented the lessons that were learned and should be taken into and temporary nature of the community has contributed account when the SoAP embarks on their next studio.6 to a lack of safety and security, as there is very little trust or sense of community which allows for mutual protection Challenges facing the studio and stops people from seeing each other as prey. It has also meant that there is unfortunate parochialism as people look There were a number of challenges that the studio faced, if towards their “own kind” for protection, socialisation and we were to take the challenges chronologically: economic opportunities. There is no doubt that the same issues of community Access and points of contact: since the project began with fragmentation have beset the CoJ’s attempts to engage the express purpose of ensuring academic freedom, it with the Greater Rosettenville area, which has meant that meant that the school had to find its own way into the area the Corridors’ proposals are almost entirely disconnected from the needs and realities of the daily lives of most of the residents. It also means that the participation methods that 5 Subsequent to the RS, City Parks has initiated some innovative approaches to were used at the time of the RS were entirely inappropriate resident engagements that certainly offer some exciting possibilities about future relations between the CoJ and local residents. 6 Many thanks to staff members Kirsten Doerman, Jennifer van den Bussche, Sarah Charlton and Aly Karam and students, Charnelle Kluth, Nkosihlel Mavuso, Maryam Monokali and Thato Nkoane for sharing their thoughts and experiences. It was from their responses and through 4 Pre-planning meeting, 2015. informal conversations with other participants that I was able to draw up this section and to make its own contacts. There was also very little time became even more important and she worked out how to to familiarise either staff or residents and users of the area introduce projects through door to door information, flyers, with the studio before it began and as a result many of the talking to people upfront, and on the street. lecturers and students walked into the area “cold”, making contact and bridging the gap between the university and The new environment tested lecturers’ abilities and forced the residents quite difficult to begin with. The situation was them to formulate relevant and appropriate briefs and to exacerbated as initially there was little interest from the adaptively manage and implement projects. It also meant residents in communal issues, and most of the networks that students and staff were forced to reflect on the dynamics operate behind closed walls, in yards and houses. In of the area and how to analyse it. addition, there was little interest and engagement of official Value of the studio planning bodies within CoJ with either residents or the RS. Despite these challenges the staff and students did learn Lack of access also occurred in other ways: not speaking a great deal and staff and students reflect that there was the same language, as most students and lecturers did not enormous value in the studio and what was gained: speak the common languages of the study site, not being able to gain access to some of the spaces, people not being To conclude the general reflection of the class available when students were available etc. about the Rosettenville/La Rochelle area, I Lack of community coherence: as mentioned in previous will quote one of the students who suggests sections, the area is highly fragmented, this meant that it that “perhaps a number of Johannesburg was extremely difficult for students and staff to find out who constituted “the community” and thus there were major suburbs have a lot to learn in terms of the challenges in finding people to work with and assist in community interaction, active street life and directing the research. mixed-land uses present in the suburb”. Regarding my own evaluation of the Safety and security which made student work difficult, as staff and students had to be aware of these issues at all semester, I must confess I have first been points. It also constrained when and how research could be surprised by the naivety of the students in done and how far the research could go. some aspects, their general ignorance of the Crime and criminality: The issue of criminality was also a city beyond their own habits and practices key issue around continuing to work in the area, as there – that are, as for everyone else in the city, were concerns that if the students “dug too deep” then they highly compartmentalised in terms of the would be putting themselves in danger. There were also places they are used to interact with. As the large groups of students on-site at various times, which may have made the many of these activities go even further weeks passed, I then realized the huge effort underground or feel under threat, which potentially added they were putting in trying to make sense of risk to our students. their project: defining a research question, setting up fieldwork objectives and re- Size and diversity: although many of the students and staff enjoyed the diversity and vibrancy of the area, it became evaluating them after every site visit… quite difficult to construct briefs that incorporated many The final posters do not transmit the depth of groups or much of the area. their questioning. Our class project remained The challenges however, did force creative and innovative a preliminary exploration of La Rochelle and responses from both staff and students and there is Rosettenville, it did not lead to any formal definitely value in attempting to experiment and explore participation of the community and some of into environments with which one is unfamiliar. The general the students were very disappointed about sentiment, however was positive as staff and students felt that. Nevertheless, I believe that it was a that: fruitful way to initiate the Studio with third- Going out into an area that was not familiar and figuring year Planning students because it gave them out how people work in this space was a huge challenge. a space to reflect on what they want to do for However, a challenge that spurred on a process of self- learning.7 their city in the future and on the challenges they will face as professionals.8 As a consequence of not having pre-existing relationships the role of Jennifer van den Bussche the community link There is also no question that the studio was lethal for the

