Thesis (MA (Geography and Environmental Studies)--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In 2004, the then Department of Housing’s Breaking New Ground (BNG) policy introduced a compilation
of principles that underlie a sustainable human settlement. The principles were aimed at guiding, amongst
others, municipal officials in the decisions they take when faced with a housing development project. This
thesis will set out to determine how municipal officials have taken up BNG’s principles for sustainable
housing settlements as well as the perceptions, methods of implementation and degree of acceptance that
housing and town planning managers have of BNG. In the study, the perceived relevance that these
managers have of BNG within their non-metropolitan towns is explored using five of the fifteen leader
towns of the Western Cape Province. This research has shown that BNG considers the compact urban form,
coupled to other development considerations, as the most sustainable for South Africa. In terms of building
sustainable human settlements: the low-income housing unit has evolved substantially since its conception,
and that the current unit is held in far higher regard (by both municipalities and beneficiaries) than its
predecessors. The design of this unit remains standardised due to a lack of funding for a more flexible
design, but its structure allows for additions to be made at the cost of the beneficiary. Funding thus remains
a major constraint to housing delivery. Municipalities feel that they are able to implement BNG, but that
there are certain shortcomings in the document which prevent its full implementation. One of these
shortcomings is the lack of an external funding mechanism for housing delivery, proposed in BNG, but
never having materialised. Further, BNG focuses more on the metropolitan scenario and is not always
relevant to non-metropolitan towns. Almost all of the municipalities have initiated inner city regeneration
projects, but fewer have included the provision of social housing as part of their inner city rejuvenation.
Subsidy housing is the most implemented housing typology, but these units often experience decay due to
the absence of original owners who have (mostly illegally) sold or rented out their units. The one-erf-one-unit
nature of subsidy housing is not seen as sustainable owing to space limitation experienced by most of
the municipalities interviewed. Contrary to earlier research, in situ upgrading is a common occurrence in
municipalities. However, there is a great need for stronger regional (or broader scale) planning regarding
housing delivery. Low-income housing is strongly influenced by politics – a fact which municipalities say
negatively influences housing delivery. Migration also poses a serious threat to municipal backlogs.
Currently, the fight against an escalating demand for low-cost housing is a losing battle as the rate at which
government is rolling out housing is vastly ineffectual. Municipalities deem that large-scale projects like the
N2 Gateway might be a solution to their housing backlogs which, they concur, are at crisis point. However,
municipalities indicated that their implementation of large scale projects will not follow the same path as
the N2 Gateway – the planning of which is seen to be substandard. Currently, urban integration takes place
on an income basis and not due to racial division. Inclusionary housing is seen as a relevant tool for the
promotion of integration, but cannot be enforced to its full potential due to a lack of supporting legislation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/5388 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Smith, Tarryn Nicole Kennedy |
| Contributors | Donaldson, S. E., University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 146 p. : ill., maps |
| Rights | University of Stellenbosch |
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