A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science. October 2014. / Domestic fuel burning activities have become a major source of urban air pollution. Studies have indicated that domestic burning activities, specifically in low-income settlements and townships, contribute greatly to the air quality problems experienced by most developing urban centres. Low-income households that exist within townships in South Africa, house a large portion of the South African population. These households burn vast quantities of coal, wood, paraffin as well as other substances in order to provide for their energy needs. Pollution emitted as a result of domestic burning activities is estimated to be one of the leading causes of respiratory illnesses, prevalent in inhabitants of low-income settlements. To better understand the relationship that exists between domestic burning and the resultant pollutants, a method of quantifying these pollutants has been developed for a completely un-electrified settlement, near Johannesburg, using the quantities and type of fuel consumed. A study, carried out in Zenzele during the winter months, in addition to a month before and a month after this period, allowed for the analysis of some of the more harmful winter fuels. Common fuel types consumed were identified through the analysis of census data and information gathered from questionnaires. In un-electrified households, paraffin and liquid petroleum gas (LPG), used specifically for cooking and lighting, are the most commonly used fuel types during the warmer months. During the colder months, however, residents of households in low-income settlements prefer to use solid fuels such as wood and coal. Factors such as seasonality, the availability and price of fuels as well as cultural aspects all have a bearing on residents’ fuel choices and the quantity consumed. Emissions were quantified based on the quantities of wood and coal burnt in 15 households in Zenzele, using emission factors for SO2, PM10, CO2 and CO. As the temperature declines, the rate at which these solid fuels are consumed increases. The most significant observations identified in this study are the diurnal and seasonal trends associated with domestic burning.

M.Tech. (Architectural Technology) / This book is based in, and begins with, dialogue. This is the exchange between author and reader, as consumer of its narrative. Portions of this work are interactive in order to extend and capture this dialogue between each of us and the ‘material’ content that “constitutes the city, as lived experience, encounter and representation. The book is an imagining of the city. It is a visual-textual craft anthology that develops over time as a collection of artefacts that point to an alternate future reality. This is done through the process of design. [0.1] The dialogue is interlaced with cross-stitched personal histories[G] of both author and the site. There are many personal reflections about place, image and experience of space comprising the presented material. These are woven into the subject matter. The book sews together these patches of the experiential, the visionary and the idiosyncratic nuances of the existing and future city, and site. The format and composition of the pages that follow resemble material ‘things’ as the manifestations of city. Using montage and collage as devices of visual narrative, the subject and design process is suggested, developed and compiled. The ‘image of the city’ is derived through collection and accumulation of textile-tectonic narrative. This is presented as assemblages that can, at any point, be read as past, present or possibility.

M.Tech. (Architectural Technology) / This research aims to explore the ways in which offering media and architectural facilities to protesters might contribute to a healthy culture of protest and dissent in Johannesburg. It looks at the rich and complex history of activism and protest in both South Africa in particular but also drawing on recent global protests and their spatial ramifications. It proposes a new facility on the site of one of the city’s most (in)famous protest and incarceration sites, Constitution Hill, and proposes a programme of information and education aimed at encouraging all interested citizens and activists to both understand their options, rights and responsibilities in a young democracy, and crucially, a platform to enact them.

Masters in Research Psychology, University of the Witwatersrand, 2016 / Stories of home and homelessness: Young men’s experiences of Jo’burg city centre. This study paper aimed to explore phenomenon of homelessness through the narratives of young men living in Johannesburg. Current research focuses on 1) the prevalence of homelessness or 2) homelessness in relation to social problems. While the first focus serves to perpetuate the conceptualisation of homelessness as only about the absence of a house, the second focus identifies homeless people as the social problem and fails to recognise the social factors that cause and maintain this phenomenon. This study views home+less+ness as not just the lack of shelter but also as a state or experience that is not separate from the rest of the individual life. Seven young men were recruited on the basis of being currently or recently homeless, or living on the streets. The data were collected through narrative interviews and subjected to two forms’ of analysis, thematic analysis and a structural analysis that maps movement in space and time. Main themes identified were related to home as elsewhere; home (lessness) and belonging in past, present; and imagined future relationships and spaces. Mapping the life histories of the participants reveals trajectories of frequent movement, including that participants may journeys ‘home’ to their places of origin but always once again returning to the streets of Johannesburg. This suggests that the conventional ideas of home as a safe space of belonging and homelessness as a place of loss and hopelessness, are not binary, rather these are oscillating, intertwined experiences / GR2017

