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The Faces of the City seminar series is run jointly between CUBES, the Gauteng City Region Observatory and the NRF Chair in Development Planning.
South African cities in the 21st century are characterised by rapid change. Johannesburg is perhaps the quintessential example of this, although urban transformation is a much wider phenomenon. Empty and edge spaces are quickly filled by property developers and investors; city centres are re-imagined as ‘improvement districts’; over-burdened transport networks become possible means of overcoming apartheid geography; once disparate cities and towns merge into sprawling metropolises without visible boundaries.
This seminar series seeks to engage practitioners and academics to unpack these and other urban transformations, and their implications for the future, from a variety of perspectives; and to bring various viewpoints and disciplines into conversation as we examine the different faces of the contemporary South African city. The series will include some site visits and site-specific panel discussions on various urban areas in and around Gauteng, as well as continuing to produce formal papers for publication.
2013
8 April 2013
Please join us for the next seminar in the 2013 “Faces of the City” series: please note the unusual DAY, TIME, and VENUE for our out-of-town visitor.
Date: Monday, 8 April, 2013
Time: 17h00 - 19h00
Venue: A1 lecture theatre, John Moffat Building, Wits East Campus
Gerhard Bruyns (TU Delft) will deliver a presentation titled
“Realities of ‘Rescripting’ the Urban: A process of de_/signing a research and design program which deals with moments of crisis and other urban materialities”.
Some copies of his recently co-edited collection “African Perspectives - [South] Africa: City, Society, Space, Literature and Architecture” (2012) will also be available for R320, along with some other books from the DSD series. Exact cash please!
Please be sure to RSVP: thammy.jezile@wits.ac.za
Bio: Gerhard Bruyns is an architect and urban designer. He presently holds the position of Assistant Professor of Architecture at the Delft University of Technology [TU Delft], the Netherlands. Bruyns previously worked in practice in South Africa before joining the Urban Renewal and Management Chair of the TU Delft’s Department of Urbanism. In 2008 he moved to the TU Delft’s Delft School of Design Advanced Research Unit as MSc design mentor and MSc coordinator. He has lectured at a number of universities globally, and acted as invited jury member to architecture schools in South Africa, Asia, South America, the US and Europe. Bruyns' present professional design and practice work is done in association is with CP, Arquitectura, Urbanismo, Investigacion
In 2007 he coordinated, under chairmanship of Professors A.D. Graafland and I.B. Low, the Urban Development Stall of the African Perspectives Africains which formed the core backdrop to his most recent [2012] publication and editorial work addressing urbanization within Africa. Previous to this he co- edited De_/Signing the Urban [010, 2006] with Patrick Healy as part of the TU Delft’s Delft School of Design publication series.
2 April 2013
"Faces of the City" seminar series: Guy Trangoš deliverED a presentation titled “Architecture and the City”. After returning from completing an MSc. in City Design and Social Science at the LSE in London, architect and urban researcher Guy Trangoš will reflect on the LSE, the research centre LSE Cities, his academic experience and research therein. The talk will offer an insight into the vast opportunities available for architects to engage the city collaboratively through their finely tuned spatial, graphic and written skills, and will include the opportunity to view a selection of publications produced by LSE Cities over the last few years.
19 March 2013
“Faces of the City” seminar series:
Barbara Holtmann delivered a presentation about the workings and methodology behind a current multi-stakeholder socio-spatial initiative in the inner city called “The Best Life for Every Child: Connecting St Mary's Cathedral and the Drill Hall on a Safe and Clean Route”
Bio: Barbara Holtmann is a process facilitator, working primarily with fragile system transformations. After three years as Project Director at Business Against Crime in the mid-nineties, Barbara served as Chief Director of Communications for the Secretariat of Safety and Security. Thereafter for 10 years Barbara led research into development of community safety approaches at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). She has a Doctorate of Philosophy in the Management of Technology and Innovation from the Da Vinci Institute for Technology Management and a Master of Management (P&DM) degree from the Wits School of Public and Development Management
12 March 2013
“Faces of the City” seminar series, on Spatial histories of the Gauteng City-Region (GCR). The seminar saw two presentations, based on closely related Occasional Papers being published by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO):
Prof Alan Mabin (Wits) delivered a presentation on his paper: The map of Gauteng: evolution of a city-region in concept and plan
Brian Mubiwa and Prof Harold Annegarn (UJ) gave a presentation on their paper: Historical spatial change in the Gauteng City-Region
Seminar Overview
The mission of the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) is to help illuminate trends and dynamics shaping the region of towns and cities in and around Gauteng, and also enhance understanding of the idea of the Gauteng City-Region (GCR) as a project – a different way of thinking about and governing this space. While much of the data collection and analysis work of the GCRO is focused on the present, it also considers the city-region’s past and its possible futures.
