Johannesburg
ARC6978 Urban Design Project 1
REFLECTIVE PORTFOLIO YUKAI ZHU / KIEREN
Project 1 Re-appropriating (ideas of) public space
Where today is there space in public for people to work together to produce the city and its resources outside of market
Theme: Ideas of Public Space
demands?
What have I learned ?
Which means of spatial and social in- and ex-clusions are used?
Who is included and excluded in the production and the use of public space?
CONTENT Project Background
Introduction Ideas on film
Position
Precedent 1 Provisional manifesto
Context & Analysis
Group Spatial Design Strategy
Individual Design Strategy
Juta Street Public space accessibility for informal workers Precedent 2
Group strategy introduction Group strategy version 1 Group strategy version 2 Group strategy version 3 Policy Policy timeline Policy application Policy plan
Critical Reflection
Braamfontein
Introduction
Gauteng Province
Project Locality&Site
Hi, I’m Jhono Bennett !
Densest Province Major Business & Trade Point Produces10% of Africa’s GDP Large Migratory Population 10% Live Below Poverty Line
South Africa: Population: 54,956,900
Population: 12,272,263 (2011) Black African Coloured White African Asian
Timeframe of project 1 Black African Coloured White African Asian
11 Official Languages Religion 79.8% Christian 1.5% Muslim 1.2% Hindu 0.3 % Traditional African 0.2% Jewish 15.1% N0 Religious Affiliation
10/11/2015 Introduction to studio concepts (on Skype) A short film about ‘Public Space, Social Networks, and Social Media’
MIDRAND
17/11/2015 Precedents in public space design Open public lecture: Space of Urban Change
SANDTON RANDRURG SOWETO
Provisional manifesto for inclusive public spaces in Johannesburg
BRAAMFONTEIN
JOBURG CBD
GERMISTON
24/11/2015 Presentation of provisional manifesto Spatial design strategy version 1 (group)
Johannesburg Population: 4,434,827 (2011)
BRAAMFONTEIN
Braamfontein Major Business Hub Major Cultural Hub Big Student Population Major Commuter Hub Population: 7,000
Major Freeway
Railway Buffer
A Complex Place A Model for Growth and Development Major Economic Focal Point The Highest GINI Coefficients A Number of Contradictory Tendencies
01/12/2015 Presentation of spatial design strategy version 1 Spatial design strategy version 2 (group)
08/12/2015 Presentation of spatial design strategy version 2 Spatial design strategy version 3 (group)
15/12/2015 Black African Coloured White African Asian
Final presentation of spatial design strategy version 3 Reflective design portfolio (individual)
NOW
What structure should we use to present?
We Thought
What is Occupy Movement? When/Where did Occupy Movements happen? What role did social media/public space play?
Ideas on Film Occupy Movement
Background
3
cases South Africa
Ateeb Husain
Rouqi Meng
Occupy
Me
London
?
Boston
We Did
We recorded in media room
Topic and Group What kind of social mediawas used?
Social Media
Relationship ?
Public space, social networks and social media
Readings: JURIS,J.S.2012.Reflections on #Occupy Everywhere: Social media, public space, and emerging logics of aggregation. American Ethnologist, 39:pp.259-279. GERBAUDO, Paulo.2010.Tweets and the Streets: Social Media and Contemporary Activism. London: Pluto Press.
Public Space
Made the film of our group’s idea
Found the information about ‘Occupy London’
Why
Where
We Asked
Critical Reflection
Imovie
Occupy Movement
Who
Source: https://walkbraamfontein.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/ideas-on-film-public-space-social -networks-and-social-media-group-3/
I Did
When I first saw the references, I was a little confused about this topic as I was unfamiliar with ‘Occupy Movements’ and had no idea how it could be related to public space. So I searched much information about occupy movements on the internet to gain some insight into the history of occupy movement and its effect before reading those references. Occupy movements were a series of protests against social and economic inequality around the world. Starting with Occupy Wall street it was one largest protests that spread around the globe within a short period. It was also termed as the “Global Justice Movement”.
When
In addition, it changed the function of public space. People camped in these public spaces as a new method of protesting. Because of the Occupy movement this may be the mechanism to think about what we as the public want and need from our public spaces and what exactly public should mean.
How
Made a map of Occupy Movements around the world
Precedent
Provisional Manifesto
Joubert Park
We Thought
Joubert Park is One of the Most Vibrant Spaces in Johannesburg.(Ngobeni,2012)
During group discussion, we defined 6 design principles which were based on our research about public space and public life in Johannesburg. They were safety,
accessibility, equality, diversity, vitality and walkability. And we wanted to find a
Hillbrow Community Centre
effective way to present our group manifesto, I suggested that we could use ‘pyramid model’ to introduce our principles and it could also show the degree of importance.
