Reimagining The Social Arena: An Implementation Strategy For The Vulnerable Spaces Of Woodstock by richardward94

REIMAGINING THE SOCIAL ARENA Richard Ward 1

REIMAGENING THE SOCIAL ARENA AN IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY FOR THE VULNERABLE SPACES OF WOODSTOCK

Richard Ward

Supervisor: Dr. Felipe Hernรกndez

Design Supervisors: Ingrid Schrรถder and Aram Mooradian

Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge Essay 4: Project Implementation, submitted 9th October 2018

An essay submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the MPhil Examination in Architecture & Urban Design (2017-2019)

Word Count: 5517

Introduction & The Site

Project & Construction

Typology & Location

The Planning Context

Potential Procurement & Planning Route

Conclusion

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION & THE SITE INTRODUCTION Cape Town’s urban fabric is currently undergoing vast changes in response to its struggling economy, segregated spatial layout and over-stretched transport infrastructure. The city’s strategy to densify and develop inner-city areas to cope with this has relied on private investment and as a result driven up living costs, forcing residents and small businesses to relocate. The project’s aim is to reinvent the spaces which small businesses and public functions occupy. It seeks to reimagine through a series of design interventions in the Woodstock area how the existing social and public places such as hairdressers can be expanded and developed whilst allowing for private development. In short, designing spaces that sustain the existing whilst encouraging the new, thereby providing a platform for smaller businesses to expand and succeed in an area with increasing rents and economic pressures. In order to address this aim, the reimagining of the streetscape and the social arena is necessary. This essay will investigate a number of aspects concerning Cape Town’s urban fabric and how the project will sit within this built environment. This will be achieved through exploring how apartheid planning strategies and spatial visions were implemented and how today’s planners are trying to recover from these earlier social interventions and, by so doing, have brought in unexpected spatial changes to some of Cape Town’s areas. The essay will then begin to explore how the project intends to address these changes through its construction, materiality and typology. The essay concludes by suggesting a proposed planning route with regard to how the project’s buildings may be constructed in accordance with Cape Town’s current planning and design frameworks.

THE SITE: CAPE TOWN The city centre, also known as the city bowl, is undergoing vast changes in demographics currently. Many parts of the city bowl such as The Bo-Kaap and Woodstock are currently experiencing a dramatic rise in the cost of living, shifting the areasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; demographics from people in the lower-income bracket to the higher, leaving the city centre with not only a change in its economic demographics but also a change in its social metabolism and community based structures. Cape Townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s segregated spatial condition is the product of apartheid planning laws brought in during the 1950â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s under the National Party.

1. Image shows the disparity between household income across the city. Note the similarity between income today and the racial apartheid layout.

2. This map illustrates the group area proposals made to the Land Tenure Advisory Board.

The National Party (NP), which governed South Africa, began to implement Apartheid in 1948. The NP’s ideology of racially segregating its citizens did not differ enormously from previous parties’ segregationist tactics however it did begin to create laws and policies that concreted racial segregation. In 1950 the Group Areas Act (GAA) was introduced allowing the government to declare any part of the city a GAA area. This gave the NP the ability to legally remove people from their homes and demolish neighbourhoods. The effect this had was a displacement of “hundreds of thousands of people; breaking up families, friends, and communities” (South African History Online 2017).

In 1966 the area once known as District 6 was declared a ‘white’ area under the GAA. 60,000 predominantly coloured and Indian people, with smaller groups of white and black people were forcefully removed. The area is now a vast area of empty space, previous residents having been relocated to the area that is now known as the Cape Flats. This illustrates how the divisions, which these policies created, are still seen clearly throughout the city, with the vast majority of the city’s black and coloured residents living in the city’s peripheries.

District 6

3. Image shows the distance from District 6 to the Cape Flats illustrating how drastic the removals were.

Cape Flats

4. This map shows the current racial divisions across Cape Town based on the 2011 Census.

Cape Town’s socio economic systems are inextricably linked with these racial divisions creating a scenario where a large number of the city’s social arenas do not cut across the city’s demographics. Ash Amin writes about what is needed to help develop a truly “intercultural society”; it requires spaces in which “everyday lived experiences and local negotiations of difference” are allowed to become manifest. Amin calls these spaces “microcultures of place”. In Cape Town these “microcultures of place” often offer themselves up as small businesses such as hairdressers. It is the pricing out of these small businesses that results in the removal of social space therefore not allowing for a spatial recovery from apartheid and perpetuating existing social divisions.

