M.A. / Emergence of informal settlements on vacant lands in urban areas results from intuition and political decisions, and sometimes cultural background. So any available vacant land is used for settlement development and dwelling sites. An informal settlement named after Elias Motsoaledi, a political activist of the African National Congress (ANC), was developed in the south-western part of the city of Johannesburg in 1993. Motsoaledi informal settlement was established on a vacant piece of land where there are overhead power lines. Motsoaledi community members that have their dwellings in close proximity and even underneath overhead power lines are exposed to an environment that is surrounded by electrical magnetic fields (EMFs). There are no reported cases of biological and health consequences that have been caused by EMFs as yet. This study aims to focus on the health aspect of persons who have their dwelling in the vicinity of the overhead power lines in Motsoaledi. The high levels of EMFs around Motsoaledi is further excelerated by the zinc structures that are conductive to electricity and may result in electrocution for dwellers that are in the direct vicinity of overhead power lines. Longer exposure to athermal conditions may result in bio-effects and lead to changes in human health. Furthermore, effects from EMFs are possible electrocution, often causing immediate death of persons and destruction of property. Due to the lack of proper planning of informal settlements, such settlements become vulnerable to potential environmental hazards such as the destruction of structures. This study hopes to identify the plight of a particular informal settlement, namely, Motsoaledi as an isolated case to reflect dire conditions of most of the informal settlements around the country.

This thesis deals with the problems confronting a Neighbourhood House in a district which has been affected by business and industrial encroachment, growth of arterial roads, "isolation" of certain sections of the district. It questions the effectiveness of the agency's present role in such a district and suggests possible changes. It further points out the feelings of many of the residents toward the district, their opinions about Alexandra House and their programme suggestions for adults and children. The social welfare significance of this thesis is that it illustrates the future effectiveness of a group work agency in a changing community. In addition, it indicates what adjustments are necessary in order that the agency may most effectively meet the needs of their membership in such a community. Finally, it notes what effect the changing district has had on its residents. The principal method used in this thesis was a survey (a schedule) which was composed of three parts: (1) General questions to residents about the agency and the district. (2) Specific questions to parents and (3) Specific questions to senior citizens, teenagers, etc. The results were analyzed and presented in tabular form using cross-tabulation of specific questions to ascertain more meaningful results. Some charts and an arterial photograph were also used to present a more descriptive graphic picture of certain areas of the district. The findings of this thesis show: (1) that the future of the agency is limited to a fifteen or twenty year period in view of industrial encroachment and the life-expectancy of most buildings of the district, (2) that the district has become more transient than formerly, (3) that the district has been divided into at least five "pocket areas" by the growth of arterial roads and the construction of new bridge spans. These findings indicate that the agency should investigate the following possibilities: (1) offering new programme, (2) offering increased programmes to adults, (3) initiating at least two more extension programmes and increasing the service to the one already in operation, (4) carefully investigating any future changes in the district which may affect its role in the district. By so doing, the agency will be able to offer maximum service to residents of the eastern section of the Kitsilano district. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

ABSTRACT This is a concerted effort at understanding the contemporary utopian processes and systems of the formation and spatial narratives of the people it is designed for. Locality and nostalgia is the essence of the times we live in. There is currently a global refuge crisis which is defined and can be contained within each countries borders as well as external forces that disrupt the ‘contemporary utopia’s’ of the times. Man is conditioned from early life to be fascinated by the longing of a place to dwell. Safety and familiarity of place is an important state of where people choose to dwell. Dwelling is also a proponent of opportunity where local migrants and immigrants to the environment with limited resources such as South Africa. According