7 Maryam Monokali, 2015: Personal Communication 8 Buire, C., 2013: Reflections on Rosettenville Studio preconceptions and prejudices of the students, opening ‘what to do about this’ was illuminating - as their eyes to the common and shared experiences of daily a difficult but real place with exhibited tough life as well as the creativity and innovation that poverty often issues – e.g. drugs, poverty, public sector causes. Students were also exposed to the harshness and difficulties of daily professional practise that they have to neglect - and no easy answers.11 face once they graduate. Optimistically though, the studio Many of the participants also felt that there was much value exposed the potential that these kinds of spaces offer and in learning how to confront and read unfamiliar contexts how to work with the positives that can be built on. and access a diverse community “from the outside” as they At first, I had a very negative perception about felt that this was closer to the experiences that they have and will have in practise. the area. And felt that it was a deteriorating residential suburb, filled with crime and was There was also a sense that the framing of the studio streaming with immigrants. To my surprise was useful as it exposed lecturers and students to the I was proven wrong and now feel that the complexities of a real-world environment, but in a situation area has a high potential to be economically where vibrant and to continue being a diverse, - there is some support and assistance muliticultural place for work, play and living - interested or knowledgeable colleagues to bounce as the place is very functional in the way that things off, - an archive or library of material/ resources/ info people are able to access shops, schools and being built up; parks….”9 - skilled community liaison, The studio altered my perceptions about - some sense of a common project where an area in realizing that things are not your particular research/ project can make a always what they seem. There is a greater contribution to something bigger. situation or struggle in marginalized areas Once the Corridors of Freedom were announced staff and situations arising around certain social saw this as an opportunity to see how to link bottom politics such as the safety and security of up/ empirical fieldwork to top down planning or rather women needs to be understood from different identifying the gap between those parallel processes. This opportunity also enabled a fruitful exploration of status quo dimensions.10 vs vision, and the contradictions and disjunctures in this and provided a good opportunity to interact with the City and its Importantly for all concerned there was a sense of public participation process. having to engage with the realities of urban spaces, “real-world” environments, and as described by one staff member spaces, which in many ways are Students and staff also felt that there was enormous ordinary but represent much of our urban reality: benefit in the relation of social networks and physical space (changing densities, re-use and adaption of existing Maybe a ‘reality-check’ in the sense of the structures to current needs). relative banality of the area, its “unsexiness”, Students seem to feel that the experiences from the studio its decay and prior to the Corridors of stood them in good stead professionally and for further Freedom announcement, its seemingly little research: claim to fame or much of real interest relative to some other things identified as important I have taken the importance of learning to in the city e.g. informal settlements, inner city build relationships with people you wish decay and revival, gentrification, transport, to work with when it comes to research, economic development, gated communities, because when people have established a form flagship projects, cutting edge development of relationship with you. That is when they etc – seemingly it had none of these things… learn to trust you and are able to reveal more but so do many other areas. So maybe its of themselves to you. relative ordinariness yet many problems, and This was one the most important lessons I picked up through the studio and engaging in ethnographic research in that preconceived

9 Smangele, 2013 10 Thato Nkoane, 2015 Personal Communication 11 Sarah Charlton, 2015: Personal communication perceptions are often wrong and that one As such, the Rosettenville Studio looked towards the should always embark on research projects creative presentation of its findings and some of its goals such as the Rosettenville studio with an open and one of its most successful and valuable achievements was the creation of the Rosettenville game called Street mind that is receptive and willing to learn Wise Six by Kirsten Doermann and her team, as well as as much as possible from people that may a short film by Solam Mkhabela and a set of explanatory at face value seem lacking in knowledge. . posters summarising key findings and recommendations. This was one the most important lessons I The purpose of the game was to construct an alternative picked up through the studio and engaging in reporting structure that is able to engage a number of stakeholders (see Box 6). The first time the game was ethnographic research in that preconceived played was at a small, closed event of the Rosettenville perceptions are often wrong and that one Studio and was played with city officials, property should always embark on research projects developers, professional architects and urban designers, such as the Rosettenville studio with an open academics, students and Rosettenville residents. The evening was a great success and the game certainly got mind that is receptive and willing to learn as its point across, which was to show how to construct much as possible from people that may at a vibrant and healthy mixed use, mixed income urban face value seem lacking in knowledge. environment.. Subsequently, the local business association As students, we often want immediate (SOJO) and developers/activists plan to use the game for gratification/outcomes, yet this studio has a fundraising event in the area and for the demonstration of policy developments. Students also benefitted as the taught me the importance for planners to game allowed them to improve their knowledge of strategic take time in engaging, researching and planning and coalition formation with this active-learning uncovering all the rich dynamics and threads tool.14 that make a community, like Rosettenville, what it is. By immersing yourself, and taking the time necessary to work towards greater long-term goals, not only will you, in my view, become a better planner; but you will also provide the community with better and more tangible solutions that truly address their needs.12 The fact that I may just be a student does not mean I can not make a contribution, no matter how small or how big. Yes my difference may not change the world, but it will allow the voice of that one person, who feels insignificant, to be heard. A voice that could one day drive change for the whole of Rosettenville. 13