Atlantic Ocean

Table Bay

False Bay

5. Site location within the Cape Peninsula City Bowl

6. Site location within the City Bowl Victoria / Sir Lowry Road Woodstock / District 6

WOODSTOCK AS THE SOCIAL ARENA Woodstock is an urban area that is adjacent to what was once District 6. Due to the neighbourhood falling outside of the GAA, it was fortunately not subject to the same planning policies as District 6 and remained one of Cape Town’s racially mixed neighbourhoods. Woodstock, like District 6 has a mixed population that has given rise to one of Cape Town’s few social arenas which has a mixed demographic. Woodstock is situated along three major directional roads that run from the east to the west: Nelson Mandela Boulevard, Victoria Road and Albert Road. These roads bring people from the eastern suburbs where the majority of the city’s residents are located towards the Central Business District (CBD) in the west, which holds 24.5% of the city’s business turnover (Central City Improvement District 2012), thereby supplying Woodstock with a constant stream of people moving through the area.

7. The three major directional roads running through Woodstock.

8. Figure shows the employment desnity and residential denisty across the city. Note how they are almost opposite, illustrating the need for an increase in inner-city housing.

In addition Woodstock is positioned between the slopes of Table Mountain and the city’s industrial foreshore. This latter area consists of huge swathes of land given over to rail and industrial infrastructure leaving very little room for expansion or development. To the South are the slopes of Table Mountain, which are outlined as ‘Critical Natural Assets’ (City of Cape Town 2018) and therefore cannot be built on. This leaves a socially and racially mixed area, which now, due to planning and physical constraints, is unable to expand and allow for more of the city’s residents to engage in the social arena it provides.

WOODSTOCK CHANGING The Woodstock area is currently undergoing changes due to what is commonly termed ‘gentrification’ (Joseph 2014). This means the pricing out of long-time residents and small businesses, forcing them to relocate to the city’s peripheries. These older businesses in Woodstock are “unable to afford increased rents demanded by existing and new landlords” and are “forced to close their doors.” (Joseph 2014). The neighbourhood’s close proximity to the city centre, effective transport infrastructure and good amenities creates a desirable place to live for people who want slightly cheaper housing. In Woodstock “between 2004 and 2010, Woodstock’s average house sale price rose from ZAR 391,723 to ZAR 715,022” (Fleming 2017) This doubling of cost underlines how aggressive the price increase is.

9. Typical 2 bedroom house located along Albert Road.

10. The Ironworks Development, a luxury mixed use development which does not provide space for any small business.

11. The Woodstock Quater is another luxury development located on Victoria Road.

DENSIFICATION The majority of Woodstock’s residences consist of 1-3 storey detached and semi-detached houses, some of which are a century old. The main roads consist of a mixture of 1-10 storey buildings some of which are mixed use and others used primarily for business, however, even these are typically within the 1-2 storey margin. This low density in housing and space for businesses works in a detrimental way towards the development of the area as a mixed social arena. There are not enough spaces for long-time residents and businesses to support development in the area while sustaining the existing population. The density of one of Woodstock’s typical streets, Mountain Road, is 69 dwelling units per Hectare (net) in comparison to the old Heygate Estate in London, a parallel area in terms of diversity, is 120 dwelling units per hectare (net). This shows the lack in the area’s density for a neighbourhood 3km away from the CBD. The locations the city is suggesting for the residents to move to are miles from their homes and the city centre; the city claims that “only transitional housing in Wolwerivier and Blikkiesdorp is available” (Osborne 2018). In many ways the process evokes memories of the apartheid planning strategies previously mentioned where many of Cape Town’s residents were relocated to the Cape Flats. 12. Image of the suggested transitional housing in Blikkiesdorp. Blikkiesdorp is over 10 miles away from Woodstock.

All of this seems contradictory with what Catherine Stone, the director of Spatial Planning and Urban Design of the municipality, noted in 2012 regarding the cities densification strategy: “Cape Town primarily aims to achieve the social and societal effects that are expected to result from increased density: the possibilities offered by mixed use, a mixture of income brackets and ethnic groups” (Allys 2018). The correlation between low densities and the area’s inability to cope with private development begins to outline the importance of urban fabric as a tool that could be utilised to help develop Woodstock. This development could in turn begin to combat Cape Town’s wider segregated social structure. The need for a method of expansion and densification therefore becomes clear, which should also be able to accommodate the existing community while simultaneously allowing for private development and facilitating an increase in population, thereby producing increased social cohesion in the city.

