Includes bibliographical references. / Most people who work in developing cities, work in the informal sector. In South Africa's townships, many poor households rely on home-based informal economic activities as their primary source of livelihood. However, these livelihoods often face multiple constraints, and thus remain precarious. The main research question is: What are the key constraints to securer informal livelihoods in Delft South? The research employs the case study method to address this question. This dissertation engages with the lived realities of informal business operators in Delft South, Cape Town. Enterprise census data was analyzed and in-depth interviews with a selection of enterprise owners conducted. This provides a unique insight into the nature of the informal economy in Delft South and the way in which planning shapes current livelihoods. This case is located in previous research on home based work both in South Africa and internationally. This is with a view to informing more appropriate planning responses. The findings indicate the high degree of saturation in Delft South's informal sector. As such, business competition is rife, and livelihoods are compromised. Also evident is that the informal operators of Delft South ply their trades in a regulatory environment oscillating between extremes of neglect and oppression. The permission granted to spaza shop and hair care enterprise operators to conduct their businesses is accompanied by little else in the way of support for business growth. Alternatively, the livelihoods of shebeen owners are under threat, as these enterprises are prohibited from operating in all residential areas of the settlement; and are instead forced to relocate to the high street. This is compounded by the closure to which they are subjected, owing to their exclusion from the framework of the Western Cape Liquor Act. Crime also emerges as a significant impediment to business growth, and its effects are experienced by most of the operators in Delft South. Notably, it distinguishes the working climate of the area's informal sector from those of many other developing contexts. Under the guidance of the enterprise operators, key state interventions are recommended in response. The study concludes by proposing an area-based management approach in which collective action among operators is promoted.

Includes bibliographical references / The Aerotropolis is one of many airport led urban development concepts that challenge the way city's have traditionally been planned and managed. In the developed world, airports have evolved from military bases to decentralised and privatised Airport Cities and regionally linked Aerotropoli. On the other hand, although Africa has 12% of the global population and represents 1% of global airfreight and passenger volumes, these figures are expected to increase over time. As South Africa is considered the gateway into Africa, the national led Oliver Reginald Tambo International Airport in Gauteng and the King Shaka International Airport in Ethekweni Durban have recently pursued regional airport approaches. There is substantial scope to apply airport-urban theories to the Cape Town International Airport, which is situated 20km from a sea port, sees the second highest passenger count in South Africa and is set for 11.5 billion Rand in upgrades in the next 5 years. However, the decision to pursue a regional airport approach for the CTIA must be orientated towards the South African context of post-apartheid restructuring and social transformation. This is because the question simultaneously raised is how to stimulate development in the historically segregated South East Metro, with the economic potential of the decentralised and adjacently located CTIA being largely overlooked. The dissertation provides a twenty (20) year regional Spatial Development Framework for the CTIA. Interviews are held with 10 key actors in fields related to airport, urban and business related planning. The literature and findings of the dissertation reveal that firstly, the AeroScape and Airea are more appropriate for conceptualising the retrofitting of an existing airport while the Aerotropolis is best suited as a business model and not a physical form. Secondly, the aviation linked sectors in Cape Town are connected to the City’s unexploited comparative advantages in labour absorptive industries such as agri-processing, manufacturing and textiles which can be brought to the doorstep of the CTIA and South East Metro. Lastly, the functionality of these industries provides further opportunity to develop a sustainable closed loop metabolism between the CTIA, Phillipi East Industrial Node and Philippi Horticultural Area.

