Thesis (M.L.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes special study report entitled : Towards the exploration of spatial MAXIMUM from the minimum. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes special report study entitled : Integration of shopping spaces and community open spaces. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes special study report entitled : A comparative study on the spatial structure of shopping place. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

The subject of this work is research of the transformation of public spaces in the modern European city structure. Modern life is changing, but there are more and more examples proving that urban spaces only partially correspond to the changing environment and the demands of people. The result is noticed as „emptying“ of some public spaces, which is characterized by lack of diversity and richness of the physical and social content of space and the subsequent loss of their meaning. This paper aims to describe the emerging „empty“ public spaces, to creat their definition and classification. The work generally examines the current situation of public spaces and describe the factors that cause their transformation. The work also presents an analysis of the problems emerging empty spaces and highlights the possible potential of these areas. Finally, it is described the current trends in the revitalization of empty public spaces, which are an example of their potential use.

With the debate on global warming and climate change, renewable energy resources, such as solar energy, are being considered. If solar energy is to make a major utility contribution, it will need to be more ubiquitous in today’s society. The research described hereafter analyzes the use of Solar in Public Spaces (SPS). SPS is defined as solar energy used in the public domain to power electronics away from the electric grid. This research specifically examines the viability of integrating solar panels into existing surfaces to charge portable electronics. Viability is evaluated using three criteria: (1) user interaction, (2) technical feasibility, and (3) cost analysis. User interaction is primarily focused on usage trends, user preferences, and user concerns. Technical feasibility includes shading effects, weather effects, and solar panel/battery sizing. Cost analysis is considered using energy savings, portability savings, and motivations.The research objective is answered through eleven research questions. All research questions are answered using surveys together with data from six different charging devices placed around Brigham Young University (BYU) campus. Surveys are used to add validity and support conclusions drawn from charging device data. A model is also developed to estimate solar panel and battery sizing needed to account for differences in geographical locations, incident solar power, weather, temperature, daylight hours, shading, and usage. All research questions are answered and demonstrate that solar panels integrated into existing surfaces is a viable solution for charging portable electronics in public spaces under the circumstances discussed herein

Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / In this thesis, elements of Crawford Stanley Holing's life history are put into perspective. It provides a historical trajectory upon which the space imbued in the various contexts hosting pivotal activities on the production and refinement pf resilience idea are explored. These elements are also used as a point of departure from where the idea of resilience originates and circulates internationally and in the context of South African cities. [Abbreviated abstract. Open document to view full version] / MT 2018

Document is submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree: Master of Architecture [Professional] at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in the year 2016 / In this dissertation I explore the notion of how space relates to human and place identity within the context of the buffer zones established under Apartheid. By exploring spaces remaining as political remnants the concept of the invalid landscape is investigated. Twenty-one years after the ! rst free elections these invalid landscapes still exist in South African cities, as open wounds on the democratic landscape. Historically divided communities remain residentially segregated facing each other uneasily across these buffer zones. This dissertation is a collage of theoretical and experimental discursions and case studies relating to identity, borders, and architecture. South Africa continues to grapple with myriad urgent practical problems while at the same time trying to de! ne a new national identity. Despite the gains of democracy, our nation is still faced with signi! cant challenges of which limited access to public transport remains a pressing urban issue. This thesis attempts to revalidate the spatial divide that continues to cleave the landscape of Alberton and Thokoza by proposing a train terminal that is in line with the vision of the National Development Plan of 2030. The project is focused on the translation and articulation of the landscape through an architectural language that is posited as an urban cicatrisation. By situating the proposed Alrode Train Terminal (ATT) within the invalid landscape, a bridge and operating connection between these two polarized communities is offered. An exploration of the idea of identity and the effects of the invalid landscape can take place while simultaneously addressing a practical challenge for our rapidly developing city. Inspiration for the project derives from the unprompted informal culture that has arisen within Johannesburg. Here life plays out alongside passing traffic made up of pedestrians, taxi ranks, streets,roadside activities and commerce. A social network aggregated by mobility where we see people starting anti-authoritarian movements, reclaiming and re-appropriating public space to meet their everyday needs. This de! ance of authoritarian space-making lays the groundwork for revalidating the invalid politically constructed landscapes. Traditional models of division are characterised by the vertical plane. The architecture of the ATT aims to collapse the vertical to put forward a new mediation of the horizontal plane and its architectural possibilities. The ATT acts as a bridge that affords its visitors the opportunity to transcend physical and cultural boundaries. By crossing between the polarized communities, visitors may potentially experience acculturation and in this way expand their identities