PROJECT & CONSTRUCTION PROJECT AIM The project’s aim is to reinvent the social spaces which small businesses and public places occupy. Through the reimagining of social and public space, the removal of long term residents and businesses from Woodstock can be stopped. The redesigning of the streetscape is necessary to accommodate for investment whilst allowing for the existing to thrive. To understand how this might be achieved a more detailed investigation into the project’s intentions, construction and use of materials is needed.

PROJECT’S INTENTION Developments in Woodstock that cater for the higher income bracket can be seen all along the major directional roads which run through the area, claiming large pieces of land and excluding smaller businesses.

13. Investigative model of a reimagined streetscape that tries to overcome spatial boundaries such as road infrastructure.

These new developments are the product of the city’s development framework, which is trying to attract private investment into the area. The Urban Development Zone (UDZ) tax strategy is part of this and is provided by the South African Revenue Service (SARS); it is a tax incentive given to developers building on over 1000 sq. meters. The tax incentive has succeeded in attracting developments, many of which are large mixed-use office and residential developments because “large tenants who can come in and essentially guarantee that your project is going to be successful” (Porter 1989). If Woodstock’s zoning scheme is overlaid with the UDZ tax strategy a direct correlation can be seen between the UDZ zone and what is zoned as Mixed Use 2 (MU2).

14. The Woodstock Quater is one of the MU2 developments that sit within the UDZ tax strategy. It is a building that does not provide space for small local businesses or people.

15. The map indicates where the UDZ tax strategy is around Woodstock

16. The Blue indicates where MU2 buildings are zoned for in Woodstock

17. An overlay of the UDZ and MU2 illustrating how they both follow the same outline.

The tax incentive idea does succeed in encouraging needed development, however, the effects that the scale and function the MU2 developments have on the smaller business needs to be addressed. In order to provide premises for the businesses, which typically play host to the social functions that are at risk, it is necessary to create a building that can adapt to their needs. I propose creating premises for these smaller businesses, thereby developing a series of spaces for the public and not the private. 18. Exploration into an arrangement of private, public and commercial space utilising a grid layout.

P R I VAT E S P A C E

P U B L I C S P A C E

S M A L L BUSINESS

G R I D L AYOU T

The project therefore works with sites that could be seen as unconventional and undesirable to many of the larger and higher-end projects that are currently being built in Woodstock. These sites will be located along the Woodstock and District 6 portion of Victoria Road in direct response to the aggres¬sive gentrification of the area. The three spatial conditions I have identified are typical when trying to densify an inner-city area such Victoria Road in Woodstock. The three sites I have chosen offer different the spatial conditions: Over, On and Under.

Over a structure which can be placed on top of the existing and is an extension upwards on the urban fabric. On a structure that positions itself in-between buildings and operates on street level. Under a structure that places itself under the transport infrastructure once used to help divide neighbourhoods during apartheid, such as, flyovers and train lines.

While the initial aim is to develop three such niche spac¬es (over, on and under) in Woodstock, the long-term aim is to develop a network of structures that will begin to reconfigure and restructure public space in Cape Town’s suburbs. This would ensure that the essential public space provided by small businesses have premises that can be used to compete with the larger residential and retail developments, thereby helping to reverse Cape Town’s segregationist layout.

19. Diagrams illutsrate the different spatial conditions which are used to densify.

O N

U N D E R

CONSTRUCTION OF PROJECT One of Cape Town’s pressing issues is the high unemployment rate and the effect it has on the city’s citizens. Cape Town’s unemployment rate sits at 23.9% (Stats SA 2018)in comparison to London’s, which sits at 4.9% (Rozario 2017) these figures justify the use of labour intensive construction methods to increase employment. The project would take an approach similar to that of Tatiana Bilbao who in an interview speaks about how her practice uses “Raw materials which is what we have available which is part of the local economy and we understand that it is very good when it is hard labour intensive because people need jobs.”(1.18) (PLANE—SITE 2017). The project therefore rejects the use of prefabricated elements and focuses on the use of locally sourced materials that require craftsmanship and skill to erect so that the construction benefits the local population by providing jobs and the possibility of learning new skills.

