A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment: University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Development Planning / There is a consensus amidst the planning community that we are currently experiencing a sweeping
paradigm shift; which has over the last forty-years gained rapid momentum. Postmodernism is
proposed to have prompted a return to ‘the small is beautiful’ and the revaluation of people as the
critical and central receptors of the spaces that past and present planners produce. An emphasis on
the everyday and lived experience of the urban population is just another symptom in the argument
for postmodernism.
As perhaps is common with all paradigm shifts, along with the transformation has come a flurry of
some new terminologies and a redefining of others. Suburban neighbourhoods have experienced an
interrogation of terminology; and epistemological and phenomenological value. The identification of
inner-circle suburbs is just one of the many terms to describe a uniquely urban space within the
once blanketing term ‘suburbs’. Inner-circle suburbs are often the oldest suburbs in an urban area
and are located closest to the Central Business District.
A revitalised inquisition in suburban spaces has prompted new and creative ways of exploring the
suburbs; with our own locally grown urbanists showing interest and producing knowledge on the
dynamics of South African suburban neighbourhoods. Needless to say, this is still a relatively young
topic that favours an investigation into spatial form and structure over the significance of the lived
practice.
This research report is an attempt to coalesce the spatial form and practiced living into a single
coherent snap-shot of the lives of northern inner-circle suburban dwellers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/15503 |
| Date | 10 September 2014 |
| Creators | Kara, Muneebah |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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