Mapping Assets of the Urban Poor in Atteridgeville, Tshwane Council
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Building integrated cities: mapping assets of the urban poor in Atteridgeville, Tshwane Metropolitan Council KL Semono 25678027 Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Magister Artium et Scientiae in Urban and Regional Planning at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University Supervisor: Prof CB Schoeman November 2015 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My utmost thanks are to God for the strength and wisdom granted to me throughout my studies. Great appreciation to my mother and father for constantly supporting and encouraging me in achieving my aspirations. Thanks to Mr Mduduzi Nhlozi for availing himself for guidance and advice. My sincere gratitude to Professor C.B Schoeman for the support, clarity and guidance during my research. Thanks to Ms Willma Breytenbach for her creditable statistical expertise. Lastly, thanks to the people of the Atteridgeville community for their enthusiastic participation, honesty and commitment in engaging with me, and thanks to the officials of the City of Tshwane Municipality too for engaging with me. ii ABSTRACT The discourse on sustainable livelihoods began attracting global attention in the early 1960s. Substantial literature developed by various writers looked at the different ways in which people can guarantee access to sustainable livelihoods. Initially, the focus was given to economic ways of livelihood generation. Focus on the economic dimension of livelihoods was largely influenced by the discourse, which sought to address high poverty levels that dominated the world at the time. One of the responses by institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank was to introduce programmes such as the Structural Adjustment Program, which was a poverty relief intervention in countries that were severely affected by poverty. During this period, most if not all poverty relief interventions were done at broader regional and provincial levels. The interventions aimed for bigger and widespread impacts. In the years that followed, the discourse on livelihoods began to take a significant shift following the realisation that regional or country level interventions did not responsively address the issue of poverty. In terms of food security for example, many countries were reported to have enough quantities of food available at national level. However, this did not translate to access to food for all people at individual and household levels. While countries continued to indicate acceptable availability of food at national levels, the number of people without access to food continued to increase. Such trends began to shift to focus at micro levels. Literature on livelihoods began to look at different ways in which people and particularly the poor make their living. Substantial literature was generated from countries of the developing world, which were at the time largely affected by high levels of poverty and unemployment. During that time, complexities and nuances of the concept of livelihood were widely studied, and new lessons were learned regarding the importance of the informal sector to the economy. The literature also began to look at dimensions of poverty other than the economic dimension. These were social and political dimensions of poverty that also play a crucial role in deepening and maintaining poverty levels. Considerable studies and reports indicated that most of the people in countries of the developing world are involved in the informal sector for purposes of earning a living. More importantly, people in the informal economy are involved in a number of activities for purposes of generating income to stabilise their livelihoods. This is what Francis Owusu calls ‘multiple livelihood strategies’ which people employ to sustain their lives. iii The concept of multiple livelihood strategies is crucial in this study because it provides the premise through which to understand dynamics of informal waste recycling and ways in which the City of Tshwane can support and improve working conditions of the informal waste recyclers. Key words: Sustainable livelihoods Assets Vulnerability Informal economy Informal trading Waste recycling. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ............................. 1 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Problem statement: triple axis of urban poverty, unemployment and inequality ............ 3 1.2. Research question ................................................................................................................... 5 1.2.1. Sub-questions ................................................................................................................... 5 1.3. Aims and objectives of the study ........................................................................................... 5 1.4. Basic hypothesis in the study ................................................................................................. 6 1.4.1. Access to assets and multiple livelihood strategies .................................................... 6 1.4.2. Making a living with available resources....................................................................... 7 1.5. Method of investigation ........................................................................................................... 7 1.5.1. Literature study ................................................................................................................. 7 1.5.2. Proposed design ............................................................................................................... 8 1.5.3. Data acquisition methods ................................................................................................ 8 a) Semi-structure questionnaire.............................................................................................. 8 b) Purposive Sampling ............................................................................................................. 9 c) Participant observation ........................................................................................................ 9 d) Focus groups ........................................................................................................................ 9 1.5.4. Data processing ................................................................................................................ 9 1.5.5. Coding of data ............................................................................................................... 9 1.5.6. Research methodology: Advantages and disadvantages………………….……10 1.6. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………12 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW – EMBEDDING MULTIPLE LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES IN THEORY .............................................................................................................. 13 2. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 13 2.1. Fundamental concepts in the study ................................................................................. 16 2.1.1. Urban poverty ............................................................................................................. 16 2.1.2. Vulnerability ................................................................................................................. 18 2.1.3. Assets ........................................................................................................................... 20 2.1.4. Livelihoods ................................................................................................................... 22 2.1.5. Multiple livelihood strategies ..................................................................................... 23 2.1.6. Sustainable livelihoods .............................................................................................. 24 2.2. Livelihoods and space ....................................................................................................... 29 v 2.3. Fundamental theories in the study .................................................................................. 31 2.3.1. Systems theory ........................................................................................................... 31 2.3.2. Complex theory ........................................................................................................... 32 2.3.3. Participatory planning theory .................................................................................... 33 2.3.4. Collaborative planning theory ................................................................................... 35 2.3.5. Communicative rationality ......................................................................................... 36 2.4. Theoretical and conceptual viewpoints from various authors ..................................... 38 2.5. Concluding remarks ........................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER THREE: POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK RELATING TO LIVELIHOODS .................................................................................................................................... 42 3. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 43 3.1. International discourse