20. Social Housing in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, by Tatiana Bilbao

MATERIALS Cape Town is currently experiencing a severe drought and with the notion of ‘Day Zero’, the day the taps run dry, coming closer it is now important to consider the impact that construction has on water consumption. With this in mind the construction of the project will try to use as little concrete as possible due to its heavy water usage requirement, therefore brickwork might be a more suitable material. Cape Town is situated in the Western Cape, an area of South Africa that has an abundance of clay suitable for high quality clay bricks. As a result of the abundance of clay in the area, the majority of existing buildings in Woodstock are built from clay brick, allowing the project to not only fulfill a role regarding employment but to also situate itself discreetly among Woodstock’s clay brick buildings.

21. Example of the use of labour intensive clay brickwork in Cape Town.

22. Day Trading D A Y

T R A D I N G

23. Recreation E V E N I N G

R E C R E A T I O N

24. Late night hair care

L A T E N I G H T

H A I R C A R E

TYPOLOGY

LOCATION

NETWORK OF STRUCTURES One of the project’s aims is to develop a network of structures that together can begin to influence the city on a large scale. Each structure will have to have the ability to adapt to numerous new functions so that small businesses can develop and manoeuvre with ease in the space provided. A successful precedent is the Bree Street Taxi Rank in Johannesburg, which is written about by Mpho Matsipa in her essay “Woza! Sweetheart! On braiding epistemologies on Bree Street.”

25. Diagram of the typology found by the Bree Street taxi rank , Johannesburg.

The structure plays host to numerous small businesses and is located in the heart of Johannesburg. The spatial and social conditions that it demonstrates offer a valuable insight into how a structure, which is able to adapt to new functions easily, might be constructed. What was “once an open-plan ground floor expanse” has now been “rescaled in order to accommodate a new density and diversity of retail activities of varying sizes” (Matsipa 2017). This repurposing of space to accommodate numerous functions can already be seen in Woodstock on a smaller scale. Classic Barber, a barber shop on Victoria Road is home to hair care, hair product sales, cash for gold and cellphone repairs and services. The inhabitation of these smaller structures in Woodstock however does not allow for the expansion of the social and economic benefits of what is seen in the Bree Street Taxi Rank. Suzanne Hall writes of “‘mutualisms’: a reciprocally beneficial coexistence between different entities.” (Hall 2015). This beneficial coexistence is apparent in the Bree Street Taxi Rank in which numerous different cultural, social and business spaces can interact and intersect benefitting each other economically and socially. It is the ability to expand and develop these spaces that should be an objective in all the areas of the city where these conditions are found.

26. Photograh o f the Classic Barber Shop in Woodstock. Note the section for goods is to the rear while the barber remains at the front.

27. Sketch showing layout of barbers and where the different functions are located.

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY: The project envisages spatial conditions that build above the existing (Over), in empty spaces at ground level (On) and in spaces such as flyovers and underpasses (Under) and are what one expects to encounter when attempting to develop and expand urban systems in inner-city areas. As such the network of structures located in Woodstock tries to engage three spatial conditions that appear in most of Cape Town’s urban areas.

Over: 218 Sir Lowry Road, on top of an existing structure, erf 8123, 300 M2 On: 28, Victoria Road, an open plot currently inhabited by infor¬mal housing, erf 12126 + 12161, 1850 M2 Under: Underneath the Nelson Mandela Blvd Flyover, erf 8003, 20000 M2 dw

The network of structures will attempt to be highly accessible for Woodstock’s 12,656 residents (City of Cape Town 2011) as the local population will comprise a large portion of the customer mix. This is achieved through the distribution of structures so that the developments are within walking distance of a large proportion of Woodstock’s residences. This is accompanied by the developments’ proximity to rail and taxi services and so will provide a valuable source of customers.

28. Locations shown in Woodstock.

On: 28, Victoria Road

Over: 218, Sir Lowry Road

Under: Nelson Mandela Flyover

THE STREET AS SOCIAL SPACE Many of the areas around Cape Town such as the Bo-Kaap, Wynberg, Salt River and Woodstock, use the street and the shops as areas for social and community based interactions. People utilise the street space as an extension of their homes and businesses. Small businesses such as hairdressers become the locations for social and cultural interaction. Uytenbogaardt writes about Wynberg’s streets, a nearby suburb, as “more than just movement channel. It is also a social space where people can meet and communicate. Similarly the shops are not only outlets for trading. They are also places of interaction and this function is reflected in the contribution which they make to the public space” (Uytenbogaardt 1977). It is important to factor in the notion of the streetscape and how it provides an extension space to many small businesses and people’s homes. The project’s intention to use a network of structures rather than a singular intervention is heavily informed by the idea of the street as a social space. The project needs to be able to service many people across multiple points in Woodstock so that it can diversify the streets, as such the following argument outlines how the street must be carefully considered so that the project can utilise it as a networking system and social space.

