A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Housing as urbanism: A policy to discourage urban sprawl and provide well-located and affordable housing in South Africa
The concept of ‘housing as urbanism’ considers the social, political and economiccomponents of housing, which, in reality, translates to housing that is closer toemployment, municipal services, public spaces, healthcare, schooling facilities andsocial services, while also providing the household with the physical infrastructurenecessary for a good quality of life. These considerations have not been includedin the mass roll-out of low-income housing programmes by the South Africangovernment to date. A series of case studies show that, in South Africa, a morecompact urban form does not necessarily lead to one that is less expensive than asprawled urban form, due to infrastructure thresholds, capacities, location, land-usemix, and density variations over time and space. Due to the complex interrelationsbetween land values in space, the costs of buildings and urban services, therelative cost of transport and the excess capacities in infrastructure systems, asimple dichotomous ‘sprawled’ versus ‘compact’ approach to housing location andurban development is not appropriate. Investigations of individual sites need to beperformed, in order to understand the social, political and economic benefits, whichwill accrue to the households from their location in the city. The case studies alsoindicate that, over the long term, the overall cost of housing developments that arebetter located, subscribing broadly to the principles of ‘housing as urbanism’, islikely to be less expensive to municipalities and the development’s residents thanpoorly located, sprawled housing developments. Decisions taken which considerthe principles of ‘housing as urbanism’ can help create a more efficient urban form,freeing up resources for both urban residents and public-sector organisations.
Housing as urbanism: A policy to discourage urban sprawl and provide well-located and affordable housing in South Africa
The concept of ‘housing as urbanism’ considers the social, political and economiccomponents of housing, which, in reality, translates to housing that is closer toemployment, municipal services, public spaces, healthcare, schooling facilities andsocial services, while also providing the household with the physical infrastructurenecessary for a good quality of life. These considerations have not been includedin the mass roll-out of low-income housing programmes by the South Africangovernment to date. A series of case studies show that, in South Africa, a morecompact urban form does not necessarily lead to one that is less expensive than asprawled urban form, due to infrastructure thresholds, capacities, location, land-usemix, and density variations over time and space. Due to the complex interrelationsbetween land values in space, the costs of buildings and urban services, therelative cost of transport and the excess capacities in infrastructure systems, asimple dichotomous ‘sprawled’ versus ‘compact’ approach to housing location andurban development is not appropriate. Investigations of individual sites need to beperformed, in order to understand the social, political and economic benefits, whichwill accrue to the households from their location in the city. The case studies alsoindicate that, over the long term, the overall cost of housing developments that arebetter located, subscribing broadly to the principles of ‘housing as urbanism’, islikely to be less expensive to municipalities and the development’s residents thanpoorly located, sprawled housing developments. Decisions taken which considerthe principles of ‘housing as urbanism’ can help create a more efficient urban form,freeing up resources for both urban residents and public-sector organisations.
Housing as urbanism: A policy to discourage urban sprawl and provide well-located and affordable housing in South Africa
van Niekerk, Brendon (author)
2018-12-31
Town and Regional Planning; Vol. 73 (2018); 68-82 ; 2415-0495 ; 1012-280X
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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