This dissertation document began as a journey of discovery of a new city, filled with many hidden historical treasures, some sadly forgotten about, left abandoned and neglected falling to ruins, misused and unappreciated. Relocating from Durban to Johannesburg, my eyes where opened to a completely new city scape, sparking an interest in the layered history of it development and growth over the years. Through my journeys of the many streets of Jo’burg I began to notice the abundance of charmingly crafted architecture, quietly resting between the busy streets, many neglected and unused, creating a sense of sadness amongst the vibrant and multicultural movement surrounding them. I began to question the possibility of reviving such buildings to included them back into the city where they can once again be filled with life and no longer simply passed by without a care. The aim of the document was to research the many opinions and approaches surrounding preservation of historic architecture, resulting in a formal strategy of rehabilitating the old structures and breathing new life into them. The strategy adopted was to imagine the life of a building as a book of many chapter, with the view that building need not reach their final lines, through the continued writing on new pages, adding in whole to the layered tapestry of uses, events and years through which it was witness to. The new chapter proposed for the building became that of a safe house for victims of trafficking where the process of rehabilitating their identity and image of self became possible within a building which too had undergone a process of rehabilitation. Through research of statistical information and theoretical theories, strategies are formed to create a building in which layers of time are woven together and architecture is created allowing for users to feel safe whilst remaining connected to the city, regaining a sense of identity through contact with the building witnessing it transformation from once being in a state of disrepair to that of becoming a striking example of persevered architecture and history.

Located in the Hillbrow health precinct, the Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation Centre serves the Hillbrow community which is currently subject to various social ills – such as crime, violence, substance abuse, and poverty – which often times are the root cause of unhealthy lifestyles, sickness, and disease amongst the citizens of Hillbrow. The proposed site for the building is an existing parking lot, adjacent to the Hillbrow Community Health Centre/Clinic. There is an existing rehabilitation department in the clinic, consisting of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, paediatrics department, speech and hearing specialists, social workers, and psychologists. The new proposal seeks to incorporate this rehabilitation department within the new development, while expanding its program to incorporate greater social upliftment programs and employment options through vocational rehabilitation.

This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016 / This study assesses agonism's practical possibilities for constructive, rather than destructive, outcomes arising from state-society strife, by drawing on the case of the Johannesburg city administration. / GR2017

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban Design. / The fountainhead of the tramways in South African cities occurred a century ago, when Johannesburg, in particular, experienced horse-drawn trams in the early 1890's. From a rough Babylon, this city has henceforth experienced significant changes in time and space, failing to avoid the desecration of racial segregation and the associated spatial ramifications. The contemporary city hs thus charged with the task of reconstruction and integration to redress the effects of past actions. In parallel, the renslssance of the tramway worldwide, in the form of rapid transit, has brought to light an opportunity to be exploited in the process of re-assembling the fragmented urban form. The catalytic and associated rtpple effects of rapid transit on the urban environment in nearby proximity is, considered critical to both the sustainability of the system and to the environment through which it operates. The underlying approach incorporates the notion of linking history and precedent as a means of instructing future designs. The process Is concerned w!th definition, decomposition, analysis of intermutual links, and re-assembling the whole, to achieve a higher level conceptual abstractlon and understanding. Such an understanding could facilitate the urban designer to maximise the catalytic benefits of a revived urban element. / Andrew Chakane 2018

Maboneng displays an interesting approach to urban regeneration being driven by a single developer vision. Central to this approach has been the establishment of a new economy in support of an increasing property market which is being encouraged through a dominant branding and marketing strategy identifying the ‘neighbourhood’ and community as intrinsically artistic. This study aims to juxtapose this structure of urban regeneration and city based development as defined by the City of Johannesburg and to track the evolution of the precinct from an informal and innovative approach toward a more structured and conventional upgrading mechanism. Addressing the question of creating space within the inner city by exploring what the spaces are, who is using them and how the manifestation of a new identity affects the pre existing reality. The report thereby presents a discourse around the evolution of the Maboneng approach within the context of Johannesburg and determines the potential transferability of key principles that the City could draw upon in informing future growth and development agendas within the inner city.