29. Diagram showing how the collonade is used as an extension of people’s businesses and homes.

30. Photograph of collonade being used as display space in Woodstock.

THE PLANNING CONTEXT CAPE TOWN’S SPATIAL FRAMEWORK Cape Town sits under the Cape Town Municipal Spatial Development Framework (CTMSDF) that covers Cape Town and its outlying areas. The framework is a spatial interpretation of the city’s Integrated Development Plan; it outlines how after years of “bleak national economic performance” and “unsustainable operational costs” from servicing the city’s poor peripheries there is a need for urban transformation that focuses on the urban core. The framework proposes that with the city’s fiscal constraints the inner core will be prioritised for development, this will include densification and an increase in development around transport nodes and located growth nodes. In principle, this will manifest itself spatially as transit orientated growth corridors that connect growing nodes with lagging nodes helping to develop numerous parts of the city. Around these growth corridors there will be a focus on diversification and densification in which there will be a greater number of non-residential and residential mixed-use buildings with an “increased use of space, both vertically and horizontally” (City of Cape Town 2018).

LACK OF DIVERISTY This in theory is a suitable framework to adopt for a city that needs to densify and diversify, it addresses the need for increased development in the city centre and attempts to tackle transport infrastructural issues by developing around transport nodes and corridors. My criticism of this framework is however not regarding its mission but rather its proposed implementation. Jane Jacobs writes of the role of zoning in relation to the need to diversify the street in The Death and The Life of Great American Cities: The purpose of zoning for deliberate diversity should not be to freeze conditions and uses as they stand. That would be death. Rather, the point is to insure that changes or replacements, as they do occur, cannot be overwhelmingly of one kind (Jacobs 1961). Jacob’s argument that zoning should try to avoid homogenising neighbourhoods questions whether Cape Town’s zoning scheme is valid. The zoning scheme for Woodstock has outlined 4km of Victoria Road and Albert Road as ‘mixed use 2’ buildings creating the same spatial condition for the whole street thereby promoting conformity in the area rather than diversity.

31. Photograph of Victoria Road, Woodstock.

CURRENT PLANNING STRATEGY The CTMSDF proposes for Cape Town’s inner-city areas there should be a “significant and concentrated development in terms of scale, location, impact, diversity and agglomeration of functions” (City of Cape Town 2018). This diversity of functions helps to provide the diversity that the public needs, however, it is the Table Bay District Plan that controls the changes at a district level. It is the implementation at a district level where the vision is falling short in regards to benefitting the public. The planning route and the zoning needs to be addressed at a district level for the city to truly succeed spatially. The council would require the project to undergo a series of stages to obtain planning consent from the city. 32. Figure shows planning consent stages.

The planning strategy requires public consultations at the third stage after the original proposal has been submitted to the council. This method addresses the need to consult the public however perhaps leaves it too late on in the process as ideally public bodies would be addressed alongside project development.

PUBLIC BODIES AND LOCAL GROUPS There are a series of public bodies that the project would ideally work with during its early development. However the area however as a result of apartheid is lacking in a community development sector and therefore the leading community groups are typically NGOs, which help mobilize the residents in the area to open dialogue with local government. These include Development Action Group (DAG), Reclaim The City, Future Cape Town, Woodstock Community Outreach Forum and Open Streets. The concerns outlined by most of these public groups revolve around the gentrification of the area and the removal of long-term residents to the outlying areas of the city. The local groups visions are not for economic profit and development but rather social and community development and preservation. This sets up what is potentially a good source of information regarding concerns of residents that in turn can develop the projects public functions more in-tune with the publicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desires.

33. Photograph of Victoria Road, Woodstock. Note the construction of The Iron Works (right) and the Woodstock Quarter (left).

PRIVATE BODIES Despite the effects of the NGOs, a major cause for Woodstockâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s change is currently how private development is being handled. There are a number of private developers who are operating in the area. These large scale developers focus on the redevelopment of the area through private investment and include: Dogon Group (1 on Albert), Signatura Property Group (Biscuit Mill), Land Equity Group (The Iron Works), Swish Property Group (The Woodstock Quarter) as well as smaller private developers who are working with the city council to develop ten housing sites. The vision of private development in the area focuses on profit, which in many ways has a positive effect on the local economy. The vision is sustained by a premium that people will pay to be in Woodstock and, as a result, encourages a large amount of investment that can help bring more money into the economy, creating safer streets and increasing the local population. This in theory is a very successful model, however, to ensure that diversity is in place within Cape Townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s districts it is important to question to what extent the local planning scheme takes into consideration a diverse set of functions and spaces. Without this diversity the public spaces which, so many small businesses supply, will become unsuccessful.

