South Africa is plagued with a staggering housing backlog (estimated at approximately 2.1 million units at present) due, in part, to the poor planning principles advocated by the Apartheid regime. Concerted efforts were made by the newly elected government since 1994 to provide houses for the urban poor who were previously disadvantaged. As such, a subsidised housing scheme in South Africa was introduced as a method to provide adequate housing to citizens who could not afford to do so themselves. However, despite the construction of approximately 3 million dwellings over the past 19 years, the backlog today is larger than the initial backlog experienced in 1994.
Two questions were therefore raised in this research:
1) Whether the current approach to subsidised housing provision is sustainable, given the socio-economic conditions present in South African cities and
2) Which planning principles could be applied with regards to subsidised housing in order to ensure the development of sustainable human settlements.
In order to address these issues, research regarding sustainable human settlements, and the South African context in terms of housing provision, was done in the form of a literature review and empirical study.
The literature reviewed shed light on (a) urban models, (b) the elements of sustainable human settlements, (c) policies and legislation relating to subsidised housing provision in South Africa and (d) the criticisms against the South African policies and the current method of subsidised housing provision in South Africa.
Information gained during the literature review phase was used to compile a set of criteria by which housing provision for the urban poor could be evaluated. This evaluation took the form of an empirical study which consisted of structured questionnaires and interviews, and a comparative analysis of international and local pilot studies. The following subsidised housing projects were scrutinised to establish best practices that may be applied to the South African context:
* Bairro Carioca and Taroni Condiminiums in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
* Haram City in October 6 City, Egypt,
* Cosmo City, South Africa,
* Community Residential Units in Potchefstroom, South Africa, and * Reconstruction and Development Program Units in Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Through the critical evaluation of the above mentioned projects, it became clear that the typical South African method of subsidised housing provision, in which beneficiaries receive a loose standing dwelling house on a single erf, is in fact unsustainable, and that this approach is not facilitating the formation of sustainable human settlements.
Alternative methods of housing delivery that can be implemented in the South African context were identified and led to the formulation of planning related recommendations in terms of sustainable subsidised housing provision, focussing on (1) increased densities, (2) improved location and (3) providing a range of household types. Mention was also made of non-planning related recommendations such as (4) alternative services delivery, (5) including different forms of tenure and (6) increasing financial responsibility. / MArt et Scien (Urban and Regional Planning), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/11970 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Scheepers, Elmarie Yolandé |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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