Juta St
Joubert Park Johhanesburg Park Station
Park Central Shopping Centre Johannesburg Train Station Entrances
Playground
Footpath
Outdoor Movies To be flexible enough to accommodate a variety of human activities.
Joubert Park
Outdoor chess board
Green space
Water features Park bench
My Drafts References: Carr, S. (1992): Public Space, Cambridge University Press. Matsipa, M. (2014). Street Values: Reading Johannesburg. Retrieved from http://www.architectural-education.club/street_values_mpho_matsipaNgobeni, M.E. (2012): Joubert Park is One of the Most Vibrant Public Spaces in Johannesburg Selezneva, E. (2011). URBAN VITALITY : EXPLORING THE CENTRALITY CONDITIONS, (May).
We Did
We developed the ‘Accessibility Principle’ in the futher group spatial design strategy.
Accessibility
Safety
Equality
Diversity
Walkability Vitality
Link
I Did
Vitality Economic Exchanges
Human Activities
According to the references and the precedent I mentioned, I defined the ‘Vitality Principle’ for public space and explained it from 3 aspects: link, human activities and economic exchanges.
Context & Analysis Informal Worker
Juta Street Braamfontein
There are some informal workers working on the streets of the eastern side of Braamfontein and live in the neibourhood or at walking distance.
Informal street traders
W
or k
e sid Re
Juta St
Street traders
Carwashers
Beggars Play P
Trolley pushers
Park guards
My Drafts
Neighbourgoods Market
Bus stop
Park Train Station
Busy road Pedestrian flow detection Dense region of crowd
Place where informal workers do their daily work. Nelson Mandela Bridge
Johannesburg Train Station
Public Space Accessibility for Informal Workers
Why we focused on informal workers?
However, there are many ‘No Trading’ signs on Juta Street.
Informal Workers A comment on our group strategy (version 1) Source: https://walkbraamfontein.wordpress.com/2015/12/05/group-4-accessibility-2/
Source: http://tangerineandcinnamon.com/2013/08/
Economy Contribution: the contribution of South Africa’s informal sector/economy to GDP. Source: Wills, Gabrielle, and Wiego Working Papers, South Africa’s Informal Econom: A Statistical Profile, 2009
Why we chose ‘accessibility’ as our group main principle?
Walkability
Group Topic: Public space accessibility for informal workers
Because informal workers are often excluded and overlooked when considering urban design strategies. Particularly, Braamfontein has over the past decades deliberately excluded informal workers through privatized public spaces because this creates more profitable conditions ofr the bourgeois.
Accessibility
Because within the concept of accessibility, it consists of various principles and aspects as it covers or overlaps with other principles which we chose including walkability, safety, vitality, diversity and equality.
Vitality Diversity
Equality
Safety
Group strategy version 1
Group Strategy Introduction
We Thought
Main Structure Our group topic is public space accessibility for informal workers. Our target group is informal workers who are an important part of the local economic system but are often excluded or neglected when forming urban strategies. To realize accessibility, we described it in two aspects. The first part is the social aspect and the other is the physical aspect. Finally, we divided our parts into five layers including participation ,policy, objects, movement, and open spaces.
Public space accessibility for informal workers Physical Aspect
Object
We Did This is the long poster for our group strategy version 1. We devided the whole poster into five layers to present everyone’s work. Source: https://walkbraamfontein.wordpress.com/2015/12/05/group-4-accessibility-2/
Social Aspect
Open Space
Movement
We mainly focused on gathering and analysing information about informal workers in Johannesburg, and tried to understand their urgent needs from the five aspects. We also thought about what kind of tools or methods could be used for explore our strategies.
My part Policy
Participation I Did Social media
Site
1
Site
2
Site
3
My part is mainly about the policy. I focused on the development of policies for informal workers in Johannesburg. I made a timeline which describes the important policies and events in the past .
Group strategy version 2
Group strategy version 3
We Thought According to the comments from the blog and the feedback provided by tutors, we decided to choose three sites on Juta Street so that we could make our work more relevant and detailed. Besides, we wanted to add some large scale strategies.