to the UNHCR, it was determined that in 2015, South Africa received 62 159 asylum claims. A total of this, 2,499 were approved for refugee status while 58,141 were denied, suggesting that all the applications in the 2015 period were dealt with. However, 14,093 were appealed, and of these 12,361 remained open into 2016 (Africa Check, 2016). The conditions of these new city dwellers is threatened by a new spatial continuum of land restitution and/or transformation, very bureaucratic legal process, resource accessibility and inclusivity. There is an inherent lack of spaces of community building within the Pretoria CBD, with most space succumbing to decay, a sustained urban sprawl, monofunctional territories, and nucleated densities. New migrants into the city struggle to find formal and informal opportunities and resources for ‘urban survival-ism’. These conditions are ones that have ruinous affects on the cities utopian public spaces that mostly are stuck in the spatial utilitarianism of the time of production. The dissertation Real and Re-imagined Spaces as Contemporary Utopia’s looks to reevaluate the current conditions of the city that manufacture a hostile urban context and subsequently ‘agonistic’ people without spaces to commune. The urban condition is territorial, consumed by a fence fetish, entrapped by different spatial and architectural utopias and ruins. The presence of ruins is evidenced by a preoccupation with ‘Heritage’ architecture and landscapes. These leftover spaces and heritage provide 1 opportunities to have new layers of memory and legacy that is conscious to erasure, space-making, man and the environment, and the trappings of time. / UKUQALA Lena umzamo ohlanganyelwe ekuqondeni izinqubo zezinsuku zokuphila zangasese kanye nezinhlelo zokwakheka nezindatshana zendawo zabantu ezenzelwe. Indawo kanye ne-nostalgia yizona zinkinga zezikhathi esiphila kuzo. Njengamanje isiphephelo sezokuphepha emhlabeni jikelele esichazwe futhi singatholakala ngaphakathi kwamanye amazwe omngcele kanye namandla angaphandle aphazamisa ‘ubuholi besikhathi samanje’ ngezikhathi. Umuntu uphonywe kusukela ebusweni bokuqala ukuze athabe ukulangazelela indawo yokuhlala. Ukuphepha nokujwayela indawo kuyindawo ebalulekile lapho abantu bakhetha ukuhlala khona. Ukuhlala kubuye kube ngumgqugquzeli wamathuba lapho abafuduka khona kanye nabafuduki bezemvelo abanemithombo encane njengeNingizimu Afrika. Ngokwe-United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (okubizwa ngokuthi i-UNHCR kusuka lapha), kwaqunywa ukuthi ngo-2015, iNingizimu Afrika ithole izimangalo ezingu-62 159 zokukhoseliswa. Okubonke lokhu, abangu-2,499 bavunyelwe ukuba babe ngababaleki ngenkathi kuthiwa abangu-58 141 banqatshelwe, okuphakamisa ukuthi zonke izicelo ngonyaka wezi-2015 zibhekwa nazo. Kodwa-ke, abangu-14,093 babethweswa icala, futhi kulaba abangu-12 361 bahlala bevulekile ngo-2016 (i-Africa Check, 2016). Izimo zalaba bantu abahlala emadolobheni amasha zisongelwa ukuqhubeka kwendawo yokubuyisela umhlaba kanye / noma ukuguqulwa, inqubo yomthetho enobulungisa, ukutholakala kwemithombo kanye nokuhlanganiswa. Kukhona ukungabi nalutho kwezikhala zomsebenzi womphakathi ngaphakathi kwePitoli Central Business District (CBD kusuka lapha), iningi lendawo ehluleka ukubola, izindawo ezihlala emadolobheni, izindawo zokusebenza, kanye nezinkinga ezingasebenzi. Abafuduki abasha bangena emzabalazweni womuzi ukuthola amathuba asemthethweni namasosha ‘okusinda emadolobheni-ism’. Lezi zimo yizona ezithintekayo emadolobheni ezindaweni ezingekho emphakathini ezivame ukunamathela emphakathini wesikhathi sokukhiqiza. I-dissertation Real and Re-imagined Spaces njengobukeka be-Contemporary Utopia ukuhlola kabusha izimo zamanje zomuzi ezakha umongo wendawo edolobheni kanye nabantu abangenayo i-agonistic ngaphandle kwezikhala zokuxhumana. Isimo sasezindaweni zasemadolobheni siyindawo, sidliwa izinkinga zokubiya mawala, siboshwe yizindawo ezihlukahlukene kanye nezindawo zokuchitha izindawo. Ukutholakala kwamanxiwa kuboniswa ukukhathazeka ngezakhiwo ‘zeGugu’ nezindwangu. Lezi zikhala kanye namagugu asele ahlinzeka amathuba okuba nemigqa emisha yememori kanye nefa eliqaphela ukukhipha, ukwenza isikhala, umuntu kanye nemvelo, kanye nokuhamba kwesikhathi. / Mini Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