The words of the students are encouraging as it seems that one of the key goals of the studio, which was mutual teaching and learning was certainly achieved.

The Rosettenville Studio Game

The studio also attempted to speak to a number of stakeholders about its findings and needed to find a way Figure 23: in which complex findings could be communicated to a Let’s Play Menu range of people, many of whom do not have the time to engage with academic documents or design provisions.

14 This section is based on Doerman, K., and Mkhabela, S., 2015: let’s play dinner: 12 KLuth, 2015 a board game as a learning platform between politics, academia and everyday life, 13 Monokali, 2015 Urban Pamphleteer, #5: Special Issue, Global Education for Urban Futures, 19-22. Figure 24: Example of one of the posters Box 6: 6.6 Playing the game Lessons learned for future studios

Street Wise Six was developed as a game to be played over There were some lessons from this studio that should be dinner, the table cloth on each table is the larger game considered for future studios, they are listed below and board and includes six sections of a street, divided into have been ordered in terms of before, during and after the eight properties each, and the “serviettes” are actually studio: the instructions on how to play. The rest of the equipment includes a pack of colour-coded cards that turn into Before… buildings, local currency (Rose Rands), public goods, urban • Large areas with fluid borders and boundaries may allies and a disaster wheel. In the game, each player is a dilute the focus of the overall studio i.e. classes could property developer for one portion of the street. The aim of choose many different sites and subjects and without the game is to increase the street’s prosperity by increasing overall coordination that led to a widely spread and its density, and land use, equipping its public space and rather thin output, which is difficult to manage. It may be building new, diverse buildings – all of which are different wise to define the geographic area of the studio: smaller colours. In each round, players have to engage in different defined geographical areas may be better. alliances with a variety of urban actors, like the City, the Mayors, architects and activist in order to build their desired • The main themes and intended outcomes of the overall units. The idea was to mimic some of the goals established investigation need to be much stronger and more clearly in the Corridors of Freedom. The game ends when one framed upfront player has re-developed all eight properties but the winner is determined by adding up the points of diversity, which • It is important to have a team of people that are is measured through color i.e. the more uses, the more interested in each other’s work and who lead the colour. project and set up the outline, define aims and propose

Figure 25: Images from the Launch of the Rosettenville Game methodologies, integrate other people’s interests • Adequate time and budget needs to be provided for and methods. It should be remembered that it is as at the end of the studio to allow for the completion of important for this team to be able to define what the reflections, publications and financial management. studio is not doing as much as what it is focussing on. • Each studio should also be appropriately documented • As much as possible try to be clear about aims and and lessons learnt used for future studios outcomes in contracts with funders and partners.

• Integrate realistic preparation and reflection time in timeline and budget of project 6.7 Lessons learnt: policy recommendations • Future studios should strongly consider working in communities/areas where they/someone has already engaged for a number of years (numerous teachers The policy recommendations can be summarised into three already have long-term ties to communities) and have categories: already developed a sense of trust and collaborations with a number of organisations and/or individuals, with i. Learning from what’s there: the advantage of the a clear understanding of what Universities do. pedagogic and research approach was the strong engagement with daily practises and everyday life, what • The location of a studio is important and should be this allowed was for keen insights into what already a place that is easy for students to access via public exists and works thus policy needs to consider the transport. following:

- The majority of households in the area exist in a During… state of transition, are very low income and require rental accommodation • Where possible avoid, change of leadership in the project, continuity is crucial. This is also true of the - Current practises of sharing and communal living coordinator and manager of coordinator. should be supported and facilitated as they work for the individuals in question. • Where possible involve distinctively upper school students or at least 3rd year – maturity is a prerequisite in these kinds of projects. ii. Addressing concerns and issues: safety and security, amongst others, are perceived as being major issues • In the same vein, students could and should have more involvement in decision-making in a City Studio, because for many of the residents, there are some relatively they are the ones that spend most time talking to “simple” wins that could be considered: people, and being part of decisions about their studies - Facilitating community policing and improving the encourages more ownership over issues. relationship with the police

