As urbanisation trends continues and increases across the world, urban trends have seen urban growth take place horizontally, leading to undesired urban sprawl. With the global introduction of the automobile in the 1960's, urban sprawl has been exacerbated with the automobile allowing for the decentralisation of employment, residential, commercial and leisure opportunities away from the Central Business Districts of the city. Due to a multitude of negative social, environmental and economic effects associated with urban sprawl, spatial planning practices have been aimed at reversing this trend and ultimately creating a more compact urban form. In addition to undesired urban sprawl, the use of private vehicles as the dominant mode of transport has also been problematic. In an attempt to address these issues simultaneously, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) has recently been adopted as a tool with which to achieve transformation of urban forms. This study aims to explore TOD has a tool by assisting to (i) provide a theoretical base and historical perspective of TOD; (ii) provide insight regarding the principles and benefits of TOD that has promoted the use of TOD as a transformative tool; (iii) understand the role of land use and transport planning in providing a platform for the implementation of TOD strategies; (iv) identify cases where TOD has been adopted successfully; (v) understand the role of the legal environment in South Africa with regards to the implementation of TOD strategies; (vi) depicting how the ideal TOD environment could look and function in Cape Town; (vii) understanding how South Africa's legal environment promotes TOD at local level of government in Cape Town and; (viii) what key issues and challenges currently hinder the successful implementation of TOD strategies in Cape Town. This study makes use of a literature review, as well as an empirical study where existing documents (such as spatial development frameworks and integrated transport network plans) are analysed and qualitative and quantitative data is used to explore a number of case studies. From the case studies and additional research it was evident that there is a need for a sound legislative platform which promotes and supports the adoption of TOD at all spheres of government. It was further found that several issues and challenges are made mention of in municipal plans and policies, but that these issues and challenges continue to negatively influence the implementation and success of TOD in Cape Town. Existing legal tools and instruments are not necessarily capable of creating a platform for the implementation of TOD and would thus need to be amended or integrated with other local level strategies. If Cape Town is to successfully use TOD as a tool with which to rectify spatial issues, the legal environment needs to better promote the integration of land use and transport planning in order to encourage densification and to ensure that public transport becomes a viable means of transport in the city. Only once the above mentioned are addressed, can the spatial form of the city be transformed through TOD and future development can contribute to the sustainability of Cape Town.

Includes bibliographical references / The South African city is facing overarching issues which include skewed and dysfunctional urban forms, rapid urbanization and population growth resulting in ever increasing poverty, inequality and unemployment. The spatial configuration and socio-economic concerns were triggered by the 'historical development trajectory' during the Apartheid Era alongside with infective urban management policies and practices during the post-Apartheid period. These innumerable patterns of spatial segregation have created important structural ineptitudes which contribute to the aforementioned socio-economic challenges. According to Stats SA (2011), more than 60% of South Africans live in urban regions. Thus, the consequences of urbanisation and a high fertility rate are bringing new challenges to the urban management in South African's settlements. There are two main implications deriving from these identified demographic dynamics. Firstly, the patterns of urban growth which accompany rapid urbanisation. The legacy of the Apartheid Planning Model together with the rising demand for housing and social service infrastructure has resulted in an urban system characterised by low density urban sprawl, a fragmented coarse-grain urban fabric, the separation of various social groups (racial and income) and dysfunctional urban land-uses. Secondly, the social consequences resulted from expanding growing level of poverty, imbalanced development, unemployment and informality levels within human settlements. In response to the fore-mentioned issues, this report argues a Spatial Development Framework and precinct design for the town of George. The SDF and precinct design are believed to create a restructuring process for a balanced approach towards development and economic growth. From a spatial perspective, the SDF aims to achieve this vision through the creation of a sustainable and equitable town.

Includes bibliographical references / This Dissertation discusses the economic development of Newcastle, once a growth point that enjoyed the influx of manufacturing firms due to Regional Industrial Decentralisation Policy and initiatives by the Newcastle Municipality. During the apartheid era, planning was a top down approach and was the responsibility of the national government which meant that the local municipalities had to follow in their direction. The beginning of the 1990 has marked the end of policies that afforded incentives to industries in selected regions and this proved to be detrimental to growth points that had previously relied on those incentives to keep industries alive. Newcastle is a significant case as it is an example of a previous growth point that managed to continue experiencing growth. Not only did Newcastle experience growth but it was able to diversify its economy numerous times. This analysis shows the different contributors to the economic development and diversification of the economy and also investigates if planning from the Newcastle Municipality have a role to play in it or not. I did an investigation into regional development documents developed by national government as well as documents produced by the Newcastle Local Municipality in order to see what the impact of planning was on economic development. As a primary source of information, I interviewed 11 people that consisted of manufacturing firms, retail stores, Newcastle Municipality officials and a government agency. What I have discovered is that although the planning from the Newcastle municipality was not the reason for initial growth in the town it did have an impact in facilitating an environment that was conducive to sustaining, the growth that the economy and market conditions allowed for. The case of Newcastle has proved to be an important one that can be used to adopt generalizations to planning theory. The lessons learnt from the case has allowed me to produce recommendations that can be applied to towns that have experienced similar events with regards to reliance on a single industry and on incentives provided for through policy.