As our global community grapples with the ongoing challenges of climate change mitigation and adaptation, records of past climate changes provide important benchmarks for climate models and insights into the interactions between climate changes, human societies, and the landscape. In this dissertation, I reconstruct past changes in climate and redefine the human settlement history of the North Atlantic region. Understanding the human and climate history of the North Atlantic is particularly important because the region is especially sensitive to changes in climate, and climate and oceanographic changes in the region have global ramifications. I focus on the Faroe Islands and Iceland. These islands are close to oceanographic and atmospheric fronts and are sensitive to small changes in the climate system. Furthermore, the Faroes and Iceland were not settled by humans until the the first millennium CE, and as such, provide climate records that are unaltered by human land use activities for most of the Holocene, and are important test cases for understanding human-climate-landscape interactions after human settlement. In this work, I use lake sediment cores to reconstruct continuous climate records for the Holocene period, and in some cases, snapshots of previous interglacials. Lipid biomarkers are a group of molecules that accumulate in lake sediment and can be traced back to organisms in the lake or its watershed. I use these molecules and their isotopic compositions to quantify past changes in temperature and precipitation isotopes, which provide constraints on past climate and atmospheric circulation. I use fecal biomarkers, which are produced by the gut bacteria of humans and livestock, to determine when humans first settled in a lake’s watershed, and the impact they had on the environment. Ancient DNA stored in lake sediment can also be used to trace past changes in vegetation and to determine if livestock were present in the watershed, enhancing our understanding of agricultural impacts on the landscape. By combining these molecular tools, in Chapter 2, I reconstruct the Holocene and Last Interglacial climate in the Faroe Islands using the hydrogen and carbon isotopes of leaf waxes. In this case, I found that the Faroe Islands slowly transitioned over the Holocene from a climate that was warmer and wetter than present conditions, to a climate that is cooler and drier. In the Faroes, the Last Interglacial climate was similar to the early Holocene. In Chapter 3, I use fecal biomarkers and sedimentary ancient DNA to determine that humans arrived 300 years prior than previously thought. Human settlement caused erosion in the catchment and a shift in the vegetation community. In Chapter 4, I use the hydrogen isotopic composition of leaf waxes in conjunction with a biomarker-based temperature reconstruction from a lake in Iceland to determine past shifts in regional atmospheric circulation. I found that a shift towards more northerly-sourced precipitation, consistent with conditions similar to a positive NAO, occurred at the same time as regional neoglaciation and expansion of sea ice. All together, these records advance our understanding of Holocene and Last Interglacial climate change, the human settlement history

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<p>Usled pojave novog nacina oblikovanja prostora naselja i uocenih osnovnih<br />tendencija transformacija, pri kojima se gube osnovne karakteristike tradicionalno<br />formiranih blokova, otpocelo je istraživanje uloge urbanog i ruralnog bloka u<br />formiranju strukture i identiteta naselja u Vojvodini. Osnovni cilj ove doktorske<br />disertacije je da se potvrdi da je blok oduvek bio sastavni, ponekad i neodvojivi, deo<br />strukture naselja, njegov prepoznatljiv element i znacajno mesto susedstva, pa da je,<br />zbog toga, bitno sacuvati njegove vrednosti i pri buducim intervencijama u naseljima.<br />Da bi se shvatio uzrok pojave nestajanja tradicionalnog bloka, istraživane su<br />njegove karakteristike u naseljima iz pro&scaron;losti, a prouceni su i stavovi o bloku svetski<br />poznatih autora iz oblasti urbanizma i arhitekture. Analiziranjem nacina razmi&scaron;ljanja<br />razlicitih autora i uocavanjem efekata njihovih stavova po pitanju organizacije,<br />funkcionisanja, ekologije i ostalih karakteristika blokova, do&scaron;lo se do novih saznanja<br />bitnih za dalje delovanje u oblastima planiranja, projektovanja, gra&eth;enja, za&scaron;tite i<br />edukacije. Detaljnim sagledavanjem bloka kao samostalnog elementa, ali i kao<br />elementa koji je u me&eth;udejstvu sa ostalim delovima naselja, istražene su sve<br />njegove vrednosti i dokazana je njegova uloga u formiranju strukture i identiteta<br />naselja.<br />Na primerima urbanih i ruralnih naselja iz Vojvodine i njenog okruženja<br />analizirane su i me&eth;usobno upore&eth;ene osnovne karakteristike centralnih i perifernih<br />blokava i dokazan je njihov uticaj na formiranje stukture i identiteta naselja.<br />Konstatovane su velike slicnosti izme&eth;u istraživanih blokova, ali i odre&eth;ene razlike.<br />Tokom istraživanja su konstatovane i slicnosti izme&eth;u razlicitih prostornih elemenata<br />kao npr. izme&eth;u naselja, bloka, objekta i predmeta. Na osnovu svega toga je<br />zakljuceno da je blok zaista jedan od osnovnih elemenata naselja, cijem oblikovanju i<br />rekonstrukciji, zbog toga, treba prilaziti veoma oprezno i sveobuhvatno.