Colonial and apartheid policies imposed a segregated urban form on Johannesburg and have led to a limited and generally incoherent knowledge of the city across most segments of the population. Representations of the city in cultural mediums including film allow residents to cross boundaries and make conceptual and practical connections and are therefore important in addressing past legacies. Johannesburg’s moving image history is only ten years younger than the city and over this time the representation of the city in film has provided insight into the nature of this urban agglomeration. But the representation of the city in film has been inconsistent and erratic and requires close analysis. It is important to understand the ways in which the city has been represented and how it features in popular mediums of culture and also how it contributes to the discourse of the city. There is very little understanding of how films are being received by residents of the spaces and places depicted on the screen, and even less on how these films influence the everyday practices of these residents. This thesis draws on the idea of a ‘circuit of culture’ to explore both the representation of the city through film, and the impact of this representation on urban practice. To structure this analysis the thesis makes use of four lenses: materiality; identity; mobility; and crime. It provides an analysis of films with Johannesburg as a major location that were produced and screened after 1994. Surveys and interviews were conducted in four different locations in the city, each of which have been the site of film production and have been distinctly represented on the screen: Chiawelo; CBD; Fordsburg; and, Melville. The study concludes that film can facilitate a greater understanding of the complex city for the residents of Johannesburg but that there are nevertheless clear limitations to what film can achieve. Films provide information and ‘accessibility’ to unknown spaces, encouraging interaction with the city, through exploration, familiarity and comfort but film can also be a conservative medium that reduces and typecasts complexity. Films often reinforce spatial stereotypes but they can also produce a “resistant reading” that helps transgress spatial boundaries.

Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Architecture (Professional) to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / The end of apartheid signalled the need to reinvent and re-configure South African cites not just spatially but economically as well, to be more inclusive of the people it once marginalized and excluded. South Africa’s urban identity is intrinsically intertwined with the history of apartheid to the point where it is impossible to have the one without the other. Johannesburg much like all the other cities in South Africa is and was an Apartheid project; the city was a tool used to perpetuate and enforce a system of economic exclusion which later developed into social and cultural segregation. Despite its nearly complete re-population after 1994, the city today, as dynamic and vibrant as it is, still poses remnants of the apartheid era. The people who had not been allowed into the city have become its primary residents, yet not its owners. And because the city was never designed for them, they have had to make, re-make and reconfigure the city for themselves. Through this process of making, re-making and re-configuring innovative solutions to everyday problems are tried tested and developed to integrate the urban African into the city. The changing demographics manifested growth through informal infill to create the Johannesburg we know today. It is by the process of negotiation between the formal and the informal economy that Johannesburg assumes its identity. The resilience of the informal economy could be attributed to the social networks that govern its relationships. The combination of social networks and the process of re-making the city suggest the informal as a strategy for urban regeneration that heals the city in its entirety by intervening in sensitive points in the urban fabric. This thesis investigates the shifting role of the informal in, the need for a change in approach when dealing with the informal and looks at the informal as a skill and form of knowledge. / MT2017

This document is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree: Master of Architecture [Professional] at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, in the year 2015 / As a former colonial city, Kinshasa today has developed into a giant metropolis where grand visions, failed realisations and adaptation based on survival seems to succeed and sometimes overlay each other in a complex and heterogeneous urban fabric. Where the colonial planning attempted to create clear zones of separation between the white city and the indigenous suburbs, the post-colonial politics of urbanization have taken a different shift. The spectral ambitions of the leaders on one side and the random occupation of space by city dwellers on the other have resulted in a struggle of power to define and re-appropriate public space in an attempt to create the proper city. Situated on Avenue Bar. Jacques, in an area where the physical and mental tensions that marks the edge of la Ville and la Cité are still perceptible, I propose a performance hub for the everyday. Here staged events just like the spontaneous, and sometimes theatrical, appropriation of space by daily activities will constitute performances. By creating a new synergy between conventionally opposed notions such as formal and informal, old and new, and staged and ambient, this project is an exploration of a model of space-making that breaks away from the authoritarian approach that has punctuated (continues to do so) the shaping of the urban landscape of Kinshasa. Informants for the design derive from patterns and elements that characterize the resilient ways in which the city’s life recreates itself on a daily basis. The urban framework proposes to bridge the Central Market and the City Centre in a soft, egalitarian way where the transformation in the urban character across this area is no longer so harsh. Through themes such as temporality, hybridity and adaptability, this project attempts to form an argument to what Kinshasa’s architecture should lend itself to by blurring the distinction between what is still considered centre and periphery. / EM2017

Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Urban Design to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / Influenced by the thinking of the Garden City movement, gated and so-called lifestyle security estates have become overwhelmingly popular in many cities across the world. With demand fuelled by a combination of security concerns and a belief that such schemes provides enhanced efficiency and comfortability, these estates have come under severe scrutiny with regards to its apparent spatial and socio-economic impacts on the city structure as a whole. However, despite the severe criticism and awareness, these types of developments have showed very little signs of decline - thus perhaps illustrating a real economic rationale in the desire of people to reside in environments with higher perceptions of safety and control. Cities respond to this by clearly delineating urban development boundaries and even in some cases publish design principles that promote integration and inclusion. These more than often become contested by means of political- and private sector influences resulting in the perpetual realities of estate development and no real prohibiting actions and remedial recourse. Given these realities, what then does the future hold for our city landscape? Could we possibly reposition ourselves now to better the outcome later? Using Steyn City and Dainfern in the Fourways area, as two mega development case studies, this academic inquiry seeks to reflect on the status quo of estate developments and creatively find internal possible clues within the very structuring elements of such schemes that could potentially unlock and ‘un-gate’ developments and in the process improve access to opportunities in the city. This could surely not only provide new insights as to what the potential future can be, but it also provides the opportunity to redefine the ‘right to the city’ and opportunity in already deprived and isolated localities. / XL2018

A nine (9) point project report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering / The successful execution of urban development projects in South Africa's developing comunities is not, as recent experience has amply demonstrated, solely a matter of resolving the technical difficulties. This report motivates the opinion that other matters outside the traditional responsibility of the civil engineer are vital to successful urban development. These matters include planning for economic development. urban managerial and financial matters as well as peripheral project related issues. The report identifies and reviews the most important issues in each of the above mentioned categories, and, based on the author's experience in practice, suggests approaches to these matters. The report concludes that civil engineers, and particularly project managers, should reconsider their role in urban development, A need exists is in this field for project managers to broaden their scope to the management of development in its widest sense. Should timeous action not be taken by the engineering profession to prepare their members for this new role, the void is bound to be filled by another discipline. / Andrew Chakane 2018

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree master of science (Development Planning) / Urbanisation processes in South Africa have historically been influenced and affected by the government's political ideology based on segregation and racial discrimination. This led to the constrained urbanisation of the African population facilitated by literally hundreds of restrictive pieces of legislation. ( Abbreviation abstract) / Andrew Chakane 2018

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Urban Design, Johannesburg 2016 / The public realm is continually under pressure as the container of constant urban change. Streets and public spaces function as connectors between public / private transport and the built urban form. The public realm is also responsible for hosting public activity that includes commuting, socialising, trading and governing. In the context of ever changing urban form due to accelerated urban sprawl, suburban growth, complicated politics and the increasing demand for vehicular transport, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain and develop quality public urban environments throughout our polycentric cities. The concept of relinking transport and public space to mixeduse urban form originates from theory of Transport Orientated Development (TOD) and the densification of our cities in order to be more sustainable and to control urban sprawl. The importance of good quality public space, public transport and supporting urban form cannot be underestimated in the drive towards a densified sustainable city. Together the city transport network and supporting public spaces need to stitch all urban form and more important need to be attractive for all types of people living in the city. The assumption is that this will encourage people to move towards these densified areas that are supported by public transport nodes. The aim of this research is to identify possible scenarios for repairing urban fabric in order to improve the link between the community and the public urban realm. Key concepts that will be investigated are public transport, public spaces, urban form, suburban densification and non-motorised transport. The design initiative will be to repair a specific suburban neighbourhood by means of public space creation, urban densification and mixing uses within built form. The heart of the intervention is to create a lively sustainable dense neighbourhood by activating publicness through a humanist urban design approach. / XL2018