THE PROJECT’S ROLE AMONG THE CITY, THE PUBLIC AND THE PRIVATE The development of the project will try to situate itself among the city’s vision for the area with regards to diversity and density, the local activist and civic groups’ vision of developing social and communal functions and the private companies’ ability to bring large amounts of money into the area. Therefore, I propose that as the project undergoes initial planning stages it does not begin with pre-application consultation but rather the third stage of the process, public participation. This would include a series of public consultations and interviews in which private developers were encouraged to participate. This strategy would develop a body of research that could address more accurately what a necessary response should be. In short, I propose to reverse the first 3 stages of planning so that a proposal can be put forward that the public and the private have both engaged with and are familiar with, creating a more adaptive route for development in sensitive areas like Woodstock. Given the beaurocratic nature of the existing council planning strategy, however, such an inversion might have to focus upon informal meetings that would, in turn, develop into the formal stage 3 process.

POTENTIAL PROCUREMENT AND PLANNING ROUTE PLANNING ROUTE The reason this project is necessary is due to the immense social and economic changes the City of Cape Town is undergoing in relation to trying to encourage development in inner city areas whilst overcoming segregated city structures due to previous apartheid planning laws. This balance creates an opportunity to utilise a private and public partnership for the development, in which land can be secured by the City of Cape Town and then built on by a private developer. The planning route and procurement route will take on a similar stance as some of the affordable housing projects that are on going in the Woodstock area. This is a scheme in which 10 parcels of council owned land will be made available for private developers to build on as long as they provide affordable, social or transitional housing, allowing for the developer to profit and the council to fulfil a social role.

WOODSTOCK AND SALT RIVER PRECINCT AFFORDABLE HOUSING SITE FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

SITES AVAILABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT AS AFFORDABLE HOUSING

STRAND ST NEW MARKET

SITES TO BE DEVELOPED FOR TRANSITIONAL HOUSING

SITES ALREADY ALLOCATED TO SOCIAL HOUSING INSTITUTIONS

STRAND

ER RD

ST BROMWE

LL ST

ALBE

RT RD

N RD

N AN

PINE

IN ST

RIA RD ER

JAM

EARL

RIV

EL D

ZONNEBLOEM

VIC

RIA

UPPER COVE

NTRY RD

ST DE W AAL

MOUNTAIN RD

VICTO

CALV

QUEEN S RD

Y UR

PIC

WALMER ESTATE

UPPER CANTERBURY STREET

NEW MARKET STREET

FRUIT & VEG

PINE ROAD

DILLON LANE

WOODSTOCK HOSPITAL PARK

JAMES STREET

WOODSTOCK HOSPITAL SITE

PICKWICK ROAD

SALT RIVER MARKET

REKK

ORT

34. Figure shows locations of the planned affordable housing schemes in Woodstock.

THE SITES The project will attempt to develop on numerous sites, as the scale of the project needs to address the area as a whole. As a pilot scheme to understand whether the project is a successful model, three sites will be utilised in Woodstock. The three sites I have located are outlined in further detail below regarding their zoning laws and valuations and how the procurement of each site would be undertaken.

35. 28, Victoria Road

36. 218, Sir Lowry Road

37. Nelson Mandela Flyover

Over: 218 Sir Lowry Road, on top of an existing structure, erf 8123, 300 M2 This plot (8123) is zoned by the council as Mixed Use 2 (MU2) allowing for a build height of 25m above street level. The plot is currently occupied by Think Living, a furniture and fabric store. The site is currently undergoing a demolition application by a private developer that will be granted if a heritage report and views of proposal are agreeable to the council. The site is valued between 1 and 1.5 million Rand (52,000 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 70,000 pound sterling). The council in this situation would not purchase the land from the private developer but would consider the fact that the developer wants to demolish the existing building to develop a structure that will ensure to return a profit. However, with the development allowed up to 25m above street level and the maximum floor area being 4 x land area a deal could be brokered in which the developer was allowed to go beyond these laws if they fulfill the social role of providing space for local small businesses.

