Stellenbosch Town situated north of Cape Town holds remnants of the aftermath of the apartheid Regime. The reality of dispossession in the context of Die Vlakte, the fractured connection of Kayamandi to the Stellenbosch core, and other neighbourhoods that lie along the peripheries of the privileged and well-resourced centre, are all encompassed in the context of Stellenbosch. The less tangible history of Die Vlakte, a multi- racial community that was declared a white-only area due to the Group Areas Act of 1950. At the start of democracy, those dispossessed had the opportunity to claim land that was lost during the forced removals (Du Toit, 2010). Despite this, there is a continued spatial disjunction and fraction that echoes that of apartheid spatial planning. The sense of place evident in the Stellenbosch historical core currently lacks representation of individuals and communities of Die Vlakte and Kayamandi. Despite the tangible evidence of place concerning the built fabric; a sense of place is held further in the intangible memories, meanings, and narratives of individuals. This document explores elements of the intangible that is to make space and place, a sociopolitical art practice that is grounded in spatial form, historical influences that take place, and analysis of the street within Stellenbosch. In discovering what these aspects are, this research aims at uncovering potential approaches to design spaces for reconciliation that are empathetic to past and current injustices.

The legacy of apartheid spatial planning is still evident under South Africa's democratic government. Townships are segregated dormitories with residents who still face many inequities in their daily lives. Soweto is a township which a deep history of struggle for liberation. Vilakazi street is especially symbolic due to all the activists who used their voices as a tool to fight against a system of inequality. Today Soweto is in a transitional phase. It has developed from what was once a dormitory township to a diverse, resilient community of people who have reclaimed the spaces as their own. This research serves to gain a deeper understanding of Vilakazi Street (as a catalyst to transformation) - an emerging high street in a culturally rich neighbourhood of Orlando West. Furthermore to understand the missing links and gaps which can better improve the quality of life for the community. It is also important to gain a deeper understanding of the legislation and contributing factors that enable the development of the existing vibrant township culture. Furthermore to learn what role the youth of today contribute to. Orlando West The research is guided and grounded in a theoretical framework which highlights the importance of democratic planning processes and enabling resident's voices in the design processes. The methodology and methods speak on the approach to gain research on the ground and the interactions with the local residents and their everyday spaces. A contextual analysis is done on the metro scale to better understand the role of Orlando West in relation to the city and a neighbourhood scale analysis is done to better understand the role Vilakazi Street plays in it's neighbourhood. This is followed by a case study which is used as a precedent to address and create inclusive design for the youth of Soweto. The proposal aims to improve and amplifying the vulnerable voices of the youth.

South Africa is a country with many small towns, each rich in heritage and culture and with their own unique spatial character. Unfortunately, most small towns are in distress. The focus of investment to bring about spatial transformation has typically been in either cities, or villages; i.e. urban or rural. However, Arndt, Davies and Thurlow (2018) suggest that a 3rd way would be to invest in secondary cities and small towns. Small towns are embedded in the cultural landscape, and sit at the intersection of rapid urbanisation and industrial agricultural practicetwo of the most significant features of the Anthropocene. The broad aim of this research is to explore potential solutions to the regeneration of small towns in South Africa. This research applies urban design thinking and practice in a rural context; using evidence-based design research and a socio-ecological approach. Urban design is a critical spatial practice to ensure there is a focus on urban form and structure, and the creation of positive, enabling environments. An approach that balances the social order with the ecological order produces a spatial structure that heals and repairs the whole. This is urban design, giving form to life.

Kampala, like many cities in the global south, is experiencing urbanisation at an unprecedented rate. Eight out of ten people are taking up informal employment, many of whom set up and occupy sites within highly contested spaces in the urban realm. Modernist planning and developments across the city are unable to sustain the growing number of traders in the city. The Godown Zone in Namuwongo provides an entry point for a self-organised community of informal traders who have taken upon themselves to create spaces for trade and occupation in a restricted space a few kilometres away from the local market. The Godown Zone offers a range of opportunities for inclusive and sustainable development however it also highlights the urban disconnect between planners need to control functions of spaces and the actual functioning of such spaces. Research has shown a bottom-up design approach through engaging with traders allows for effective and multifunctional development of spaces. This project has therefore development an urban design framework to amplify voices of the trading community of Namuwongo while factoring in long term development plans through interviews, observations, research studies, and site data analysis. By incorporating the experiences of the users, this urban design framework hopes to contribute to the development of an inclusive and vibrant city

In the South African context, political and universal rights of citizens have been expanded since liberation but the basic services and livelihoods have eroded (Miraftab, 2009). Marginalized citizens have created their homes through auto construction, and self-making, in the post-apartheid city (Caldeira, 2017). This is evident in spaces like Philippi, where areas of Neoliberal planning practices remain as exclusionary imaginaries of city and citizenship that promote collective amnesia (Miraftab, 2009). Insurgent planning scholarship calls for collective memory and looks to liberating planning imaginaries and histories of marginalized people as strength in knowledge (Miraftab, 2009). Through ways of being and social spatial production practices, people are infrastructure (Simone, 2004). The social practices and community agencies inform a type of infrastructure. Amin (2014) speaks of the liveliness of infrastructure. The term infrastructure is used loosely. It indicates the bigger infrastructural elements like transport infrastructure, yet to come in Philippi, as well as other more basic infrastructure like water, sanitation, and electricity, which are often void in spaces in Philippi. Amin (2014) highlights the politics of community and institution, and visible and invisible infrastructure (Amin, 2014). Networks of social gathering spaces, such as economic trade and eating areas, and physical space, like places of water collection and sanitation, give a rendering of the urban poor experience. As part of the experience of these infrastructures, the sensory landscape of urban places holds collective memory and social outlook (Amin, 2014). Acknowledging and paying homage to this helps an understanding of the noteworthy social, cultural and spatial rituals of place and self-built placemaking in Philippi. Through investigating planned and self-built places and their everyday practices, this study has attempted to collect spatial practices, to inform a framework that considers this narrative and the interventions it suggests. The collection of information has been used to guide and inform design principles for interventions at various scales. The starting point of the inquiry is the pavement. A universal everyday place that all actors engage with. In Philippi, the pavement and walkways offer many everyday practices. The pavement is the most common public space of movement, social exchange, and public and private interface, and the investigation of the street in Philippi has informed other areas of design intervention.

Spatial layout and structure deeply influence how people interact with the urban environment. The physical complexity of the growing urban built environment holds significant information of transdisciplinary interest to better understand the implications for many societal problems. However, many researchers continue to rely on discontinuous data or simplistic geographic measures to simplify their analyses. These studies fail to quantify and fully capture structural impacts on urban function. To address this gap, this dissertation examines the current state of urban accessibility studies that use graph-theoretic methods to study the function of the urban environment providing more accurate measurement outcomes. Evidence-based research shows the importance of accurate road network models and rigorous graph-theoretic analysis. To support the power of this approach, methods leveraging graph theory are used to better understand observed behaviors through trajectory analysis on an urban street network. A method for defining continuous metropolitan regions is presented along with the resulting graphs representing the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States. A comparative analysis illustrates the drastic structural differences beyond traditional city boundaries caused by urban sprawl. Following, several methodological approaches are explored to measure areas of low food access to better understand practical applications of how urban structure can create regions where residents lack access to affordable and healthy food. Ultimately, the USDA-ERS Food Access Research Atlas, a widely accepted food access classification system, has many methodological shortcomings. This dissertation dissects the USDA-ERS food access measurement methodology, demonstrating the impact of using more precise, graph-theoretic measurement methods, consistent scales of measurement, and continuous urban data.

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