Thesis (M.M. (Public and Development Management))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Governance, 2014. / Since the advent of democracy in 1994, government programmes have improved the quality of lives and living standards of the poorest South Africans, the majority of whom were previously disadvantaged by apartheid segregation policies. On face value, racism and prejudice seem to have declined. Thus society seems to be slowly integrating as equals. However, the legacies of apartheid, combined with poor budgetary and financial management skills, a massive backlog in basic services and infrastructure, regional inequalities in the provision thereof, and sometimes tense social relationships, continue to limit opportunities for social and economic development. Additionally, despite progress made, many people remain vulnerable with poverty, unemployment, and health issues remaining a factor that continues to promote dependency on government The ability of government, municipalities in particular, to deliver such services and meet the expectations of the communities remains a contested notion. Capacity, a lack of suitable skills, bureaucracy and outsourcing of government functions to consultants has been widely blamed for what has been viewed as “shabby service delivery” by municipalities. These they believe are as a result of poor leadership skills, lack of vision and an inability to deliver while outsourcing its functions to unqualified, less experienced contractors who do not have the government’s development goals as their aim. The primary purpose of this research therefore is to determine the effects of internal bureaucracy on the provision of services within the City of Johannesburg. The research will further investigate how that impacts negatively on the City’s quest to provide quality services to its residence. These are leadership role, citizen engagement and governance. With reference to the ongoing public protests in various parts of the City, this ii research will in addition explore and attempt to understand how the City intends to address public violence linked to service delivery demands, and the impact that current internal institutional arrangements, leadership challenges and management systems have on realising the vision to achieve a world class African City that is well governed, resilient, sustainable and liveable for all. Recommendations informed by participant’s views and management theories will be also be made.

Increasing human populations results in fast-growing urbanization. Natural and semi-natural landscapes are replaced with urban landscape features like roads, sidewalks, industrial and residential buildings. The remnants of the natural landscapes are left fragmented and are often managed by frequent mowing and trimming of the vegetation. This development has had a negative impact on pollinators such as bees and wasps. Bees and wasps are pollinating insects providing an ecosystem service that sustain the global food supply. Pollinators are important also in urban landscapes where their services are needed for ecological stability and biodiversity. This study compares 23 locations in Sollentuna municipality, to investigate if species richness and abundance of bees and wasps are correlated with local factors, landscape factors or both. The available food resources are measured in buffer zones with 200m radius. Local variables are: dead wood, exposed sand, extended edge zones, flowering plant species richness and unmanaged habitat. The result showed that the landscape factor of food availability was more important for the abundance of pollinators while local variables together with the landscape factor of food availability had a positive effect on the species richness.

Orientador: Luís Antônio Francisco de Souza / Resumo: A presente dissertação analisou o processo de implantação do Conjunto Habitacional São Bento, na periferia da Zona Sul da cidade de Marília-SP. Para realizar este estudo, foi necessário compreender o processo de ocupação do solo urbano desde a fundação da cidade, suas características mais importantes, bem como entender o processo de periferização da cidade, sobretudo, a expansão da Zona Sul, desde meados dos anos 1980. A análise percorreu o debate da área de sociologia urbana no que diz respeito aos efeitos perversos das políticas habitacionais no Brasil que, ao produzirem o espaço urbano, também constituem espaços de segregação, tão bem definidos pela ideia de enclave fortificado de Caldeira (2000). Além disso, a pesquisa demonstrou que as políticas habitacionais na cidade de Marília reforçam o processo de segregação urbana da cidade e são fortemente baseadas no populismo político e no privilégio dado aos interesses dos empresários da construção civil, ignorando, assim, as necessidades por habitação da população da cidade. / Abstract: The present dissertation have analyzed the implementation process of São Bento Housing Set, in the outskirts of the South Zone of Marilia city, in Sao Paulo state, Brazil. To carry out this study, it was necessary to understand the process of urban land occupation since the foundation of the city, it's most important characteristics, as well as to understand the process of peripherization of the city, especially the expansion of the South Zone, since the mid 80s. The analysis covered the urban sociology debate with regard to the perverse effects of housing policies in Brazil, which as the cities grows, the segregations spaces grow as well, perfectly defined by the idea of a fortified enclave of Caldeira (2000). In addition, research has shown that housing policies in Marilia city reinforce the urban segregation process of the city and are strongly based on political populism and privileges that the construction business owners have, thus ignoring the housing needs of the city's population. / Mestre