<br />Na osnovu sprovedenih istraživanja naselja i njihovih blokova, kako u<br />pro&scaron;losti, tako i u sada&scaron;njosti, naznacene su moguce vizije razvoja bloka. Sa<br />osnovnim ciljem da se sacuvaju vrednosti koje ima tradicionalno organizovan blok,<br />kao i da se ukaže na metode razvoja i transformacija blokova u buducnosti, do&scaron;lo se<br />do preporuka za njihovo: planiranje, projektovanje, gra&eth;enje, za&scaron;titu i edukaciju koja<br />se odnosi na blok. Teorijska istraživanja su konkretizovana kroz izradu modela<br />istraživanja naselja i blokova, data je i anketa za istraživanje socijalnih kontakata u<br />okviru blokova, a po formiranim modelima je sprovedeno istraživanje na 16 naselja i<br />32 bloka. Rezultati ove doktorske disertacije su formulisani u obliku preporuka za<br />intervenisanje u razlicitim oblastima ure&eth;enja prostora naselja. Pri tome se ocekuje<br />da se doprinese adekvatnijem ure&eth;enju blokova, a time i naselja.</p> / <p> Due to the appearance of the new manner of forming space in settlements and<br /> the observed basic tendencies of transformation, resulting in the loss of basic<br /> characteristics of traditional blocks, this research commenced with the role of urban<br /> and rural block in forming the structure and the identity of settlements in Vojvodina.<br /> The basic aim of this Doctoral dissertation is to confirm that the block has always<br /> been an incorporated and sometimes the inseparable segment of settlement<br /> structure, its recognisable element and an important place of neighbouring.<br /> Therefore, it has been essential to protect values of traditional blocks in future<br /> interventions in settlements.<br /> In order to understand the causes of traditional block disappearance, the<br /> dissertation deals with researching its characteristics historically, accompanying with<br /> studying the opinions on blocks by world-known authors in the field of urbanism and<br /> architecture. The analysis on the manner of thinking of various authors and the<br /> observations on the effects of their opinion on organization, function, ecology and<br /> other characteristics of blocks led to new knowledge essential for further work in<br /> planning, designing, construction, protection and education. Scanning a block as an<br /> individual element, yet an element in interaction with the other segments of<br /> settlement as well, all its values have been investigated and its role in forming the<br /> structure and the identity of settlements has been proven.<br /> Utilizing the examples from urban and rural settlements in Vojvodina and the<br /> surrounding regions, the basic characteristics of central and peripheral blocks have<br /> been analysed and mutually compared, and their influence on creating the structure<br /> and the identity of settlements has been proven. Extensive similarities among the<br /> examined blocks have been established, as well as certain differences. During the<br /> research, certain similarities between diverse spatial elements have been observed<br /> as well, such as between settlements, blocks, facilities and objects. Based on the<br /> above, it could have been concluded that the block is truly one of the basic elements<br /> of settlements; thus, it is necessary to approach its shape and reconstruction very<br /> carefully and thoroughly.<br /> Based on the conducted researches of settlements and their blocks, in the<br /> past as well as in the present, plausible visions of block&#39;s development have been<br /> specified. In order to preserve the values of traditionally organized blocks, as well as<br /> to indicate the methods of the block development and transformation in the future,<br /> the dissertation offers certain recommendations for their planning, designing,<br /> construction, building protection and education referring to blocks. The theoretical<br /> researches have been realized through making of research models of settlements<br /> and blocks. The dissertation also provides a questionnaire for the purpose of<br /> researching social contacts within blocks, while the formed models were utilized to<br /> conduct a research on 16 settlements and 32 blocks. The results of this Doctoral<br /> dissertation have been presented as recommendations for the interventions in<br /> diverse areas of settlement area arrangements. They are expected to contribute to<br /> more adequate arrangement of blocks and hence the settlements as well.</p>