Includes bibliographical references / Patterns of urban growth in South African cities reflect high levels of socio-economic inequalities, which are exacerbated by rapid population growth and urbanization. These conditions are experienced by many of South Africa's major cities, including Cape Town. The focus is on the inequitable and inefficient urban structure of South African cities, as well as the emerging global challenges for urban growth management faced by cities around the world. In response to these issues, the dissertation argues for strategic intensification on a well-located underutilized piece of land, in order to begin to reverse the skewed and non-integrated urban patterns prevalent in Cape Town. Moreover, the dissertation provides a case, which indicates a different way of thinking about urban restructuring, in the context of South African cities and particularly in the case of Cape Town. The Wingfield site is a strategically significant area as it is an inner city and corridor-reinforcing site allowing access to concentrations of existing opportunities. The restructuring and intensification of Wingfield intends to serve as a "pilot project" that could inspire similar local restructuring proposals to address the current structural inefficiencies of the Cape Town Metropolitan Region. The plan, therefore, requires restructuring of the existing urban structure towards a more integrated urban form, which is critical to the creation of positive urban settlements.

The dissertation evaluates the impacts of state relocation projects on beneficiaries housing satisfaction. The government embarks on relocation projects as a means to address massive housing backlog. One of the main drawbacks with relocation projects is locational disadvantage. The broad aim of this dissertation is to evaluate the impacts of a state led relocation project on beneficiary housing satisfaction. The research method employed in the study was the case study based on a state project used for the evaluation process. In order to evaluate beneficiary housing satisfaction, I set an impact assessment criteria specifically (1) enabling mobility; (2) enabling choice; (3) meeting economic needs; (4) meeting physical needs (5) meeting social needs and enabling access to public services; (6); enabling security of tenure; and (7) environmental resilience. The study findings revealed that beneficiaries were highly dissatisfied with their housing. The main driving factor to dissatisfaction was unfavourable location of the settlement which resulted in accessibility challenges to Cape Town central business district, socio-economic opportunities and transport. The relocation process impacted greatly on livelihood strategies of beneficiaries. Beneficiary aspirations were not met. The contribution of the study is not only to unveil the mismatch in state housing projects but also to ensure that future state assisted projects are delivered on quality approach as opposed to quantity approach.

In this dissertation, the author explores the theme and concept of enabling more integrated human-nature relationships through strategic spatial planning. The idea that ecological planning, at a number of scales, should be an integral part of the strategic spatial planning process, in order to enable this integration, was investigated, in the current context of environmental degradation as a result of unsustainable development trajectories, climate change uncertainty, social and economic inequality, the need for compaction, and the need to strategically develop well-located catalytic sites in the city. The notion of positive and sustainable spatial planning as an enabler of more integrated human-nature relationships is investigated in terms of ecological approaches to development. The current disconnection of humans and nature has long been attributed to anthropocentric , post-industrial, and consumerist paradigms which have encouraged unsustainable urban development models, usually with assumed inevitable negative effects on the natural environment. As a result, the natural world's carrying capacity, quality, and presence in urban areas, has been severely compromized. This has limited nature's capacity to provide the necessary life support systems for humans and development and essential goods and services. This study, therefore, suggests that a paradigm shift is necessary in terms of how urban development and the natural environment interact and in terms of fostering the conditions necessary for more integrated human-nature relationships. This paradigm shift is within the realm of possibility within the ecological and spatial planning discourses. This study develops and presents a local area spatial development framework for a well-located site in the Cape Town Metropolitan area: the Two Rivers Urban Park (TRUP) site. This SDF represents the development of a spatial model for as to how more-integrated human-nature relationships can be enabled through spatial planning on the site. The study presents a literature review of literature relevant to human-nature relationships, spatial planning, and ecological planning in order to establish a theoretical framework before conducting a multi-layer anaysis of the status quo of the site. A SDF is then presented to guide responsible, positive, and sustainable development on the site over a twenty year period (2016-2036). The implementation framework is then presented before the dissertation is concluded and the major findings, recommendations, and contributions of the study are discussed. The methods and techniques used for data collection, analysis, and interpretation included case study methods, discourse and policy analysis, desktop research, observations, non-structured interviews, mapping, aerial photography, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) analysis, and an iterative conceptual design process. The SDF was generated in response to the theoretical framework and contextual analysis of the site. The major conclusions and findings were that, through the process of developing the SDF, it is possible to exhibit how spatial and ecological planning may be integrated in order to enable and foster deeper connections between humans and nature. The framework seeks to exhibit good-practice pilot projects and strategic interventions which should be innovatively implemented in terms of satisfying the criteria of positive development, sustainability, and depper human-nature relationships. A series of intentional and conscious eco-village type communities are envisioned on the site, whose way of life is closely connected and integrated into a single socio-ecological system with nature. Recommendations for future planning and research are presented and a personal reflection articulated before the study is concluded.

