Contemporary societies are facing rapid growth, urbanization and migration into the form of urban cities and environments. This requires the ever-expanding need for urban infrastructures to facilitate growing populations, communities and economies within cities. A vital elements within modern urban environments is the need for different forms of urban mobility in order to facilitate the movement and flow of people, goods and communication networks. Within the realm of urban mobility is the important aspect of public transport infrastructures as a system of creating more sustainable and equitable mobility for people within urban environments. Within cities of the global South, such as Cape Town, greater public transport systems are highly reliant on non-motorized transport (NMT) systems. This is due to issues of affordability, efficiency and spatial proximity of large portions of the population in relation to public transport facilities. Therefore, a substantial amount of urban mobility is facilitated by walking as a mode of transport. However, public transport within Cape Town are impacted by issues of personal safety. This is most visible in the Cape Town central business district (CBD). There is a lack of knowledge, design and planning around how people move within the city, and how NMT systems are used within the greater public transport domain. Issues of personal safety become the dominant focus for NMT and human-scale mobility within the city centre. This research examines these issues in more detail. In order to gain deeper knowledge around the experiences of NMT users within the CBD – a qualitative method of research was applied. The research used a gender-sensitive lens in order to gain an understanding as to how gender roles contribute to issues of personal safety and issues of mobility within the urban environment. The objective was to demonstrate the intersection of issues of personal safety within mobility and within space. The research is used as a foundation for creating a mobile phone App prototype. The design is based on user-generated data to create a tool that can help commuters find the safest human-scale mobility routes within the CBD. This tool demonstrates how ICT (information and communication technology) systems can be used to create safer mobility infrastructures and networks. The prototype relies on user-generated data that creates a platform for citizens to become planners in their everyday transport navigations. Thus the research also explores how technology and user-generated data can inform planning and urban management. This resulted in a tool that enables a cyclical system that blends the knowledge of the user and planner in the co-productive design of space and mobility infrastructures.

This document intends to chronicle a narrative working process which is the basis of this urban design project. The research involves a sixmonth investigation into current urban design theory and practice applied to the city as well as site scale. The design commences with an intention which is informed by a combination of theoretical, surrogate, factual and contextualised factors. The process has been one of reconciling the blurred boundaries between conflicting ideas of a design that is economically realisable in the short term and experimenting with new and largely unexplored ways of city-making in radically changing cities in which urban land is scarce and increasingly valuable. Parts One and Two of this document are intended to be independent of Parts Three and Four. The initial chapters are an investigation into challenges of any modern city and the final chapter is an illustration of a solution to only chosen site.

Includes bibliographical references / Urban growth in the last 30 to 40 years has experienced and unprecedented increase. This is mostly due to the growth of developing countries and the expansion of their urban environments. With more people flowing into urban areas, in search for better opportunities, many growing urban centers have been struggling to keep up. This document looks to address growing cities specifically through the perspective of mobility and accessibility. Assessing the ways in which mobility can foster more efficient and equitable development in growing cities. The focus of the project is on the Cape Town Metropolitan Area and the Bellville CBD area (and surrounds) in particular. The fragmented spatial configuration of this area gives a perfect opportunity to test some of the most fundamental ideas around mobility and accessibility. Thus, the project uses Transit Oriented Development as a means to assess how transit can be used to influence and stimulate development. Through the use of case studies, from around the world, a spatial intervention is proposed to take advantage of the opportunities available in Bellville in terms of improving mobility and urban growth through Transit Oriented Development. To conclude, it is found that Transit Oriented Development can be used extensively in the Bellville Area, given the proximity of high mobility routes and an urban form that allows for in-fill development, thus addressing issues of sprawl and underutilize land that are common in the area.