We Did
Final Structure
In the long poster for version 2, we paid more attantion to the detailed spatial design strategy at three particular sites on Juta Street. Source:https://walkbraamfontein.wordpress.com/2015/12/12/group-4-public-space-accessibility-for-informal -workers-version-2/
The final poster consist of all of our previous work about Johannesburg, including principle development, strategy diagram, strategy analysis, design process and large scale proposal. Besides, we did an 20-year action plan for our design strategies.
Topic Principle Development Strategy Diagram Strate Analysis
Design Process
Comments from blog 1.The policy and object information section makes sense. 2.The approach is in context. 3.An interesting, detailed-in-part, overview of the area at an urban scale. 1.Does not translate to digital communication. 2.Inaccessible presentation on ‘accessibility’. 3.Difficult to read spatial representation in the presentation. 4.The multiple site scales within the framework should be developed at a more detailed and spatial scale.
Feedback provided by tutors Our long poster was too busy, and five aspects were not relevant enough. Jhono suggested that our long poster could have more links between different aspects on the basis of our layered structure.
Action Plan
Large Scale Proposal
Final Group Design Spatial Strategy Source: https://walkbraamfontein.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/group-4-public-space-accessibility-for-informal-workers/
Critical Reflection for Group Project This is my first time I have finished a urban design project with others. As far as I am concerned, It is a great experience and I have learned a lot from this group spatial design strategy process. Firstly, I think it is much easier for us to learn from other team members when we have a common aim. Because each one has his good points and through working as a group, I have the chance to find the strength in them to make up for my shortcomings, the predominant one being my lack of experience in public space project. For example, when we just came together in group to develop a manifesto for inclusive public spaces in Johannesburg, I really had no idea how to define a design principle. But with the help of my group members, I learned how to develop a provisional manifesto and how to present a manifesto. On the other hand, I also found that I could use Industrial Design which I’ve studied in university to help others, like some use of good software.
Secondly, working as a group can expand my thinking because when I create designs with others, they can give you advice and support to help me with the assessment of creativity. For instance, when we discussed the way to present our manifesto, I suggested that maybe we could use a ‘pyramid model’ and we all thought it would be a great idea. Then we worked together to decide how to organize the information on a model and how to produce it, finally, we did it through good cooperation and communication. However, sometimes group project can lead to problems, such as differences, which may have a negative influence on overall team efficiency. This highlight the necessity for good communication skills and teamwork skills. And for individuals, I think the ability to bear greater actuating pressure is important. Another problem for me is lack of critical thinking, because I'm easily to be influenced by others. So I think I need to build up confidence while exchanging views and opinions with others. Overall, I think this group work is a great help to me and I have made rapid progress through this group strategy process.
Individual Design Strategy Policy Informal Trading Policy for the City of Johannesburg (Draft) break the policies into 8 element, they are economic, spatial, human development, housing, infrastructure and basic service, environmental sustainability, transportation and safety.
ic
ety
Spa
rtat
spo
tial
E
Saf
n Tra
om con
Workers have a constitutional right to strike, but they must follow proper procedure.
Ho
Env
iron
me
nt
ion
an Hum ment elop
Dev
Policy
Policy Timeline
usi
ng
ure
ruct
ast Infr
Differet Levels of Laws in South Africa
SA Constitution
National Laws Provincial Laws Local Laws (called By-laws)
1991
1993
1995
1996
The Businesses Act:
By-laws in Durban:
In 1991 a new Businesses Act completely changed the legal approach to informal trading.This Act is the basis of most legislation which currently affects rural and urban street traders.
In Durban there is a plan to provide short-term overnight accommodation for traders. Traders may no longer sleep at these trading sites in public spaces.�
The Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA):
Section 152 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa:
When the Businesses Act became law in 1991, the right of street traders to trade on the streets was protected.
Traders may no longer sleep at these trading sites in public spaces.
The right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The extension of these rights could facilitate the organization of informal workers.
Workers have a constitutional right to strike, but they must follow proper procedure.
Local governments must: * promote social and economic development; * promote a safe and healthy environment; *encourage communities and community organisations to become involved in the matthers of local government.
All these principles are relevant for survivalist traders, in particular the responsibility of local government to promote economic development and to encourage community participation in governance.
How policy works now Policy issue and
participatory
implementation
formulation
Informal Trading Forum managing
registrating
Organizations managing training
participation engagement
Informal workers
1999
2004-2005
MTC Established:
Provided Street Traders With Wire Cage Stalls:
There was the establishment of Metro Trading Company (MTC) and Joburg became the only municipality to have an informal trading policy which ensured the move from a merely regulatory to a more developmental role of the council.
There are 12 markets and taxi ranks under its control, strategically located throughout Johannesburg now.
