Resilient Densification Four Studies from Johannesburg

Resilient Densification Four Studies from Johannesburg Edited by: Alison Todes, Philip Harrison and Dylan Weakley South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning Acknowledgements The authors are thankful to the Department of Science and Technology, and the National Research Foundation, South Africa for funding this work, which does not necessarily represent their views. Copy Editing: Joan Fairhurst Report Design and Layout: HotHouse South Africa © 2015 University of the Witwatersrand, Gauteng City-Region Observatory Contents 1 Introduction and Research Background 3 Dylan Weakley and Costanza La Mantia 2 Densification Trends and Typologies in the City of Johannesburg 14 Miriam M. Maina 3 Bram Fischerville 38 David Gardner 4 Hillbrow 71 Hayley Gewer and Margot Rubin 5 Houghton Estate 106 Caroline Richardson and Alexandra Parker 6 North Riding 127 Hayley Gewer and Dylan Weakley Annexure 1: Terms of Reference 156 1 RESILIENT DENSIFICATION Introduction and Research Background 1 Dylan Weakley and Costanza La Mantia Report Abstract Unlike most cities in the world, over the last 20 years Johannesburg has become more dense and more compact. This reflects the increased rates of rural-urban migration from the late 1980s as urbanisation controls collapsed, but also the relative success of Johannesburg’s economy and democratic-era policies to contain urban sprawl (such as the urban development boundary). The ending of apartheid regulations allowed a release in a pent-up demand for access to large cities with much of the movement directed to the three large metropolitan cities in Gauteng. Densification in the city has occurred in both planned and unplanned ways. In line with directions in planning internationally, post-apartheid planning has placed strong emphasis on urban densification and compaction. At the same time, however, market forces (both formal and informal) have driven densification in the city, in ways that are often unforeseen and sometimes contrary to city policies. In order to plan for further development and to respond effectively to the densification that has happened, and is occurring, research into the processes and effects of densification is clearly needed. In this work we use an “urban resilience lens” to investigate four forms of residential densification in Johannesburg, using four illustrative case-studies. We explore the effects that densification is having in the city, showing how diverse, complex and contingent it often is. 2 Introduction and Research Background Research Background This research report was commissioned and undertaken by the project: Resilience Assessment for Sustainable Urban Development, located in the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning (SA&CP), in the School of Architecture and Planning (SoAP), University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). The project ran for three years and was funded by the Department of Science and Technology, administered by the National Research Foundation. The project was a partnership between Wits and the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO). Within Wits, the project team included academic researchers from SoAP and the Oliver Schreiner School of Law. Research in the project took place under five main themes, being: • Resilience and urban governance • Resilience in urban form and fabric • Resilience in urban infrastructures • Resilience of natural assets and ecological systems • Green economies for resilience This report, which falls under the theme of ‘resilience in urban form and fabric’ follows a number of research outputs, including ‘Resilience Thinking for Municipalities’ (Harrison, et al., 2014a) and ‘Transport and Urban Development: Two Studies from Johannesburg’ (Weakley & Bickford, 2015). The research benefitted from collaboration with the City of Johannesburg’s department of City Transformation and Spatial Planning, as well with the Agence Française de Développement (French Development Agency - AFD). The primary purpose of the research report is to present the four case studies on densification in Johannesburg. The cases were chosen based on a preliminary scan of densification across Johannesburg undertaken by Miriam Maina using national census data. This work is reported on in Chapter 2. The typologies developed through this preliminary work enabled us to identify the four forms of densification under study: • Densification through backyarding illustrated by Bram Fischerville on the north western edge of Soweto (Chapter 3) • Densification through increased occupancy, but with no change in external built form illustrated by Hillbrow in the inner city (Chapter 4) • Densification through subdivision and townhouse development illustrated by Houghton Estate, one of Johannesburg’s early suburbs (Chapter 5) • Densification through townhouse construction on former smallholdings illustrated by North Riding on the north western edge of the city (Chapter 6) 3 RESILIENT DENSIFICATION This introduction chapter provides an outline of the research rationale for the work, as well as a brief overview of the conceptual framework applied. The details of the conceptual framework will be published separately. We will also publish separately a comparative analysis of the case studies. What we present here is the initial scan of densification; a brief contextual account of a “resilience lens”; and, an overview of the four individual cases. 4 Introduction and Research Background Sprawl and Densification Before the advent of mechanised transportation, towns and cities developed, out of necessity, to be compact, walkable and mixed use (Gehl, 2013). For cities to be functional, all amenities needed to be accessible on foot or, for some, by carriage or on horseback. Thus, “... until the end of the 18th century, all the cities in the world – even the largest ones - were walking cities” (Angel, Parent, Civco, & Blei, 2010, p. 14). The industrial revolution brought about two major drivers of city expansion. The first was policy driven de-densification. The industrialisation of cities was in some cases accompanied by huge levels of urbanisation, overcrowding, poor living conditions and unhealthy environments (e.g. Engels, 1845). In response cities were actively decongested and spread out (Angel, Parent, Civco, & Blei, 2010). This process was made possible by the second main driver of city expansion; transportation technology. Advances in transport allowed people to travel longer distances in shorter periods of time, enabling cities to function at larger scales. While initial technologies included waterways, railways, bicycles and trams (Angel, Parent, Civco, & Blei, 2010) the most notable impact has been that of cars and motorways. Antrop (2004, p. 13) argues that “after the Second World War… generalized car use increased mobility dramatically, allowing rapid urban sprawl…”. Along with transport and de-densification policy many other factors including economic growth, continued urbanisation and private development further drove de-densification and sprawl. As with all cities in the world, South African cities and Johannesburg have a unique set of circumstances that influenced their physical development and growth. Probably most influential (certainly regarding sprawl and density) were policies and laws that enforced segregation. These laws divided the country racially, and particularly limited black Africans’ access to cities. Urban segregation was based on the notion defined by the 1922 Stallard commission that, as cities are white people’s creation, black people should only enter them to serve whites, and should leave once this service is completed (Parnell, 1990, p. 2). While segregation policies were implemented as early as the mid-17th century in Cape Town (Marback, 2009), they were most prominent in the 1900s. Early on in the century, laws were introduced that prohibited black ownership of land outside of ‘reserve areas’ which were mainly rural, and made up only 13% of the country. These were followed by pass laws of the 1920s which controlled and limited access to cities by black people. The height of segregation came after the introduction of apartheid in 1948 however with laws such as the Group Areas Act of 1950. The act allowed for forced removals of existing black, Indian and coloured communities, to racially segregated ‘dormitory townships’ on the outskirts of cities (Harrison, Todes, & Watson, 2008). These townships were largely residential settlements that forced people to travel long distances to and from work in white urban cores. One accumulative result of these exclusionary laws was suppressed urbanisation and cities that were sprawled by design. 5 RESILIENT DENSIFICATION Just as industrialisation and related urban overcrowding drove city expansion policy, the worldwide general trend towards sprawl and its reported negative impacts has promoted a policy shift towards densification and infill. Sprawl reportedly limits access to city functions and services; makes service delivery less efficient; reduces walkability, non-motorised and public transport use (Boyko & Cooper, 2011); polarises society and contributes to inequality (Turok, 2011); and has a number of negative environmental impacts, including increased per-capita carbon emissions (Jabareen, 2006). As such, urban ‘compaction’ and ‘densification’ theories have a fairly long tradition both internationally and in South Africa, often framed within the ‘compact city’ debate (Todes, 2006). The City of Johannesburg is a case in point, with all of its Integrated Development

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