• It is also important to coordinate the potential - Improving urban management to make streets ‘workforce’ of large classes into useful mapping and safer to traverse, especially at night collecting info exercises. - Considering the differential needs of the • Have regular public presentation to the school community: i.e. understanding that age and gender make a difference around policy interventions • Any involvement in the management of a studio has to be acknowledged in workload and finance models. - The state is largely seen as absent from the area and needs to be brought back in and to be • Try to actively and perhaps more formally establish a City (or other relevant) institutional link and buy-in to “present” in constructive ways in the lives of the the studio residents of Rosettenville

After iii. Consider what will not work: evidence from the studio offers some insights into what will probably not work: • It should be decided what the final outcome and their formats are at the beginning of the studio. Related - Social housing is very likely too expensive for to this is the need to share information over time on the local community and is probably the “wrong a digital platform in formats that is laid out in the product” offering beginning not in the end. - More fencing and privatisation of public space will increase the sense of isolation, fragmentation and exclusion that is already a key feature of the area.

- Current forms of community participation and engagement are not reaching the community and need to be re-thought.

6.8 Concluding thoughts

Thus the studio offered an important site of learning and engagement. It provided the opportunity to find out more about the area and its inhabitants, the way people live and the rules by which life is regulated when the state is largely absent. It allowed insights into livelihoods, lives and living conditions and the connections between people as well as the moments and spaces of disconnection and how and what they mean.

From a pedagogic perspective the site provided students and staff with an important laboratory in which to carry out real life innovations and creative inputs in ways that attempted to ensure ethical practise and life changing possibility. Although the project may not always have been successful what is clear is that the studio offered an important learning and teaching opportunity and a chance to start a conversation with an interesting and highly complex “community” and part of Johannesburg.

Figure 26: Public space interventions APPENDIX I: LIST OF COURSES AND PROJECTS UNDERTAKEN AS PART OF THE ROSETTENVILLE STUDIO

2013 COURSES

2nd Yr Architects

ARPL2000 Architecture People, Places, Prejudices; Row Housing design; Design Studio Public Benches; Sports Centre (Kirsten Doerman) As part of the Public Benches program, business cards were created for the Park Hosts at their request.

2nd Yr Planners

ARPL2006 Transport An overview of policies, approaches and key issues relating to the Planning production and management of housing, services, infrastructure and (Aly Karam) transport from a planning perspective.

ARPL2009 Histories & Investigating the influence of history on space and society. Students Futures of looked at trading issues, trying to get a grasp on the overall issues and Planning challenges felt by the businesses. (Aly Karam)

ARPL2013 Introduction The course covered different forms of land legal issues; Land uses ; Land to Land use management; and different approaches to land use regulation. Management (Neil Klug)

ARPL2014 Sustainable 1. Introduction to the environment in general and the relationship Urban Design between the natural environment and physical development, and (1. Saphira especially urban development. Patel 2. Diane 2. GIS training was part of the course, with students overlapping the GIS Long) site investigation with the assignment.

3rd Year Planners

ARPL3006 Comparative Decipher a sense of place of Rosettenville. How do ordinary residents African Cities relate to their built environment? What are the invisible values, symbols (Chloe Buire) and representations that they attach to their living space?

ARPL3013 Housing theory, This course built a housing portrait of the Rosettenville area through concepts & understanding current housing conditions and ways of living policy (Sarah Charlton)

3rd Yr Urban Designers

ARPL3012 Corridor The space between two South African Icons: the Carlton Centre and Cultures (Solam Nandos, looking carefully at what is there, now, then asked reasons why? Makhubela)

5th Yr Architects

ARPL7000 Thesis by Architectural Thesis projects are year long, with the first half of the Gabrielle year in analysis and research, and the second half producing a design. Serrao Gabrielle focused on the public spaces around Wemmerpan. 2013 RESEARCH

Mozambican Khangleani La Rochelle has had an extra ordinary life cycle as a white Portuguese Migration Moyo & Erma ethnic enclave and over the last couple of years taken an atypical Cossa trajectory that hardly fits the traditional ethnic enclave classification. Importantly, immigrants that move into ethnic enclaves often establish a permanent presence in the chosen areas yet the Mozambican presence in La Rochelle retains forms of permanence but the individual constituents of this group remain transient and impermanent within and outside of La Rochelle.

