CHAPTER 7: FINDINGS AND DATA INTERPRETATION
7.7 People‘s Perceptions and who has rights to Public Space in the Durban Inner-city Coastal
7.7.1 Public Space Users‘ Survey
117 coastal area. Public spaces are privatised within a Postmodern urbanism context to ensure that economic development and capital investment is promoted in the city, irrespective of the social benefits that public spaces historically and currently provide.
7.7 People’s Perceptions and who has rights to Public Space in the Durban
118 a) Which spaces are recognised as a public space by the public?
Figure 16: Graph showing people‘s perceptions of public space
The interview process recorded that sixty percent of people identified Vetch‘s Beach as being the public space, rather than uShaka Marine World. It was also discovered that thirty percent of the people were of the perception that Vetch‘s Beach was a beach and uShaka Marine world was actually the public space where people interacted in the Durban Inner-city Coastal area, whereas ten percent of public space users identified both as being public spaces.
This survey shows clearly that, in general, people perceive Vetch‘s Beach or a beach to be a public space. They have recognised the beach to a larger extent as a public space rather than a theme park development such as uShaka Marine World. People do recognise that Vetch‘s Beach is a public space; we can say then that people have an understanding of Vetch‘s Beach as being important to the public for different reasons.
Vetch's Beach 60%
uShaka Marine World
30%
Both10%
Which is regcognised by people as
being a public space ?
119 b) The Importance of Public Space to the Public Users.
This next survey was the result of people who had been randomly selected from sightings on Vetch‘s Beach and the parking area, parallel to the beach. In this survey also, thirty people within a period of three and-a-half hours on a Sunday morning had been selected randomly by the researcher and asked why they attend or use the beach. People between the ages of twelve and sixty-five were questioned, irrespective of race or class. To the reseracher, they all seemed to be enjoyingor were involved in some activity at the beach. It was a warm, sunny day and many people entered and exited the public space. The majority were people from the clubs on Vetch‘s Beach who had private access through the boom-gates. Some were just members of the public who had wandered onto Vetch‘s Beach, walked there to relax or engage themselves in some activity. From the survey below, although conducted on a single day, it can be seen that members of the public intended to come to the beach for a specific purpose, or to intentionally engage themselves in a certain activiity.
Figure 17: Graph showing frequency: People‘s perceptions of public space
From some conversations with the users of the public space, the researcher established whether they were regular or frequent visitors, or whether some were permantly involved in some of the clubs there, such as the Durban Underwater Club, The Yacht Club, etc. The
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Fishing Diving Members of Clubs Working at the Clubs Relaxation Surfing Boating Walking/running Family outings Sightseeing
Importance of Public Space to Users
Importance of Public Space to Users
120 response that was received indicated that about seventy-five percent of the public space users were there for three to four days in a week. Some of them worked at the clubs for between six to seven days a week. This meant that these public space users were merely users or occupants of the public space. They recognised themselves more as a community, who spend the majority of their time engaged in activities at the beach, or work in the clubs or were part of a long-term fishing community that had been established at Vetch‘s Beach for decade c) How frequently is public space used by the public?
Figure 18: Graph showing people‘s perceptions of public space
The above graph clearly indicates that people don‘t use the public space at Vetch‘s Beach as a coincidence. They go there for well-defined reasons and purposes, and it also shows that the public space is always used or occupied. This shows the need for and significance of public space to the public. They value it for social/recreational purposes. The fact that people work here emphasises that it the public space is also responsible for people‘s livelihoods, while some people depend on the public space as they seek employment from the clubs located there. Many users are resident club users, forty-five percent of the survey respondents, who use the beach, and recognise themselves as part of a club community. It is almost like a
0 5 10 15 20
Permanent club user Frequently Often Sometimes Rarely
How frequently did the public use this
space?
121 permanent community that would not exist if the beach was transformed into a small craft harbour or another urban renewal project.
d) How favourable is the development of Vetch’s Beach?
Figure 19: Graph showing people‘s perceptions of public space
The above random sample survey was conducted to engage the public approval of Vetch‘s Beach being converted into an Urban Renewal project. The researcher wanted to know from forty people who were randomly selected whether they wanted the beach to be converted into a small craft harbour/or any development. For this survey, people were selected from the uShaka Marine World car park, so as to avoid bias. This population selected was either visiting the clubs or enjoying the uShaka Marine World theme park. It is also relevant to mention that the majority of people, about seventy percent of the survey respondents were aware of the controversy surrounding this area. People had read about it in the newspapers and two people were club members at Vetch‘s Beach, so they said that they were directly involved in the controversy.
25%Yes
57%No I don't care
5%
Any idea is acceptable
13%
How favourable is the development of
Vetch’s Beach ?
122 7.7.2 Public Open Space vs Commercial Public Space? Which is more important to the