In 2004 through to 2005, the DED provided registered and licensed street traders with wire cage stalls that they could operate from. The DED mandated MTC to carry out both the licensing of street traders and the allocation of the wire cages.
These cages provided street traders with a selling space but did not address the needs of the traders and created problems rather than solving them.
2007
2011
2012
Informal Trading Policy for the City of Johannesburg:
Joburg GDS 2040:
The GPLED Summit:
Joburg 2040 Growth and Development Strategy is more recent strategic direction that the City of Johannesburg has launched in 2011. The Joburg 2040 GDS is argued to be in line with the national government policies.
The GPLED summit was held on the 27th until the 28th of March 2012 and the meeting organised by SAITF to prepare for this summit was held on the 26th of March 2012. The meetings called by this organisation are an effort to consolidate strategic thinking and unification of the movement in terms of what important issues will be raised when engaging with government.
The document continues by stating how the informal economy will be supported and the approaches to enhance livelihoods of the poor.
This mobilisation of street traders’ by this organisation depends on government initiatives rather than self sustaining because when there are no official meeting there are no meetings called.
The “Informal Trading Policy for the City of Johannesburg” was introduced.
Defining informal trading, establishing spatial planning and development framework and carrying out the informal trading smart cards in Johannesburg.
2015
Concentration of Street Traders’ Organisations in the Joburg CBD:
Policy Application SPATIAL
Cafe
• Allocating space for informal traders
Office
• Developing areas which impact on large numbers of people
Vocational studios
According to the spatial principles, the “open space” marked in the picture above is one of the sites for our proposals on Juta Street. That is because from the picture 1, we can see that there are many people working, studying and relaxing near this place. Moreover, the Station Street which heads to the train station has a constant flow of people throughout the day.
College campus
INFRASTRUCTURE The way to the train station
• Providing minimal infrastructure for informal traders Some facilities which can attract people for informal trading are placed in this open space. And we also plan to focus on improvement of infrastructure, which can also benefit informal workers.
JUTA ST
SAFETY • Ensuring that basic services and public safety facilities and resources are provided to all at-risk areas Natural shelter
Pedestrian
Moving cars
Lack of footpath
• Creating an environment where the safety of informal traders is ensured As we can see in the picture 2 and picture 3, it is not safe for pedestrian to cross over this intersection because the Bertha Street is a busy road and many cars and trucks pass by the crossing. We want to make this area safer so that it can attract more people and can be a safe environment for informal workers to trade here. (by designing a passenger foot-bridge)
TRANSPORTATION • Which advocates for construction of trading spaces/points where pedestrian mobility is at its optimum (such as at bus and train stops) The picture 4 shows that there is a bus stop and a public parking space at this intersection. And we can see many people walking here, which means it’s a place with great pedestrian mobility. Basing on the transportation strategies, we want to make a set space for informal trading.
Pedestrian
Bus stop
Parking area
Residential Supermarket area
Trees
Parking area
School
JUTA ST
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Rubbishes
Supermarket
Pedestrian
• Improving standard of living through training, mentoring and providing development opportunities
Chair
We plan to design a public seating place at the site which is marked in picture 6. And this area can provide space to informal workers for their trading. Besides, the MTC (Metropolitan Trading Company) and ITF (Informal Trading Forum) can organize some training and mentoring activities for those informal traders in this area.
ECONOMIC • Providing different facilities, besides enhancing capacity of and business support services to informal/street traders • Ensuring that city’s infrastructure is used for maximum social and economic development • Targeting highly accessible sites/locations for promoting touist-related street trading. In this part of Juta Street, we can see (picture 5) there are many shops and supermarkets which have already attracted many pedestrian, I think that some street traders can be placed here. (e.g: traders who sell foods or drinks to pedestrian and visitors) Besides, the city’s infrastructure should be improved (as there are sacks of street garbage in this picture), this will also contribute to economic development of this area.
Policy Plan For the action plan, I divide the policy action into two parts, one is implementation which focus on practical application in our sites and provide policy support, the other part is about modification and establishment.
Now
6 Months
6months: undertaking responsibility for cleaning and repairing and
roughing out a draft about the detailed design of park.
1year: gathering the feedback from the long seminar to make a draft of
Open Space
1 Practical Application in 3 Sites Supporting Other 4 Strategies
Spatial Infrastructure
2
new policy and use it to support our action.
5years: collecting the voice of informal workers from the protest,
Foot-bridge Safety Transportation
making a comprehensive policy and practicing it.