The Western Cape Government Economic War Room has identified that land-use management in the City of Cape Town is inefficient. Coupled with the fact that there is a housing crisis within the City of Cape Town, it is imperative that such inefficiencies are addressed with urgency. Current development regulations in the City of Cape Town are said to be hindering the involvement of the private sector in the property development space and adding unnecessary delays to the property development sector in general. This paper will argue that a reason for this can be attributed to convoluted legislation linked to property development approval processes, that is being too rigidly interpreted and not administered efficiently. There is therefore a need to understand how the overall development application system is run, especially in relation to the land use and building plan application processes, to assist in identifying the inefficiencies affecting the property development space as a whole. This will allow pragmatic solutions to be formulated and expanded on, to better expound how a more efficient development environment can be created. A further important factor in better understanding the property development space, is comprehending the context within which it functions. Namely, the governance systems which affect it, the laws and regulations applicable to it, and the lack of emphasis on saving time throughout the application process. The purpose of this paper is to show where the inefficiencies lie in the land use management and building development management application processes, and why such inefficiencies may be happening. This paper will also discuss and recommend further topics that should be studied in order to resolve the various issues named. The methodology used to achieve the aforementioned was a mixed method of data collection, which encompassed various interviews with experts working within the property and planning development fields, iterative communication with these professionals, and literature reviews. In sum, there is no one answer to the identified issues as there are many interconnected complexities that must be dealt with in order to address the inefficiencies effectively. What is clear however, is that the current implementation of administrative penalties by the City of Cape Town are causing major capacity issues within the Development Management department and Municipal Planning Tribunal, and which ultimately has a ripple effect on the system as a whole.

With the threat of Climate change combined with rapid urban expansion, the threat to natural systems is increasingly dire (Korten, 2022). Historically, the entities of nature and people have long been pitted against each other within mainstream conservation (Kiwango & Mabele, 2022). Conservation has often been seen as a tool for the elite to control land and land use, often at the expense of marginalised communities (Kepe & Mollett, 2018). However, with the increasing threat to protected areas, there has been an emergence of alternative conservation strategies, including convivial and decolonial conservation. The dissertation will utilise the Driftsands Area as a case study to consider and investigate alternative conservation methods with a particular focus on water management. The site has seen the encroachment of people into the Nature Reserve, which has degraded the space leading to the initiation of the process of de-proclamation of the site (WCG, 2021). The needs and priories of people and nature seem in direct conflict, where setters are in need of land to settle however, this is threatening the ecosystems in the space and also posing a threat to people as some setters have moved into the flood zone (WCG, 2021). There is thus a need to consider this site as a case study to rethinking conservation. The site provides an opportunity for planners to reconsider alternative methods of conservation. Therefore, the aim of the study is to introduce a layer of the sub-district plan that includes concepts that allow for people and nature to be protected together within the site and gives special consideration to protecting the valuable ecosystem systems in the area, notably the water systems (Kuils River and Wetlands) in this space. The case study of Driftsands will be supported by desktop research, a site visit and expert interviewees in the space to introduce and develop alternative methods to conserve the site. The study showed that there are alternative methods to protect nature and people; importantly, in Driftsands, the flood zone can be introduced as a promoted rather than a protected area, namely by introducing concepts such as a multi-use urban park and identifying areas for relocation of the settlements at risk in the flood zone. The layer of the sub-district plan for Driftsands can serve as a base late for future plans. This research can contribute to the various case studies and studies around alternative conservation methods and aim to add to the various examples of sites and cases that utilised the imminent de-proclamation as an opportunity to rethink and reconceptualise urban conservation.

This paper investigates Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in the context of Cape Town focusing on the case study area of Bellville. This investigation seeks to answer questions relating to the implementation of TOD such as: How to translate metropolitan TOD principles and development objectives into local area interventions? How to implement TOD on the ground in the Bellville Central Area? How do we get buy-in from the private sector? The research was conducted using the case study method and various primary and secondary data collection techniques were used. These techniques comprised of a policy analysis, a contextual analysis of the case study area, a conceptual framework that included a targeted literature review, international and local precedent studies, semi-structured interviews with key informants, and surveys. These techniques assisted with the formulation of the TOD local area spatial development framework and associated catalytic projects for the Bellville Central Area. This dissertation proposes TOD catalytic projects geared towards the established vision for the Bellville Central Area to become a vibrant, diverse and an interconnected TOD node, with a unique sense of place within the city. Furthermore, policy recommendations in the form of a TOD district overlay zone are proposed in order to ensure effective regulatory controls for the Bellville Central Area which includes: development zones (Intensification zones, active zones and transition zones), pro-active planning and streamlined development applications, transport management tools such as a parking management system and pricing strategy, as well as informal street trading, and crime and safety strategies geared towards improved urban management for the area.

Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of City and Regional Planning, 1960 / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-85). / by Robert Paul Huefner. / M.C.P. / M.C.P. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of City and Regional Planning

The notion of adequate housing considers the economic, political, and social components of housing which in Cape Town translates to housing that is well located, affordable, and accessible and creates urban place-making. Both state-subsidised and private development has failed to deliver adequate housing in Cape Town, exacerbating an existing housing and affordable housing shortage and perpetuating spatial inequality in the city. Planning system plays a dynamic role in enabling adequate housing. It is important to distinguish between planning systems that ‘control' and ones that are ‘flexible'. This study critically explores the role of planning regulations and by-laws in the development of adequate housing by means of state-subsidised and other housing instruments. The case of the City of Cape Town's planning regulations, related by-laws and housing policies is the source of ethnographic, empirical findings. These qualitative findings have been generated by way of interviews – with professional planners working in the public and private sectors as well as members of nongovernmental organizations concerned with housing and development in Cape Town – and analysis of planning regulation and policy documentation and secondary data from media sources. A theoretical framework consisting of literature on well-located, affordable, and accessible housing, and the nature and role of planning systems in relation to adequate housing, is the basis of the analysis and synthesis of the research findings. This case study shows that in Cape Town elements of the planning regulations and by-laws act as barriers to the development of adequate affordable housing. But it is not simply the existence of these elements that is the issue. How the planning regulations and by-laws as well as other planning systems are used is also of importance. Non-statutory planning tools address adequate affordable housing to a greater degree than the regulations and by-laws, however, these tools have weak paths to implementation within the current planning systems. So, while the intentions and ideas pertaining to adequate housing do exist to a certain degree in the planning systems, there is a gap in implementation. Additionally, multiple barriers outside of the domain of the planning regulations and by-laws emerged from the findings. Overall, this study indicates that aspects of the planning regulations and by-laws are hindering the development of affordable housing in Cape Town. However, they are but one of many barriers to the development of adequate housing on well-located land in the city.

Across the world, public transport is acknowledged as a crucial feature of any major city. In many countries, an efficient public transport system has been achieved by establishing an intermodal integrated transport system. In other words, integrating public transport modes for better coordination and efficiency. However, public transport in the City of Cape Town is inefficient and lacks coordination. Thus, the City of Cape Town experiences high volumes of congestion as a result of increased private car use. Over the years, the City has produced many plans and policies in line with the national and provincial legislation to create an intermodal integrated transport system. However, this transport system has yet to materialise. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the institutional barriers that impact the extent to which an urban public transport system can be integrated. The aim was achieved through collecting data from several interviews with public and private professionals involved with transport in the City of Cape Town. The interview data was analysed in relation to literature and policy documents. The results of this study show that fragmentation of the ownership of public transport modes is one of the most significant and overarching barriers to integration. Solving this fragmenting has proved difficult due to continuous institutional restructuring at local and national government levels, which results in the draining way of leadership and capacity. Another significant barrier to integration is the unique difficulties of integrating the paratransit (minibus taxi) sector as it is fragmented, operates at an enormous scale, experiences resistance to integration and is characterised by instability as a result of violence. Political tensions between opposing political parties at different levels of government and within the City of Cape Town also acted as barriers since they resulted in instability and a lack of coordination. Funding constraints for various aspects of integration are also a barrier. Finally, one of the most profound barriers was that although there are plenty of policies for integration throughout the three spheres of government, the findings suggest a lack of common vision and political will behind policies hinders implementation. This is coupled with siloed planning and old mindsets. Some also argue that many overarching policy visions for integration may be entirely incorrect in the first place.