A topic that has increasingly come to the fore in urban planning is the accommodation of those people residing in informal settlements, characteristically the lowest income earners and unemployed. Internationally, nationally and locally, there is a general surge of interest in urban planning towards accommodating low-income settlements adequately, and in formalising informal settlements, based on increasing recognition of peoples' legitimate right to land and security of tenure. Along with these trends, the challenges presented by the urbanisation of poverty that surfaces in informal settlements has become increasingly of interest to me as a researcher and student of planning, over the past few years. This mini-dissertation provides an opportunity to explore some of the social and technical issues that need to be resolved with regards to low-income settlements. Largely related to the background of the ANC government's popular promises of "Housing for All" and "Jobs for All", informal dwellers in South Africa expect to receive formal housing and tend only to accept such services as are associated with subsidised housing. However, poverty in urban environments is a deeper issue that exists when an individual's or household's access to income, infrastructure or services in inadequate to meet their basic needs. More than a lack of income, poverty exists for that section of the population who are unable to pay for basic services or access development opportunities (Van Ryneveld, Muller & Parnell, 2003). .. Increasing urbanisation of poverty presents a challenge to decentralized local government. Although informal settlements have finally become accepted as a local government responsibility, insitu upgrading is a politically driven and preferred response to informal settlements. Upgrading, wherever possible, appears to be a reactive approach by local authorities rather than a pro-active response to the reality of increasing informal settlement. There is little evidence that authorities are planning ahead for informal settlements. Current policy and housing strategies consider those settlements where people earn less than R3500 per month as low-income settlements. In this document, reference to low-income settlements encompasses those who earn less than R3500 per month as well as the unemployed. Poverty alleviation has gradually become a primary political focus in Cape Town, manifesting in informal settlements eventually being allocated a substantial budget, as recently as 2003. This project is based on an extensive literature review that includes internal reports of city officials engaged in current upgrading of informal settlements initiatives of the City of Cape Town, as well as the ongoing debates surfacing in newspaper articles. Access to data gathered from field visits and on-site observations, attending public participation meetings and interactions with officials and their appointed consultants, has broadened insight with regards to low income settlement upgrading. The first section of this document provides the contextual background to the existing situation of low-income settlements in South Africa, and more specifically Cape Town. An analysis of economic opportunities, institutional and servicing issues that are associated with low-income settlements informs this background. As approaches to low income settlements in South Africa are still largely based at the national and provincial levels of government, rather than at the local metropolitan level, this section illustrates the shaping of the initiatives that are in place at a site-specific level. Section 2 comprises a site-specific analysis of the northern suburbs of Cape Town. The N1 and Salt River canal in the South, the N7 in the East, and the Atlantic Ocean in the West are the boundaries of the selected study area. To the North the study area extends to Philadelphia Road and Brakkefontein Road, including Koeberg. For details, refer to the locality map 1 below. The most recent 'Blaauwberg Spatial Development Plan', compiled by Planning Partners (2002) is used as a reference, along with various other Framework plans and proposals. Additional information is gathered from GIS and from current newspaper articles reporting on developments, debates and perspectives. In order to construct proposals on how to intervene in the study area so as to accommodate low income settlements in a more sustainable and integrative way, theory and case studies that provide precedent on approaches to low income settlements allows for drawing on a number of lessons that can be applied to the site. This will be the focus of Section 4. As the outcome of all the above sections, an improved approach and strategy for upgrading low-income settlements is suggested. The pre-empting of problems associated with foreseen increases in low-income settlements is put forward in the proposition that identifying and planning land most suitable for accommodating low-income settlements is an essential component of an effective strategy. As no proposal is complete without taking implementation into account, this will be dealt with in Section 5 through identifying a number of actions that would need to be carried out in order for such a proposal to be implemented.

South African cities are still facing highly inefficient and inequitable urban forms, established by modernist, and apartheid city models. This has resulted in low density sprawl, fragmented and segregated structures, all contributing to unsustainable and unjust city practices. The City of Cape Town is no exception. Cape Town is a tale of two cities, where the urban and spatial landscapes reflect unequal resource distribution and opportunities. Many of its residents remain trapped in an urban landscape that continues to perpetuate its city structures. More importantly, a rapidly increasing population is contributing to the current urban development patterns that are exacerbating previous social injustices and resource intensive patterns. The city is running out of land, resources, and time to restructure its current form and unsustainable development practices. In the pursuit of urban justice, this dissertation argues that a precondition for changing Cape Town's urban performance, is to limit sprawl, increase densities and restructure towards a more intensive and mixed-use city, that will promote efficient public transportation and decentralise social and economic opportunities. Identifying urban Corridor and transit orientated development is a critical approach to structurally promoting efficient and just city structures; with the focus on the Lansdowne-Wetton Corridor as such, a critical element in the restructuring process. This site can then address the needs of some of the most marginalised communities within Cape Town. The design method and package of plans approach was used to guide this dissertation and implement ideas and proposals in an attempt to demonstrate an example of an alternative to Cape Town's current development patterns, that are continuously perpetuating its inefficient, unjust and unsustainable city structure. The study concluded that past urban planning practices have not changed considerably over the past twenty years and that it is of utmost importance to move towards a new way of thinking and developing. This framework can improve equal access to public transportation, social and economic opportunities and re-introducing place making principles. It is aimed at creating positive performing environments, using performance qualities, sustainability, efficiency, equity, integration, urbanity, choice, safety and a sense of place. By focusing on an integrated public transportation system, the intensification of identified areas, designing walkable areas, the promotion of small scale entrepreneurial activities contributes to increasing the accessibility of economic and social activities for all of Cape Town's residents.