38. Site Location

218 Sir Lowry Road

Under: Underneath the Nelson Mandela Blvd Flyover, erf 8003, 20000 M2 dw The land is owned by the council and is zoned as public open space 2 (OS2), public open space and environmental conservation use being its primary use. This zoning is important as it immediately places the land in the public sphere, something which the other two sites do not have zoning for. The site, even though is deemed as public open space, is only used as a pedestrian route underneath the flyover and as parking for nearby businesses. The site’s value is therefore difficult to determine as it is not deemed land that can be developed for profit and the flyover’s structure complicates a potential building project. Therefore it would be more viable if, in the initial phases of the project the local council undertook the development of the site predominantly with some help from private developers regarding the costs of construction. The zoning consent uses however include “environmental facilities, cultural and social ceremonies, informal trading, harvesting of natural resources” (TDA Cape Town 2015). This opens a route to establish a more permanent structure through the use of harvesting natural resources and informal trading.

39. Site Location

Nelson Mandela Blvd Flyover

On: 28, Victoria Road, an open plot currently inhabited by inforÂŹmal housing, erf 12126 + 12161, 1850 M2 Both plots 12126 and 12161 are council owned but have two different zoning laws. The plot facing the street (12126) is zoned for general business allowing for multiple functions and with a build height of 25m. The plot to the rear (12161) is zoned as General Residential 4 (GR4) allowing for multiple types of housing with a build height of 24m. The plot is currently valued at 5,800,000 Rand (297,000 pound sterling). The plots are currently owned by the council, which simplifies the process of using the land to fulfill a social role. The complication on the site is that it has become home to a small community whose dwellings are considered informal. The people who live there have done so for years and many are residents of the area who have been priced out of their homes. The councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current strategy is to remove these people to transitional housing in the Cape Flats and then develop a mixed-use structure on the plot. The plot therefore provides an opportunity to develop accommodation for the existing residents. This would preferably be undertaken in a system in a partnership between the council and a private developer, which could help to develop a more adaptive mixed-use structure that could accommodate small businesses, commercial space and the existing residents. 40. Site Location

28, Victoria Road

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING THE BUILD Cape Townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s planning strategies at a district level are failing to help create a more diverse city, it is here where the architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role becomes more apparent as it is through the creation and early stages of a project where change can be implemented. The architect can help to influence the council and secure space for public purpose through construction and design methods. In this instance the project will undergo 3 phases of construction.

Phase 1 The sites would be identified followed by ground works and water infrastructure constructed on site. Phase 2 Spaces for small businesses which use water such as laundrettes and hair care businesses are created, which could have increased custom due to their proximity to water collection. Phase 3 If footfall and activity have increased to a successful level the development expands to accommodate new small businesses creating a larger mixed-use building.

City of Cape Town identifies need for an increase in social space. Public Consultation Process

Architect works as ambassador between the city and public bodies in early stages to understrand what is needed.

Architect is employed by the City of Cape Town to locate sites.

Identificaiton of sites Sites are developed for harvesting natural resources, immediately securing the land for the public.

City of Cape Town finances the project in partnership with private developers.

Water consuming businesses such as hairdressers and laundrettes introduced on the site. These provide asocial function. Increase in activity brings in more small business. Their rent is subsidised by the city.

Private developer is able to develop above structures once social space is developed.

Finished development

41. Graph shows proposed building route

The developmentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; increase in footfall and social activity would create a more desirable space for other small businesses to operate out of. This would result in a series of mixed use developments throughout the city that are providing space for small businesses, which would otherwise have been pushed out and relocated. The initial stages are orientated around the securing of land for public function and an attempt to increase footfall so that business becomes more successful. A way of ensuring that the site provides this public function and an increase in pedestrian activity is through harvesting of natural resources, in particular water. The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growing need for water points would help in securing plots for the public realm and not the private. The water crisis in Cape Town and the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heavy reliance on dam water is a major concern for the future. The lack of water-points around the city which utilise water recycling and rain water collection is an issue which needs to be addressed to ensure that even in the case of the dams drying up (day zero) there is still access to places with potable water and grey water. This is a potential avenue because it is a way of providing spaces, which are both attractive to developers and also secure from gentrification.

C O N C L U S I O N In conclusion, in response to the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aim, the design has tried to reinvent spaces that are for small businesses, public interaction and culturally important space, so that private investment can continue in the area and ensure that Cape Town becomes a more diverse city. It has also become apparent that The City of Cape Townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision presented in their spatial framework, which promotes diversity and densification across the city, is not implemented at a district level. Therefore, there is a need for a consolidation for Cape Town that unifies strategies on both a city scale and a district scale. In response to this lack of diversity at a district level, I propose a reversal of planning strategy which, incorporates the public from the beginning and utilises Cape Townâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s environmental pressures to secure land for the public and not the private, which results in a series of structures throughout the city. Using Woodstock as an example, I demonstrate that at both city and the district levels, Cape Town has the ability to adapt to the needs of both densification and diversity.