Thessis (M.Sc.(Development Planning))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning, 2006 / Migration is indubitable one of the most complex and urgent phenomenon that will emerge as a robust agenda in global cities’ policy and spatial planning trajectory. Internal migrants have been recorded as constituting a relatively significant part of the population of Gauteng and Johannesburg, and any development policies for the City need to account strongly for in-migration (Peberdy, et al, 2004). The importance of migration was also strongly highlighted by the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Amos Masondo in his 2004 State of the City address: “Johannesburg has become a magnet for people from other provinces, the African continent, and indeed, the four corners of the world”. He also referred to the challenges posed by migration; “While migrancy contributes to the rich tapestry of the cosmopolitan city, it also places a severe strain on employment levels, housing and public services”. Kok (2003) postulated that the relationship between migration and City spatial development planning will definitely influence the country’s future and that many cities cannot absorb new entrants in the labour market and this means that high population growth will constitute a major future challenge for cities. Kok et al (2004) postulated that the bulk of the research has been conducted on why migrants leave rural areas to urban areas, but little on how they organize, prepare, survive, network, and organize assets and resources, and access services in urban areas. The livelihood strategies that in-migrants depend on when they arrive in the “unknown urban territory” remain an enthralling phenomenon. The aim of the study was to investigate and provide a conceptual insight into the urban livelihood strategies of in-migrant newcomers in the City of Johannesburg, and to reflect on the City of Johannesburg municipality’s policy agenda particularly, Growth and Development Strategy (2006) and Human Development Strategy (2005) and other pertinent strategic planning frameworks-responses to internal migration. Qualitative research informed by surveys, interviews, with open-ended questions and observations in the form of fieldwork was followed. Twelve respondents were interviewed, comprising of seven females and four males coming from the Eastern Cape Province, currently based in Johannesburg, Yoeville suburb. The study unmasked that in-migrants find their foothold in income generation or employment through family, kin, partner and friend network connections predominantly derived from members coming from the same province of origin. Their livelihood strategies are negotiated and limited to background networks; beyond network connections is what the researcher view as an “incessant impediment in their lives”. Regrettably, most in-migrants encountered lacked training, skills, close-knit social networks, market intelligence and education tools necessary to climb the economic ladder in the urban terrain. Generally, those who are unemployed were not engaged in income generation activities while those employed supplemented their wages by income generation activities such as spaza shop and shebeens. A glaring reality is that respondents were not taking advantage of the booming informal market economy of Johannesburg which has a potential to sustain a livelihood. This is also compounded by the fact that none of the respondents participated in the civic society sector as way of participating in the City developmental trajectories and also a way of sustaining a livelihood. In a nutshell, a mere background network connection to the person from the area of origin, predominantly family member and friend was found to be the core livelihood strategy to access basic needs and employment opportunities for Eastern Cape internal migrants. The documented response of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan strategic policy agenda is seen through two broader policies. Firstly, iv Growth and Development Strategy in its principle of “proactive absorption of poor”. Secondly, Human Development Strategy which focuses on interventions such as; safeguarding and supporting poor and vulnerable households in their efforts to access local and provincial social safety nets, championing rights and opportunities for those who suffer the effects of structural inequality in the City; and building prospects for social inclusion by developing partnerships between the City and its residents. Both GDS & HDS policy responses to migration are discussed at length in the report. The current study argues that the City must devise novel robust policy and planning strategies to understand the profound urbanization trends, socio-economic context of migration patterns and how these impacts on the City infrastructure planning in the long-term growth of the City. Future studies in this line of investigation must consider taking forward this kind of research to a highest level. It will be proper to extend the study by investigating livelihood strategies of migrants in Johannesburg coming from different provinces and those from the selected African countries for the purpose of comparison using the qualitative approach. It will be appreciated to include investigation of broader urbanization impacts and readiness of City infrastructure provision, planning and growth.