RESIDENTIAL
2.5.9. DECENTRALISATION AS A MEANS OF URBAN RENEWAL
Much has been written on urban renewal of Central Business Districts – the heart of cities – but in theory urban renewal can be used to rejuvenate dormitory suburbs and townships in the form of decentralisation of functions such as economic and business opportunities. This concept would prove useful to South African cities due to their sprawling townships located on the outskirts of the cities with limited services and economic opportunities.
2.5.9.1. Urban Renewal
Chris Couch writes on the theory and practice of urban renewal and he says that there is increasing concern over the rigorous physical expansion of cities into surrounding agricultural land whilst large amounts of urban land and buildings are abandoned.
This calls for resources to be redirected to re-using these urban areas and buildings within the city for new purposes (Couch, 1990: vii). This is the essence of urban renewal.
Urban renewal is viewed as the “physical change, or change in the use or intensity of use of land and buildings, that is the inevitable outcome of the action of economic and social forces upon urban areas.” Initiatives of urban renewal include densifying or de-densifying, public utilities, transportation infrastructure and social facilities which would be provided, expanded, adapted or replaced in the area of concern (Couch, 1990: 1).
Due to urban renewal bringing about “change in the use or occupancy of urban land and buildings,” it will be bringing change – whether good or bad – to the living conditions of those who the urban intervention may impact on (Couch, 1990:79). For this reason it needs to be done carefully, and with the local population’s best interests
Page | 72
Figure 41: A contextual plan showing the urban form of the areas surrounding Walter Sisulu Square. Notice how segregated the surrounding areas are by buffer zones (Low, 2007: 20).
in mind. The following is an example of an urban renewal project in a previously disadvantaged area in South Africa.
2.5.9.2. Walter Sisulu Square, Kilptown, Soweto, South Africa
Although Kliptown is located in the sprawling townships of Soweto, it has always been a mixed community where people of different races and cultures have lived and worked together (Low, 2007: 18). On 29 June 1955, more than 3 000 people of many races gathered in what was named Freedom Square to ‘speak together of freedom’. It was a two-day meeting which showed a collective resistance to the Apartheid regime and culminated in the creation of The Freedom Charter (Barac, 2007: 40).
A competition was held in 2002 for the redevelopment of an urban intervention of Freedom Square and Kliptown. It was proposed that the project was to “redevelop the traditional Apartheid-style buffer zone township into a desirable and prosperous residential and commercially locality, using its historical significance and tourism potential as tools for transformation. The following were the main strategic components:
• environmental upgrade,
• economic development and generation of economic activity,
• heritage education and tourism development,
• transport and infrastructure development,
• sustainable neighbourhoods through higher density social housing schemes,
• social development by way of career guidance, computer literacy, HIV/Aids awareness, mobile clinics and legal advice clinics,
• improving institutional arrangements through an overall management strategy (Meyer, 2005: 32).
Johannesburg firm StudioMAS Architects won the competition. Their design consisted of two stoa-like buildings which border the north and south boundaries of the site (Barac, 2007: 40). The North Structure houses a multi-purpose venue for functions, sporting events and can be used as an auditorium. There are also banking facilities, a conference and training room, a restaurant, and retail and office space.
The South Structure houses a covered Market at ground floor level with a tourist centre and boutique hotel occupying the upper two floors. The Market gives safe, affordable, flexible space to informal traders (Low, 2007: 18).
BUFFER ZONE BUFFER ZONE
WALTER SISULU SQUARE
Page | 73
Figure 42: StudioMAS’s competition submission for Walter Sisulu Square in 2002.
It is evident from this image that the intention was to densify development around Walter Sisulu Square, and the extended formalised public gardens (Krige, 2003: 49).
Plate 23: An aerial view of Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication, illustrating its context od industrial buildings and low density township sprawl. The sheer scale of the structures, as well as its infrastructure-like feel is evident in this image (Low, 2007: 18).
The objective of the scheme was to “give architectural expression to the ideals of the Freedom Charter through the establishment of nine guiding principles: history, equality, accessibility, vitality, robustness, identity, legibility, symbolism and ecology” (Low, 2007: 19).
The buildings are defined by colonnades running for some 300 metres which frame, define and extend the old square. A diagonal route bisecting the sloping piazza marks the old Kliptown Road whilst anchoring a conical monument in the square which houses an eternal flame and a tablet which is inscribed with the Freedom Charter. A second conical tower punches through the roof of the Market and is clad in reclaimed corrugated iron from dismantled shacks.
Grand steps to the east and a low hill to the west give the space the feeling that it is a great urban stage. Nine red brick benches take the form of X’s which are significant of votes on a ballot sheet (Barac, 2007: 40). The X-form is repeated many times over in precast concrete facade treatment (see plate 24). The manufacture of these concrete blocks was subcontracted to emerging
township construction companies. This was to encourage the local people to have pride in their public buildings because people in their community helped create it. This was intended to for the people to take
Page | 74
Figure 43: Plans and elevations of Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication. Notice the X-shaped seats which are symbolic of votes on a ballot (Low, 2007: 18).
Plate 24: In the foreground of this image is the conical tower in the centre of the square. The background shows the modular building design used, and the X-shaped precast concrete block facade treatment (Author, 2008).
symbolic ownership of the development (Barac, 2007: 46).
The argument arose during the design and construction of Walter Sisulu Square about the challenge of the “architectural fusion of symbol and practicality” when it came to providing space for a community which lacks so much. Design is generally seen as a “wasteful luxury and an insult to the poor” whilst the
“public wants space, not style” (Barac, 2007: 42).
This argument was countered by Nabeel Hamdi, a development guru, when he said that responsible design “...offers a shared context of meaning.” This puts culture before any other requirement of design whereby “design is not only a ‘nice-to-have’
extra but a part of what makes city spaces meaningful to even the poorest citizen.”
The designers of Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication avoided the tug-of-war between space and style. Its architecture, whilst fashionable, speaks of infrastructure whilst maintaining symbolic storytelling (Barac, 2007: 44).
Page | 75 The architect’s intention was to indicate a direction to be taken in Kliptown, rather than a destination with a feeling of finality. It is the beginning of something great (Meyer, 2005: 35).
Although the project as a whole denotes social infrastructure, the architects
acknowledge “teething trouble” with the market (Barac, 2007: 46). They refer to the social boundaries left over from Apartheid whereby the success of the development will take time to show itself due to developers’ and businesses’ scepticism of the development of economic nodes in townships where most of the population is unemployed. A building will not reshape society overnight, but it is a step in the right direction.
2.5.9.3. Summary
Urban renewal is characterised by the physical change in use or occupancy of urban land and buildings. This concept is widely discussed in terms of renewal in the traditional city centres when people and businesses have left in pursuit of lower density, less congested living and working conditions. However urban renewal occurs in areas outside the central city, especially in the case of post-Apartheid South Africa where the urban areas which need the most renewal are the townships located at the edges of the cities.
The Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication in Soweto is one such example where urban renewal has occurred with the intention of improving the social, environmental and economic conditions of Kliptown. It is essential that such urban renewal projects occur in South African townships because these areas house the majority of the population but still lack definitive urban form with public services and economic opportunities, as discussed in section 2.5.8.