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LIST

FIGURES

Fig 1. Stephen Payton, (2001), Average Household Income in Cape Town 2001 [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.researchgate. net/figure/Average-Household-Income-in-Cape-Town-2001_ fig5_317348661[Accessed 17 September 2018]. Fig 2. Cape Town Planning and Reference Committee, (1940), Apartheid Diagram from UCT Libraries[ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.digitalcollections.lib.uct.ac.za/islandora/object/islandora%3A29991/datastream/OBJ/view.[Accessed 4 October 2018]. Fig 3. Image by Author (2018) Fig 4. Adrian Frith, (2013), Racial Identification in Cape Town 2011 [ONLINE]. Available at: https://adrianfrith.com/images/dotmaps/Cape-Town-2011.png [Accessed 17 September 2018]. Fig 5. Image by Author (2018) Fig 6. Image by Author (2018) Fig 7. Image by Author (2018) Fig 8. MSDF Review, (2017), Residential, Employment and Building Density in Cape Town [ONLINE]. Available at: http://resource. capetown.gov.za/documentcentre/Documents/City%20strategies%2C%20plans%20and%20frameworks/Cape%20Town%20Metropolitan%20Spatial%20Development%20Framework_2018-04-25. pdf [Accessed 19 September 2018]. Fig 9. Photograph by Author (2018) Fig 10. Land Equity, (2017), Ironworks Cape Town [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.theironworks.co.za/the-development/ [Accessed 19 September 2018]. Fig 11. Woodstock Quarter, Swish, (2018), Woodstock Quarter [ONLINE]. Available at: http://woodstockquarter.co.za/ [Accessed 19 September 2018]. Fig 12. Ashleigh Furlong, (2016), For years Blikkiesdorp residents have been unsure of their future [ONLINE]. Available at: https:// www.groundup.org.za/article/blikkiesdorp-residents-hopeful-after-meeting-mayor/[Accessed 19 September 2018]. Fig 13. Image by Author (2018)

Fig 14. Woodstock Quarter, Swish, (2018), Woodstock Quarter [ONLINE]. Available at: http://woodstockquarter.co.za/ [Accessed 3 October 2018]. Fig 15. Image by Author (2018) Fig 16. Image by Author (2018) Fig 18. Image by Author (2018) Fig 19. Image by Author (2018) Fig 20. Urban Omnibus, (2016), Tatiana Bilbao [ONLINE]. Available at: https://archleague.org/event/tatiana-bilbao-2/ [Accessed 19 September 2018]. Fig 21. Revelstone, (2016), KLOMPIE BRICK PAVER [ONLINE]. Available at: https://revelstone.co.za/engineered-products/ brick-pavers/klompie-cladding-copy/ [Accessed 4 October 2018]. Fig 22. Image by Author (2018) Fig 23. Image by Author (2018) Fig 24. Image by Author (2018) Fig 25. Infomalcity.org, (2011), Jeppe 3[ONLINE]. Available at: http://informalcity.co.za/jeppe-2 [Accessed 15 January 2018]. Fig 26. Image by Author (2018) Fig 27. Image by Author (2018) Fig 28. Image by Author (2018) Fig 29. Image by Author (2018) Fig 30. Image by Author (2018) Fig 31. Image by Author (2018) Fig 32. City of Cape Town, (2015), Basic Application Procedure [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.capetown.gov.za/Work%20 and%20business/Planning-portal/Applications-and-submissions/ Land-use-management-application-documents [Accessed 20 September 2018]. Fig 33. Image by Author (2018)

Fig 34. TDA Cape Town, (2015), AFFORDABLE HOUSING: WOODSTOCK AND SALT RIVER PRECINCT[ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.tda.gov.za/en/projects/investment-opportunities/affordable-housing-woodstock-and-saltriver-precinct/ [Accessed 20 September 2018]. Fig 35. Image by Author (2018) Fig 36. Image by Author (2018) Fig 37. Image by Author (2018) Fig 38. Image by Author (2018) Fig 39. Image by Author (2018) Fig 40. Image by Author (2018) Fig 41. Image by Author (2018)