The inner city of Johannesburg presents a high number of informal traders who seek to make use of urban public space in their livelihood strategies. However, the forces driving the performance of informal traders have not led to positive development of opportunities for traders. Operation Clean Sweep in 2013, was a means of strongly enforcing the informal trading by-laws and removing traders from the pavements and public spaces in the inner-city Johannesburg. Regulation of informal trade has been conducted by the progressively formulated informal trading policy, however, it possesses ineffective implementation strategies. This research addresses the driving forces that affect informal traders' opportunities and the issues that arise from these present forces. The three driving forces which are of greatest impact on informal traders and are investigated in this research, institutions, regulatory and infrastructural forces. The study shows that informal traders experience complex dual realities affected by these driving forces and their need to engage in the informal economy to meet their livelihood strategies. The research seeks to address the use of urban public space by informal traders in meeting their needs, while understanding how these spaces are shaped and determined. The study aims at evaluating the performance of three case study areas located within the inner-city Johannesburg. The performance is measured in terms of meeting the needs of informal traders and providing opportunities for their economic and social development, while ensuring that the needs of the collective public are addressed as well. The background reading and desktop study were used to establish research questions before conducting interviews. These interviews were conducted with informal traders, government officials, private sector, NGOs and civil society. Using case study and discourse analysis methods, and the previously mentioned techniques, this study addresses the issues that informal traders face in light of the driving forces. It also examines how these have shaped the performance of urban pubic space in meeting the needs of informal traders as well as the collective public. The study aims to address these issues with urban planning principles and supplements these with policy recommendations to improve opportunities afforded to informal traders. While the recommendations put forward in this study require a long-term plan, such a plan also requires improved integration between governing departments and managing bodies. This research aims to improve this integration and governing structure, through recommending that increased responsibility for informal trading be taken up by the Johannesburg City Council Development Planning Department.

Rapidly rising cultural levels give the Public Library, as an institution, public services. a social significance comparable with most other Strongly linked on the one hand with vital educational institutions but providing also for the recreational needs of increasing millions of people on the other public library services are now claiming the attention not only of those closely concerned, such as professional librarians and city administrators, but also of a growing spectrum of social scientists, planners and urbanists. The importance of a widespread and efficient library system to a relatively advanced and progressive urban centre such as Cape Town therefore needs little emphasis.

The Bellevue Community Plan (BCP) was developed to be consistent with the Merced Vision 2030 General Plan, and is highly reflective of its policies, illustrative plans and guiding features, such as providing significant employment generating uses that would benefit from being in close proximity to the UC Merced campus. The BCP establishes a high-level planning framework that strikes a balance between certainty and flexibility by anchoring key land uses while allowing their size to adapt to changing market conditions in response to economic growth and the expansion of UC Merced. While the BCP provides a broad range of uses and densities that could occur throughout the plan area, it emphasizes the foundational building blocks of street connectivity, functional mobility choices, active and passive recreation open space corridors and bikeways, gateway street designs, and attractive business park settings to create a great sense of place with investment certainty.

The potential of emerging technology to address poly-urban issues is a growing focus on the agendas of cities worldwide. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding how and in whose interests it should be applied - should the aim be to establish 'smart cities' or to encourage 'smart citizens'? The 'bottom-up' approach advocates the latter and recognises the potential of technology to facilitate the prioritisation of issues and co-production of spaces. Particularly in a developing context where resources are severely limited, the ability to prioritise interventions to have maximum impact is exciting. However, these projects and the processes which enable them are under-researched. In this dissertation, a combination of Network Action Research and case study methods are used to guide the application of a selection of digital tools in combination with semi-structured and indepth interviews, surveys, and focus groups to a specific context. The products of this are insights regarding the processes which enable inclusive bottom-up smart city projects; the application of the Network Action Research method; and a context-specific resource of information to guide the future prioritisation of projects and planning in the study area. This dissertation explores the value of inclusive participation in planning, and the role that technology can play in facilitating this. However, it also uncovers the complex and non-linear nature of these projects, ultimately arguing that although technology is a valuable resource, it is not a catch-all. A hybridised approach to bottom-up smart city projects is crucial to their success.