A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / Cemeteries consume vast amounts of land and contest with other land uses deemed more
urgent; yet they are rarely addressed in international policy dialogues. They are generally
not viewed as part of the open-space system and are mostly mono-functional. Resilience
thinking has become an important discourse influencing the way in which urban policy and
planning is conceptualised. There is potential to use these ideas to further develop the new
approaches to cemetery provision, which are influenced by the application of sustainability
concepts, and see them as part of green infrastructure. However, resilience thinking needs
to go beyond technical solutions to consider local institutional and socio-cultural contexts
that affect their application.
South African apartheid policies facilitated segregation that resulted in unsustainable
approaches to cemetery planning and provision. New approaches that engage sustainability
perspectives are being explored. This research explores the experience of implementing
these approaches in the Johannesburg context, and what it might mean to reconceptualise
cemetery planning further through a social-ecological resilience lens. This is achieved by
establishing the relationship of cemeteries to social-ecological systems; investigating how
the current design and provision of cemeteries can be reconceptualised in the context of
resilience thinking; understanding whether newer cemetery planning approaches and
designs adequately meet needs of users, and whether they would be willing to accept new
ways of interment, and identifying barriers that would prevent the uptake of approaches
that are consistent with resilience thinking.
The study employs a case-study methodology focusing on a primary case - Waterval
Cemetery, to understand the applicability of resilience thinking in cemetery planning in
South Africa. Through engagements with key respondents in the municipality, interviews
and focus groups with cemetery users, it seeks diverse participants’ perceptions of newer
cemetery planning approaches, and alternatives to conventional burial. A secondary case
examines Diepsloot Memorial Park, which integrates more innovative elements. Results
show that the application of resilience in cemetery planning requires a strong understanding
of local socio-cultural contexts. Although the idea of cemeteries contributing to the
resilience of cities is conceivable, it could take longer for transformation to happen and for
innovative ideas to be fully accepted. / MT 2018
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/24012 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Leuta, Tsepang Cecilia |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (378, 46 leaves), application/pdf, application/pdf |
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