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / Living in informal settlements is associated, theoretically, with the exposure and vulnerability to Brown Environmental Problems. Literature further stresses the association of informal settlements and poor living conditions by demonstrating that the establishment of informal settlements around the cities is intricately associated with poor living conditions that enforce circumstances of perpetual risk and high levels of vulnerability to Brown Environmental Problems. Overcrowding, poor service provision and heavy reliance on dirty fuels characterizes informal settlements and therefore link these settlements and environmental risks and hazards. The link between informal settlements and environmental risks and hazards is in return making people who live in these settlements vulnerable to, among other things, the Brown Environmental Problems, such as indoor pollution, dirty water, poor sanitation and poor waste management. It therefore became increasingly necessary to investigate the vulnerability to Brown Environmental Problems associated within these settlements. The investigation was done in Seshego, Zone 6, mostly known as Shushumela (Rainbow-Park). The study adopted a combination of the qualitative and quantitative approaches. The qualitative approach was used to describe the characteristics of the informal settlement, the types and origins of the Brown Environmental Problems, the living conditions within the settlement, and to detail the individual accounts of the informal settlements population’s opinions and experiences on their vulnerability. Additionally, quantitative approach was used to measure the demographic profile of the households within the settlements, to determine the population density in the settlements, the frequency of the households’ exposure to a variety of Brown Environmental Problems and the amount of time of exposure to dirty fuels, dirty water, and poor sanitation. The prevalence rate of the different types of the Brown Environmental Problems was also quantitatively constructed. The study compiled its conceptual framework by digesting and synthesising contributions from the system of ideas that involves the general assumption about the relationship between informal settlements living conditions and vulnerability of the populations therein to Brown Environmental Problems. Zone 6 is an informal settlement in Seshego, this settlement is also known as Rainbow Park-Shushumela. Like other informal settlements, Shushumela comprises of people who need a place to stay but unable to find one due to various reasons one of them being affordability issue. Shushumela informal settlement does not have basic services. Its residents stay in shacks and use their own ways to survive the situation of living without electricity, adequate sanitation and waste removal services. The residents are exposed to various Brown Environmental Problems such as indoor air pollution due the use of paraffin wood and coal, waterborne diseases and sanitation-borne diseases due to the limited access of water and use of pit latrines. The residents’ overall living conditions expose them to Brown Environmental Problems.

In this thesis settlement areas and settlements from the Bronze Age on Gotland are in focus. The island of Gotland in the middle of the Baltic Sea is famous for its rich archaeological remains of monuments and relics from all pre-historic periods, and the Bronze Age (1700-500 BC) especially is well repre- sented. There are nearly a thousand cairns, over 300 stone-ship settings and a large amount of bronze finds, but there are few traits of contemporary settlements. With few exceptions the settlements from all pre-historic periods are in one way “invisible” but during the last decades the context has changed, as has knowledge of the settlements from the Bronze Age. Research published throughout the first ten years of the 21th century offers new and refreshing interpretations concerning settlements and houses from the period in question on both a regional level and in more comprehensive studies across Scandinavia. This is due to continued advances in archaeological methods to see the invisible remains however many of the sites are discovered in exploitation-excavations. In a smaller scale this is also true for Gotland and during the last decade there are scattered finds of houses from the period in the shape of post-holes, hearths and cooking pits. The situation on the island is not to expect larger ex- ploitations followed by excavations so we have to test other ways to look for the settlement areas and settlements. In this study I therefor examine if there are any relations to the visible, in first hand cont- emporary types of monuments such as burnt mounds, cairns, stone ship settings and finds of bronzes, to sites seen as possible settlement areas from the Bronze Age. In this context I also have to consider the remains from the early Iron Age, foremost the visible remains of fossilised fields and ancient forts. The theoretical framework is a hermeneutic approach in the study of the relations of each cont- emporary types of monuments contextualized with possible settlements. As Gotland is an island I have to relate to the meaning of landscape and islands. To get closer to the society and the social orga- nisation, my aim is also to come closer to the people who lived their daily lives on Gotland during the Bronze Age and to consider the question of the chiefdoms and the social organisation.