Safety Obvious Looking at the connection between religion and violence. The assumption Katsaura is that religion has something to do with how people cope with the fear of violence in the city. Therefore Is religion a safety net in terms of fear?

Project Ariane Janse Investigation into the educational outcomes observed after the Evaluation van Rensburg Rosettenville Studio, using questionnaires to collect qualitative feedback from students who were involved in this project.

2014 Courses

2nd Yr Planners

ARPL2014 Sustainable 1. A SWOT analysis of an area of a site in Rosettenville, with a view to Urban Design recommending a “sustainable” revitalization of that site. (1. Brian 2. Within the GIS course, mapped the spatial characteristics of the Boshoff & 2. Rosettenville area. Added to this students mapped some of the Diane Long) demographics of the area. This is done in order to assist them in assessing the sustainability of the study site as a whole.

ARPL2009 Mobility The class looked at how people from Rosettenville (Informal traders, Patterns (Anisa school kids, piece job men from the park, business owners and so Desai) forth) travel in and out of the area. Also looking at how the ‘corridors of freedom’ project has not really catered to their needs.

ARPL2013 Introduction The course covered different forms of land legal issues and to Land management, comparing existing Land Use to City specified Land Use, Management then analysing against the proposed Corridors of Freedom Land Use. (Neil Klug)

ARPL2007 Development A policy analysis of the Turffontein Strategic Area Framework to explore Policy & its alignment with the National Development Plan. Processes (Amanda Williamson) Mozambican Khangleani La Rochelle has had an extra ordinary life cycle as a white Portuguese Migration Moyo & Erma ethnic enclave and over the last couple of years taken an atypical Cossa trajectory that hardly fits the traditional ethnic enclave classification. Importantly, immigrants that move into ethnic enclaves often establish a permanent presence in the chosen areas yet the Mozambican presence in La Rochelle retains forms of permanence but the individual constituents of this group remain transient and impermanent within and outside of La Rochelle.

Safety Obvious Looking at the connection between religion and violence. The assumption Katsaura is that religion has something to do with how people cope with the fear of violence in the city. Therefore Is religion a safety net in terms of fear?

Project Ariane Janse Investigation into the educational outcomes observed after the Evaluation van Rensburg Rosettenville Studio, using questionnaires to collect qualitative feedback from students who were involved in this project.

2014 Courses

2014 RESEARCH

Honours /4th Nkosilenhle Looked at shared living spaces in residential units where families share year Planning Mavuso a house or room, to understand how La Rochelle has densified, if there is research any impact on the Corridors of Freedom, and whether the City is aware of projects it and taking cognisance.

Thato Nkoane Looked at different experiences of black South African women versus migrant women in La Rochelle.

Bradley Peens Exploring the participatory processes of the Corridors of Freedom and what influence they had on the outcome.

Vanessa Are corridors of Freedom efficiently focus on Transit-Oriented Simoes Development? Case of Turffontein Development Corridor’. APPENDIX II: CALENDAR OF EVENTS

24 February 2014 School talk: Corridors of Freedom, coordinated by Rosettenville Studio

13 March 2014 Attend round table discussion hosted by Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, ‘Johannesburg’s Corridors of Freedom, Town Planning Beyond the Apartheid City’

24 March 2014 Attend Corridors of Freedom Public Meeting

9 April 2014 Study group for researchers focusing on Corridors of Freedom or the Rosettenville Area

16 April 2014 Site tour for 2nd year planning students

14 May 2014 Study group for researchers focusing on Corridors of Freedom or the Rosettenville Area

23 July 2014 Study group for researchers focusing on Corridors of Freedom or the Rosettenville Area

11 August 2014 2nd Year Architecture studio street installation and event on De Villiers Road

12 August 2014 Workshop hosted by GIZ, safe spaces

6 October 2014 Research

6 October 2014 School Talk by Tinus Kruger – organised by Rosettenville Studio. Exploring the relationship between crime and crime prevention, and the physical environment.

18 October 2014 SERI/ CUBES Workshop with residents from Rosettenville and Yeoville areas, to review and feedback on the tenants rights’ booklets produced in 2013

21 October 2014 Inside/Out street exhibition installed by photography elective students

29 October 2014 An Urban Scan: Exhibition in John Moffat by Urban Design class

ROSETTENVILLE STUDIO FINAL REPORT 2016

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