This thesis examines the extent, nature and impact of flooding in informal and subsidised housing areas on the Cape Flats. Drawing on constructivist arguments regarding the subjectivity of risk as a concept, I examine how flooding and risk are conceptualised locally and internationally, and how well these framings compare with people's experiences in subsidised housing areas in Cape Town. I show that flooding remains a significant challenge in subsidised housing areas. Flood-risk has a strong built environment component; the very dwellings that should help to improve people's lives serve instead to transform and perpetuate risk, undermining the developmental objectives of the housing programme. In so doing, I interrogate assumptions about risk, hazard and vulnerability, and the lessons for theory and practice.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/4794 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Pharoah, Robyn |
| Contributors | Oldfield, Sophie, Holloway, Ailsa |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Science, Department of Environmental and Geographical Science |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Doctoral Thesis, Doctoral, PhD |
| Format | application/pdf |
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