Abstract: I have chosen to design an urban wellness public space in Durban Blue Lagoon. The aim of this research is to understand and find out the use and spatial qualities of public urban spaces that work well. The idea behind this research is to explore how this space can activate and reconnect the Durban Blue Lagoon site, by re-imagining the boundaries of the Umgeni River and how this space can connect to the city. The primary theme for my project is looking at the urban public spaces, buildings and cultural activities on the site that encourage and can attract a diversified public through an environment that enhances social and physical wellbeing. The most effective public spaces are multi-use destinations with many planned activities that create a platform of exchange and where citizens can find common ground and activity zones to relax, gather, learn and play. This theory has informed the design. The proposed site for the programme is in the city, the Durban’s Blue Lagoon recreation area, between the main road and the shoreline. The Blue Lagoon and Umgeni River junction site is close to the city and proposes opportunities for connection and engagement with the Beachwood Mangrove reserve. It is surrounded by water systems on the edges of the site, where the Indian Ocean and Umgeni River meet. Twill reflect on the Umgeni River as a conceptual starting point. The concept for the Urban Wellness Public Facility will reflect on the Umgeni River as a conceptual starting point. The site is surrounded by natural landscapes and greenery, which would further enhance the essence of enjoyment which adds to social and physical wellbeing. The programme integrates an urban wellness public facility with the principal idea of leisure, health and wellbeing spaces coming together. The programme will include an educational centre, urban wellness space, viewing platform and river taxi stop that bring awareness of social and physical wellbeing with leisure and recreational facilities. There are existing jogging, cycling, skating and fishing activities on the site and the existing jogging route will run through the urban wellness space and educational centre. The users will be the general public and tourists who will engage with exhibits, public talks and will enjoy leisure and recreational spaces. / EM2017

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Urban Design / ABSTRACT In township environments where pedestrian activity occurs out of necessity; and public transport prevails - the main street becomes a magnet for mobility, social encounters and economic exchange. It is the path that connects the settlement to the whole; it disperses and draws in; it collects and connects. It is the image of the township. Streets play an important role within townships as the primary form of public urban space. It is within these spaces that the residents make their own opportunities for a better quality of life. (Jacobs, 1993) explained that by designing the streets, one has largely designed the city. / EM2017

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2015. / This dissertation examines the imaginations and use of space by black residents in Suburban South Africa, with a particular focus on the small town of Mokopane, in the context of urban desegregation and integration. Given the segregated spatial legacy of apartheid, the post-apartheid state has and continues to seek ways to create a non-racial and integrated society. However, twenty years after the demise of the apartheid regime and the country remains segregated along racial and class lines. In understanding some of the reasons why integration remains a challenge, this research investigates black residents’ use of public spaces in the context of a supposedly desegregated space. It investigates the socio-spatial relations between residents of three adjoined suburbs, two of which are a product of apartheid and one a recent development of the state’s spatial policy to create integrated communities. The study is not focused solely on the social and spatial relations within the confines of the study area but most significantly beyond that in order to comprehend people’s relationship and meanings attached to space. Drawing from Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space, imagined and psychoanalytical geographies, the study reflects on how people’s identities, rooted in a history of colonialism and apartheid, affect the way they imagine and use space and, further, how the arrival of those considered as other reveals the symbolic meanings and boundaries that have been attached to space. The study further draws from post-colonial literature on space to challenge prevalent notions of the relationship between race and space, with a particular focus on the rural-township-urban mobilities and what those mean in the construction of blackness. Thematic content and discourse analysis are used to decode meaning embedded in language in terms of how people relate to others socially and spatially. The dissertation reveals that, even in contexts where spatial desegregation has been attained, the use and imagination of space and the relationship to others are rooted within historical configurations of racial and class identities. Further, black residents’ experience of historically white spaces remains rooted in their lived experiences and in their understanding of their belonging in urban spaces as inherently white. It is against this backdrop that this research argues that, in the quest to develop integrated post-apartheid communities, the state has given insufficient, if any, thought on the ways space, class and race are produced relationally.