Read more
5 March 2013
“Faces of the City” seminar series:
Laura Burocco (Wits) delivered a presentation titled “People's Place in the World Class City: the case of Braamfontein's Inner City Regeneration Project”.
Bio: Laura Burocco is an international MBE Housing Masters student. She has a degree in law from the University of Milano, and a specialisation in International Policies and Development from the University of Roma. She worked for a Brazilian NGO in Rio de Janeiro from 2004 to 2012, coordinating a project around community empowerment and participation, with a special focus on gender and housing rights. She has a post graduate degree in Urban Sociology from the State University of Rio de Janeiro – UERJ. She is currently working for the South African Cities Network on the IBSA Working Group Human Settlements programme.
2012
6 November 2012
"Faces of the City" seminar series
Prof. Piper and Dr. Charman reported back on research findings from their research on Spaza shops in Ivory Park.
Andrew Charman is a Director of Formalising Informal Micro-Enterprises programme at the Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation. A graduate of Cambridge who has worked as a development practitioner development in Africa, Dr Charman's has led path-breaking work in mapping informal economy in poor areas of South africa's cities.
Laurence Piper is Professor of Political Studies at the University of the Western Cape. His research interests include citizenship and participation in local governance, including in contexts of informality and violence.
30 October 2012
"Faces of the City" seminar series.
Prof. Sophie Oldfield (UCT) hosted a conversation with Johannesburg colleagues entitled "When we stand together: The practice of research ‘beyond’ the university"
Bio: Prof Sophie Oldfield is based at the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town. Currently she is the President of the South African Geographical Society and the 2012 PERC Research Associate at UCT. Her research focuses on community and social movement activism, urban politics, and questions of knowledge production in these contexts.
17 October 2012
"Faces of the City" seminar series.
The National Association for Social Housing Organisations (NASHO), and the French Development Agency (AFD) coordinated a session titled
"The Greening of Social Housing"
02 October 2012
"Faces of the City"
Prof. Richard Stren (University of Toronto, Canada) will deliver a presentation titled "Can Toronto be Run Like a Business? Observations on the First Two Years of the Ford Mayoralty in Toronto"
25 September, 2012
"Faces of the City" seminar series.
Alexis Schaffler (GCRO) will deliver a presentation titled "Sustainably managing storm water in Johannesburg?"
Bio: Alexis Schäffler is a researcher at the Gauteng City-Region Observatory. She holds a Masters in Sustainable Development, Planning & Management (Cum Laude) at the Sustainability Institute at Stellenbosch University. She also has an Honours degree in Sustainable Development, Planning and Management (Cum Laude) and a triple-major degree in Economics, Politics and Decision-Making. Alexis was the project manager for the Green Strategic Programme for Gauteng, a programme that informs the objectives of departments and municipalities working in Gauteng to build a sustainable city-region economy. Her academic interests lie in green economic development paths, social-ecological systems and valuing ecosystem services as central to the transition to sustainable economies and cities. Within this her current work focuses on‘green infrastructure’ as a strategy for enhancing the resilience of people and nature in urban landscapes and expanding conceptions of infrastructure. She is currently collaborating with internationally acclaimed authors on resilience, ecosystem services and green infrastructure, work that will be published in 2012. Alexis is also investigating food security and the material and resource inputs that affect food flows in the city-region.
18 September 2012
"Faces of the City" seminar series.
Dr Christoph Haferburg (Erlangen, Germany)presented titled "Townships of To-Morrow? Cosmo City and visions for post-apartheid urban futures".
11 September 2012
"Faces of the City" seminar series.
Dorothy Tang and Andrew Watkins presented titled "Ecologies of Gold: Landscape, Ecology and Urbanism in contemporary cities".