Cities and their sub-units are increasingly conceived as being dynamic, relational, and unbounded. Due to these attributes, they are recognised as a key means of driving sustainability and sustainable urban development (which is best understood as the entwined requirements for progress towards lasting wellbeing). In response to this, the global policy document the New Urban Agenda Illustrated introduced a fourth dimension to sustainable urban development: spatial sustainability, wherein guiding the physical form of urban environments towards specific spatial conditions can enhance social, economic, and environmental value and wellbeing and, in so doing, arrive at equity. The document recommends the use of local area plans to guide urban development toward spatial sustainability. However, South Africa's local area plans are currently not conceptualised to guide spatial sustainability which, as a recent global concept, has yet to be rigorously researched in specific contexts. Moreover, local area plans are generally under-explored and under-utilised in South African planning theory and policy, where the emphasis is on large-scale strategic spatial plans and spatial development frameworks. In response to this, the research aims to 1) establish whether South Africa's planning system requires local area plans and, if so, to clarify their contribution, and 2) to enrich the interpretation of spatial sustainability, with the view to 3) exploring how planners might re-discover and re-conceptualise local area plans to guide spatial sustainability. The research aims were achieved through the qualitative research approach that methodologically made use of a case study in Maitland, Cape Town. Data was collected and analysed through various techniques and against a conceptual framework derived from a literature review. The study employed design-orientated inquiry in which an initial local area plan proposal was presented to a focus group and – based on their feedback – undetected facets of analysis were further explored and the local area plan proposal was redrafted. The enriched interpretation of spatial sustainability recognises that space that seeks to achieve equity comprises relations and processes as much as the substantive features of physical form. To this end, the research suggests that it is necessary to appreciate the context, structure, and dynamics of place (the product of planned space), which is best understood through analysing the activity, psychology, and physicality of place. The results of this analysis in Maitland are threefold. Firstly, the analysis confirms that local area plans are a crucial component of South Africa's planning system when situated in areas of strategic importance. Secondly, Maitland is revealed to be a multifaceted port-of-entry neighbourhood where relations and practices extend beyond the area's boundaries. Thirdly, the results suggest that a local area plan re-conceptualised to guide spatial sustainability should be viewed as both a process and a product. In other words, local area planning requires two responses: it needs to produce a material local area plan (the plan as a noun), and the method of achieving that plan needs to foster the conditions for diverse current and future involvement in the planning process (planning as a verb). Based on these significant findings and using Maitland as a point of reference, the research proposes recommendations for preparing for, producing, and sustaining a local area plan in areas of strategic importance. Re-discovered and re-conceptualised in this way, local area plans are an essential means of achieving equity and lasting wellbeing in complex contemporary contexts, which is the fundamental objective of spatial sustainability.

Historically - and currently - women in the global South have generally been viewed as subordinate to men. This is often centred around social perceptions of the different genders and is especially apparent in modern-day leadership, policymaking and managerial roles, where roles are often set aside for men. In the Cape Town township of Nyanga, three public spaces have been identified as crime hotspots. Women who live in the area do not feel safe in these spaces and are often the victims of crime. Thus, there is a need for an in-depth, gender-sensitive investigation into the safety of Nyanga's public spaces. This study seeks to do this and to explore how and why Nyanga's public spaces are failing to deliver gender-sensitive safety outcomes. Methodologically, the aim and main research question of the study is geared towards answering “how” and “why” questions, which necessitate a qualitative (case study and ethnographic research) approach. The tools that are used to collect such data are interviews, observations and mapping as well as Instagram question polls. The results of this study show that in order to provide safe gendersensitive outcomes, appropriate spatial interventions and safety tools need to be implemented for public spaces in Nyanga. Going forward, knowledge from this research recommends planning interventions and design resolutions that encourage South African planners and other built environment practitioners to incorporate gender-sensitive inventions in their thinking and practices. Above all else, this knowledge is geared towards empowering women by not confining them to the indoor realm of the household, but empowering them to reclaim their rights to public spaces.