Elusive discomforts

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Elusive Discomforts “Though we are creatures inclined to squabble, kill, steal and lie, the street reminds us that we can occasionally master our baser impulses and turn a waste land, where for centuries wolves howled, into a monument of civilisation.”

Allain de Botton Pg 178

Driving from Cape Town International Airport to the city centre, one is met with a stark contrast: the remnants of Apartheid planning in South Africa have fuelled rapid growth of informal shantytowns, while the lush central business district remains a vestige of decadent nostalgia for Europe. It is without question that the layered histories of both the pre-union era and Apartheid city planning have laid their mark on the city, dividing it by race, class and ideology.

To the frustration of spatial practitioners, little has changed. The discourse on the transformation of South African cities is rooted in engaging constant border disputes, both physical and unseen, however it is this second dynamic, the unseen, which is arguably the more challenging issue the city faces.

Enforced through the threat of ‘the other’, the unknown, change, entitlement and unwanted compromise, it goes by many names yet remains intangible and it is this underlying phenomenon of the human condition that is not unique to

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by Michael de Beer in collaboration with Jonny Miller

the Apartheid city but by virtue a global dispute.

Kevin Lynch advocates that borders offer legibility to the city, yet, as in the Apartheid city, they also manifest in unseen ways that are underpinned by culture values, identities and desires. Borders dissect the city and form a quasi-hyper reality, where communities continually jostle for space.

Reiterating Jane Jacobs, borders are a continual focus in spatial practice. Yet, the issue is as much spatial as it is social.

Alain de Bottom, in his seminal work ‘The Architecture of Happiness’, emphasises that, “Bad architecture is in the end as much a failure of psychology as of design.” (pg 248) For many this dualism between physicality and socio-psyche is daunting. As spatial practitioners, we are faced with it everyday and everywhere but borders often remain unnoticed, blending into familiarity.

The camouflage of normality left untreated manifests into animosity and social strife, often leaving many to wonder what exactly went wrong.

Go into any city’s history and one will find a nuanced narrative of ‘the other’, which manifests spatially. Be it political, religious, cultural, racial or economic; communities of varying interests and circumstances often coagulate. We are intuitively social creatures and our most instinctive impulses are to protect our social groups. For the Neanderthal this was bad news, and for cities and nations it can be equally destructive. If this is the case, it positions a serious problem for spatial practice world-wide. On the one hand, the mantra of integration is professed as a central call to action, while counter intuitively we wish to celebrate diversity. South Africa is the epicentre of this on-going debate, calling for a “rainbow nation” in the “postapartheid” city. A poignant lesson learnt is that change happens slowly.

Claire Janisch, a bio-mimicry specialist in Cape Town, advocates that as spatial practitioners we must change the way we work; moving away from a situation of solving problems as they arise, to building collective visions for what we are working towards. In the case of borders, a twofold approach is necessary; the first is to question normality and uncover the unseen barriers that define the city, while the second is developing a vision for what an integrated and diverse city may look like.

In the post-apartheid city, spatial practitioners and urban advocacy groups have been urging for neighbourhoods that cater for diverse income groups. Pressure has been mounting for City authorities to meet these demands, planning for low income housing in the city centre

of Cape Town. In doing so, calling for variety and diversity in the city to draw on the opportunities that space presents in addressing social-inequality, offering economic upliftment and catering for diverse cultural groups. These efforts, however, are piecemeal, lack a unified vision for the city and most importantly neglect the unseen border, the psyche of space and the public domain. In doing so they fail to recognise and/or address, the skeleton in the closet, the social implications of the rapid growth of informal settlement on the fringes of the city. The plans which do engage in resolving these issues continue to apply old top-down methodologies that actively build monotonous satellite ghettos to an urban core – an hour commute away.

The phycological implication – Apartheid is still alive and well, although no longer enforced on racial grounds but economic.

A major stumbling block is psychological as landmarks, statues, and city infrastructure, for many, remain as reminders of intolerance, while for others continue to reflect cultural identity. Commonplace elements such as walls, doors, paving, lighting, ect. - hold deep and meaningful narratives on society. Where informality is met with 30-meter-tall spotlights, other areas have a nuanced network of street and public space lighting, which is warm in colour and regularly spaced. The blatant contrast affects the psyche of residents profoundly, highlighting a double standard.

Cementing a notion of the other, which suggests that the city core, is indeed not for them to enjoy but rather a place of labour where one enables a better quality of life for others. If the future of South Africa is

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to move forward, spatial practitioners will need to reflect on the psyche of spaces.

These unseen but ever-present social constructs must be questioned in order to form a collective future for the city.

The extreme and turbulent case of the post-apartheid city serves as a stark reminder to all cities worldwide that unseen borders are critical to the vitality of our landscapes. Psyche is critical to how cities are understood and inhabited. By implication it calls for spatial practitioners to be psychiatrists of space, requiring introspection to challenge the preconceived notions that one has about oneself, society as well as what defines a “well designed environment”. If our landscapes and cities are to move forward and overcome the many pressing challenges they face, we need not only build collective visions, but ultimately redefine the discipline of spatial practice itself. •

References

De Botton, Alain (2006) The Architecture of Happiness.

Penguin Books Jacobs, Jane (1961) The Death and Life of Great American

Photos by Jonny Miller who has embarkered on documenting UNEQUAL urban conditions both in South Africa and internationally. http://unequalscenes.com/projects 1. Kya Sands / Bloubosrand 2. Masiphumelele / Lake Michelle 3. Vusimusi / Mooifontein 5