Dorothy Tang is an assistant professor of landscape architecture at the University of Hong Kong. She teaches design studios and seminars that explore the role of landscape strategies at the intersection of everyday social operations and large-scale infrastructural systems. Current research investigates landscape change due to production, infrastructure development, resource extraction, and urbanization at multiple scales. She is working on a book that explores environmental change in the Pearl River Delta and potential for collaborative infrastructural and urban strategies across the political borders. Dorothy received a Master in Landscape Architecture with Distinction from Harvard University.
Andrew Watkins, AIA LEED, is an architect and urban designer at SWA. His current work focuses on the confluence of ecology and urbanism in both developed and developing nations. His research includes ‘Ecologies of Gold’ in Johannesburg, South Africa; ‘Villages in Development’ in the Pearl River Delta, China; ‘Opportunities of Contemporary Urban Transformations’ in Eastern Germany; and ‘Tall Buildings in the City,’ a research fellowship with Moshe Safdie. Andrew has been published in Places, 306090 and Architecture Plus. He received a Master of Architecture in Urban Design with distinction at Harvard University, graduating with the Award for Academic Excellence in Urban Planning and Urban Design
21 August, 2012
The National Planning Commission(NPC) presented a revised National Development Plan to parliament at a special sitting on the 15th August 2012. The overall goal of the plan is to “eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030”, by drawing on the energies of its people, building capabilities, enhancing the capacities of the state and promoting leadership and partnerships throughout society.
The plan recognises the importance of “reversing the spatial effects of apartheid” and makes detailed proposals for:
1) Strengthening our spatial vision
2) Sharpening the tools of planning
3) Building the capabilities for spatial governance
You are invited to engage with Phil Harrison, member of the NPC around the proposals in the plan for spatial change.
14 August 2012
“
A mini colloquium to mark the launch of:
1) The Urban Transformation Research Project (UTRP) associated with the South African
Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling in the School of Architecture, Wits University.
2) A research report series as part of the Urban Transformation Research Project (UTRP).
Authors of five research reports presented their work and the reports was on sale in hard copies and a digital form.
Dirk Bahmann & Jason Frenkel – RENEGOTIATING SPACE: Arts on Main, 44 Stanley + Johannesburg
- Alice Cabaret – BACK TO THE STREETS: Exploratory research on pedestrian life- and walking spaces in the Greater Johannesburg Area.
- Rehema Msulwa & Ivan Turok - Does Density Drive Development?
- Karina Landman & Willem Badenhorst – The impact of gated communities on spatial transformation in the Greater Johannesburg area.
- Robin Richards & Sue Taylor – CHANGING LAND USE ON THE PERIPHERY: A case study of urban agriculture and food gardening in Orange Farm
Please find programme attached.
07 August 2012
Hannah le Roux with MA students Stephen Hoffe and Katerina Karandres(Wits) and Thomas Lenaerts, Paulien Herbots and Annick Vehagen (KU Leuven) - "Jeppe at the IABR: cross-national flows in inner city research and practice"
31 July 2012
Dr Andy Clarno (University of Illinois, Chicago) - "Rescaling White Space in Post-Apartheid Johannesburg" Read more
26 July 2012
Special session
Prof Paul Jenkins (Edinburgh) - "Architectural modernism, modernisation and modernity in Africa: Acase study in Maputo" Read more
24 July 2012
WASSUP community team - "WASSUP: a community group repairing communal taps/toilets/drains in Diepsloot"
19 June, 2012
Prof Martin Murray (University of Michigan): "Ten Theses on Living in a Walled City"
12 June, 2012
Dr. Gijsbert Hoogendoorn:‘’Low-income earners as second home tourists in South Africa?"