Building on recent research on barriers to cycling mobility in low-income South African contexts, this study explored the role of the built environment as a determinant of cycling practices along a mobility corridor in Cape Town, South Africa. The communities surveyed reflect the demographic and income disparities of the city, and their attitudes to cycling and the cycling environment both corroborate existing findings and pose new research questions. In particular, respondents of all income levels showed that they distorted their own journeys by bicycle to avoid areas perceived to have a high risk of criminal activity, even where this meant using routes perceived to present a high risk of physical injury. A second finding was that all road users engage in informal road behaviour, including motorists, and that this is an integral aspect of the study area's mobility culture. The methods used in this study were a series of interviews with three community bicycle-shop owners, supported by focus groups held in each community, and accompanied by a mapping exercise. Fieldwork took the form of accompaniment of youth cycling initiatives and observation of commuting practices by the author. The data obtained in fieldwork were then used to evaluate a selection of cycling environment assessment tools from the USA, UK and Australia, and a pedestrian environment assessment tool from South Africa, in order to evaluate their contextual appropriateness for the local determinants of cycling. The study concludes with recommendations towards a South African cycling environment assessment tool that would capacitate local government and civil society to deliver improvements to the cycling environment and capitalise on existing pro-cycling policies.

The is a strong belief that FDI offers possibilities towards a development that has eluded developing countries for decades. It has become a predominant feature in development policy. The influence towards this orientation to development emanates from geopolitical dynamisms that have revolutionized global production systems at the hands of globalization. Innovations in urban economic development strategies concentrate on integrating local economies into the global market through the provision of infrastructure as the operative of global capital inflows. It is argued, however, that to exploit the full benefits of FDI, not only should the country attract the appropriate kind of investment, but its investment policy should be consistent in its interaction and engagements with the overall country's development policy regimes. Appropriateness in this argument entails that, with infrastructure identified as the primary requirement for attracting FDI, it is not only a question of being able to link the provision of infrastructure to attract investment but understanding the social-technical nature of infrastructure and its overall spatial manifestation as a function of urban form and structure. It is the spatial character underlying urban production systems, which development strategies such as FDI need to appropriately understand because it is at that interface were FDI-economic growth argument translate into economic development. Using a formulated conceptual framework based on Socio-Technical Systems (STS) theorization, the study assessed the spatial impacts of the FDI on infrastructure in the City of Lusaka in Zambia. It identified key institutions at the fulcrum of investment promotion and spatial development planning with a focus on planning and provision of network infrastructure. It also reviewed the main policies and legislation driving the FDI-led development agenda. The findings point out that national government priorities at significantly focused on the provision of infrastructure, however, on a very selective and narrow perspective. Infrastructure provision priority is in what is termed as 'economic infrastructure' argued to be the missing element in attracting FDI. What was also discovered, which in a way explains how infrastructure provision is narrowly considered, is a fragmented institutional framework resulting from inadequate legislation. The inadequacies lack of recognition of the spatial embeddedness of investment in the legislation resulting in disconnection between investment strategies formulation and spatial development planning. The overarching conclusion from the study is that to actualize the benefits of FDI substantially, the framework of regimes at the core of advancing the development goal driven by infrastructure, needs to understand the socio-technical nature of network infrastructure. A purely economic consideration of infrastructure as was discovered in the study, significantly limits FDI's contributive value to development.