20years: subsidizing the long-term projects and providing law permits for building a meeting room for traders and new vertical parking.
Implementation
Juta St
Park Human development
8 Elements
3
JUTA ST
Policy Plan
Extending Policy
Modification and Establishment
Government should undertake A planning of street greening responsibility for cleaning the sites and repairing basic infrastructure Planting on this street. trees The informal trading forum begin to prepare for the seminar about developing the Bike Sharing System.
Renewing transport infrastructure
To rough out a draft about the detailed design of park.
Participatin in Informal Traders
ons izati n a ia med ’ Org l s r a i e oc rad nd s al T a m s r e il Info Social media ds, F A t e e r t Gathering Information S Communication
Current Policy Support
Government
Critical Reflection for Individual Design Strategy: My part is mainly about the policy which can not only support other group members’ aspects but also provide policy help to informal workers directly. In addition, engaging informal workers in relevant policy-making process is also an effective way to make the public space in Juta Street more accessible to informal workers as they can striving for their own rights by participating in policy formulation. At first, I thought it would not be too difficult to research in the policy about informal workers. However, when I began to read references, I found the information of policy daunting or perplexing because of its complex history. Then I decided just to focus on finding those most important policies and events in recent two decades, and tried to find out the motivating factor and how policies influenced the city and the formal workers. Another challenge for me is that almost all the policies are informed in words, which means I need to find an appropriate way to present them visually. Because when I wanted to use pictures to explain a detailed policy, it would look like something which my group members were doing. And I think that policy is more like a guiding suggestions or a kind of constraint. Finally, I used a timeline to show the research about policy as I think it can be a more logical way to explain the change of policy.
1 Year
5 Years Open Space
the Informal Trading Forum Meetings take place at the City Council of Joburg
Seminar
Discussing current policies Understanding their demands Discussing the policy draft
Using the trees as shelters for informal traders Foot-bridge Placing informal traders near the finished bridge Park Allow informal workers to trade in the park
20 Years Building new vertical parking. and this building can also accommodate the meeting room of informal wokers
Organizing informal wokers to look after the growing green space, this can provide job oppotunities to them
The bike sharing system should be completed, encouraging People to choose a healthy low-carbon way to travel
Improving the transportation facilities near the bridge and creating a convenient traffic network
Informal Traders
Finishing the building of seating space
Protest
Demand expression Feedback to new policies
Feedback
Gathering information
A Draft of Policy
New Policy Support
its
w La
A Comprehensive Policy
m er
Spatial Support
Meeting Room
Creating a place which is built by informal workers themselves. This can be a new organization for informal wokers which focus on their voice and promote a great linking between them and the government.
P
Participating in
Providing Subsidize
Government (Designing New Policy)
In the design process, we took Jhono’s suggestion on how to make our structure clearer. So we decided to focus on the participation and open space design ,then used other three aspects to support these two aspects. for my part. I tried to to find some current policies of Johannesburg which can suit Juta Street to support our design. And I broke policies into 8 elements based on the document named ‘Informal Trading Policy for the City of Johannesburg’. I found that classification of policies could make people easier to understand them, and it was also more convenient for me to find the proper policies for different cases. For the action plan, I divide the policy action into two parts, one is implementation which focus on practical application in our sites and provide policy support, the other part is about modification and establishment. Because I find that Johannesburg has its own special way to manage informal workers, it manages them by many organizations which help informal workers to understand the policy and improve their skills. I think this is also a great way to make a more inclusive public space. In a summary, I think my individual design strategy is logical and clear, however, I think that it is lack of enough visual information, and I need to do more practice to improve the ability of using visual language to present those text information in the future.
References Benjamin, P. (2008). Informal Work and Labour Rights in South Africa. INDUSTRIAL LAW JOURNAL, 29 JULY, 1579–1604. City of Johannesburg. 2011. Informal Trading Forum: Informal Traders’ Organisations registered as attending the Forum. City of Johannesburg, 2011. Johannesburg Growth and Development Strategy 2040. City of Johannesburg. Internet: http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7343& catid=73&Itemid=114, accessed 20 Nov 2015. Dewar, D. (2003). A Conceptual Framework for the Formulation of an Informal Trader Policy for South African Towns and Cities. Urban Forum, 16(1). Generic Informal / Street Trading Policy Framework for Metropolitan & Local Municipalities. (2008). Small Enterprise Development Agency, (June), 1–57. Metropolitan Trading Company. (n.d.). Johannesburg. Retrieved from http://joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1291&Itemid=75