29 May, 2012
Landiwe Mahlangu (Chairperson of the Municipal Demarcation Board): “Process and micro-politics of Municipal Demarcation”
22 May, 2012
Kate Tissington (Senior Researcher, Socio-Economic Rights Institute): "Exploring the frontiers in access to basic services: a rights-based perspective"
15 May, 2012
“City Migrants initiated churches in Rosettenville strategies of conversion and religious competition in an urban space”
08 May, 2012
Dr. Margo Huxley (University of Sheffield):"Urban informality, urban shrinkage and urban planning"
24 April, 2012
Prof. Leslie Bank (Director, Fort Hare Institute for Social and Economic Research): “Fractured Urbanism, Spatial Inscription and Violence in the Post-apartheid City (please see paper attached)”
17 April, 2012
Tara Polzer Ngwato and Iriann Freemantle (African Centre for Migration and Society, Wits): “Ingredients of social cohesion: lessons from the prevention of group based violence in poor, diverse and mobile communities in Gauteng”
10 April, 2012
Prof. Guénola Capron (Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico) and Salomón González Arellano (Architect): “Urban forms and feelings of insecurity in Mexico City”
03 April, 2012
Prof. Piper and Dr. Charman: “From Local Survivalism to Foreign Entrepreneurship: The Transformation of the Spaza Sector in Cape Town Townships”
20 March, 2012
Josephine Fokdal: “Local land, Global decisions: Spatial configurations in the Pearl River Delta, China”
13 March, 2012
Prof. Ivan Turok (Deputy Executive Director, Economic Performance and Development, HSRC): "The Transformation of South African Cities: Progress, Problems, Prospects"
28 February, 2012
Sarah Charlton (Senior Lecturer: School of Architecture and Planning, Wits): "Housing in Yeoville-Bellevue: learning from low-income living in an inner city suburb"
2011
27 September 2011
Bill Freund (currently Professor Emeritus at the University of KwaZulu-Natal) will be speaking on “City and Nation in an African Context: National Identity in Kingshasa”
20 September, 2011
Prof. Ricky Burdett: “Living in the Endless City”
30 August 2011
Alan Mabin (Professor at the School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg): “Is this our future (2)? Further learning from São Paulo”
16 August 2011
Cristina Cielo (Post Doctoral Fellow with the University of Witwatersrand's Sawyer Seminar Series on Race, Poverty and Justice): “Collective political subjects in the urban peripheries: What can the Bolivian case
tell us?”
02 August 2011
Prof. Karl von Holdt (Director of the Society Work and Development Institute, Wits University): “The post-apartheid bureaucracy: inner dynamics of state weakness".
26 July 2011
Prof. Paul Jenkins (Architect, Planner and Researcher): ‘African architecture(s), historiography & transculturation: Putting Pancho in Place’
30 June 2011
Dr. Glyn William’s (Senior lecturer in Town and Regional Planning at the University of Sheffield): "Managing political space: party practices, marginalised people’s agency and the governance of rural West Bengal".
28 June 2011
Prof. Philip Harrison (SA Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling and member of the National Planning Commission): “Sharing an emerging narrative on South Africa’s space economy: a perspective from the National Planning Commission”
21 June 2011
Prof. Aly Karam, Sarah Charlton and Marie Huchzermeyer (All from the Wits School of Architecture and Planning): “Poor peoples’ housing and the shaping of Johannesburg”
14 June 2011
Yan Yang (Post Doctoral fellow at the University of Johannesburg) and Khangelani Moyo
(NRF PhD Fellow at the School of Architecture and Planning): "A plate of loose sand: Chinese Spaces in the City of Johannesburg”
07 June 2011
Georges Pfruender (Head of the School of Arts at Wits): “Playing the City: Urban Games”
25 May 2011
Nigel Gibson: ‘Marked by "its ordering and its geographical layout": Fanonian Perspectives on
Post-Apartheid South Africa'
24 May 2011
Li Pernegger, Luke Sinwell and Adrian Masson: "State Interventions and Community Responses: A Case Study of Alexandra”
17 May 2011
Megan Jones (post-doc fellow at the University of Stellenbosch also affiliated with WISER): ‘Masculinities in Motion: Mobility, The Township and the Spectacular’
10 May 2011
Catherine Cross (Chief Research Specialist with the Centre for Economic Performance and Development at HSRC in Pretoria): "Youth migration and access to employment in the city"
12 April 2011
Jak Koseff (Director: Social Assistance, Department of Community Development, City of Johannesburg): "Towards Zero Deprivation – the role of spatial poverty targeting in creating a more inclusive Johannesburg”
05 April 2011
Anton Harber (Chair of the Freedom of Expression Institute and Caxton Professor of Journalism at the University of the Witwatersrand): “Diepsloot”
22 March 2011
Florian Kroll, M.A. (Anthropology) and Moira Beery, M.A. (Urban and Regional Planning): “Food Security, Health and Poverty: Design Criteria for Resilient South African Cities”
For previous Cities Seminars please click here:
Cities Seminars 2010
Cities Seminars 2008
Cities Seminars 2007
Cities Seminars 2006
For more information please contact:
Zakiyyah Ayob at zakiyyah.ayob@wits.ac.za or (011) 717 7719
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