South African cities maintain an apartheid legacy through their spatial layout, which is characterised by sprawl, fragmentation and separation. These characteristics have devastating implications for spatial justice, which cannot be isolated from urban performance and sustainability. Yet, the proliferation of gated developments and eco-estates is becoming an increasingly popular form of development both internationally and within South Africa. Often the sustainability debate allows for the glossing over of issues of social justice. These exclusive enclaves act as a microcosm for broader issues of social polarization and ecological fragmentation. This dissertation explores the complexities of this radical urban form and its implications for urban performance and sustainability. Through an understanding of the drivers and consequences of gating, it explores the conflict in which planners often find themselves: between the ideals of an integrated, accessible city and the contextual realities. This study of gated developments has been founded upon a theoretical debate as well as a case study analysis of Chapman's Bay Estate in Noordhoek, Cape Town, South Africa. This included a spatial and legislative analysis of the CoCT's Gated Development Policy as well as relevant spatial plans, through the lens of Chapman's Bay Estate. The research has revealed the perpetuating nature of gated developments in the urban realm. Furthermore, it has exposed gaps between the visions, goals and objectives of planning and the outcomes in practise. Additionally, it has revealed fragmentation between policies, plans and built environment professionals. Through this dissertation, I seek add to the current debate regarding gated developments and their implication on urban form. Furthermore, I address these findings through a review of the City of Cape Town's Gated Development Policy, as well as the harmonization and integration of relevant policies and plans.

For many years, urban food insecurity has been 'invisible' to urban planners and policy makers. This is due to the misconception of food insecurity as being primarily a rural issue and attributable to a lack of supply of food; however, it is clear that the issue of urban food insecurity is systemic, embedded in socio-economic and spatial disparities. Rapid supermarket expansion in low income areas in the City of Cape Town (CoCT), has in many ways limited access to food security, due to the urban poor's lack of financial access to this food. Through a case study method approach, the area surrounding the Langa Junction Mini Mall was used to explore the effects of supermarket expansion in low income areas on the urban poor's access to food security. Fieldwork consisting of observations at the Langa Junction Mini Mall, semi-structured interviews with the Langa Junction Mini Mall manager, the Langa Shoprite manager, informal street traders around the Langa Junction Mini Mall and City of Cape Town land use and spatial planners, as well as three focus groups conducted with Langa residents was conducted. The research findings show that supermarket expansion in Langa has drastically reduced the amount of informal street trade which is an important point of access to food security for the urban poor. Therefore, the Langa Junction Mini Mall has had an effect on the way in which the residents access food security. In addition, these findings suggest that the increase in supermarket expansion in the area are contributing to the food desertification of Langa. Despite an Urban Agriculture Policy, the City of Cape Town has made no spatial or land use interventions in order to alleviate urban food insecurity within the City. Due to the systemic nature of urban food insecurity, interventions must take place at an institutional level in order to appropriately address this issue. This research provides recommendations towards the creation of a Municipal Urban Food Security Policy for the City of Cape Town through the formation of an Urban Food Security Policy Council, an Urban Food Charter as well as an Urban Food Security Strategy. Land use and spatial planning interventions are recommended as ways in which an affordable and equitable urban food system can be created. In addition, this research suggests that there is a need to increase awareness regarding urban food insecurity amongst land use and spatial planners within the City of Cape Town.

This research is founded on the argument that food systems are (and should be) a core mandate for urban planners, particularly as food is connected to many other functions relevant for built-environment professionals. To date, city officials and built-environment professionals in South Africa have adopted a laissez-faire attitude to food systems, simply assuming that for their constituents, food security can be easily solved by supporting urban agriculture projects and allowing the private sector to open new supermarket retail outlets across a city. While the literature on food security in South Africa's poorer areas is vast, no other published South African studies have considered the ways in which inner city regeneration and commercial supermarket expansion combine to impact the food security of the urban poor. Using a case study approach, this research aims to uncover the food security implications, which arise from gentrification and the growth of the commercial supermarket sector, for middle- and low-income households in Sea Point, an inner-city neighbourhood of Cape Town. This study used techniques including interviews, photography, mapping, food-price recording, document and archival research, and direct observation. It was discovered that gentrification creates an environment where local food systems are altered by policy prescriptions and improvement projects which, in turn, enable the growth of commercial food retail and high-end food service outlets. This research shows being located close to a supermarket is no guarantee of being able to afford what's being sold, and this is important because inadequate access to good-quality food has implications for health and human development over time. The experience and knowledge gained from this research has been used to support appropriate food security policy recommendations for the City of Cape Town.