Spatial planning and locational decision-making for public housing interventions in South Africa
For many years, South Africa’s municipalities had to deal with legal uncertainty regarding their planning powers and with the superimposition of planning laws that promoted different rules and institutions. Many cities and municipalities are faced with a huge demand for low-income housing from the inhabitants of informal settlements. At the same time, higher levels of government demand the implementation of housing programmes that do not always correspond to local priorities.
Against this backdrop, the study seeks to increase knowledge about the actors involved in land use and housing governance within and outside the government, and about the (formal and informal) rules and institutions to which the actors refer in this process. The study will examine the extent to which housing policy location decisions are guided by legally required planning instruments such as spatial development frameworks and the ‘housing chapters’ of integrated development planning. Analytical governance concepts will be applied to explain structural and cultural factors influencing concrete planning practices. Case studies from different provinces, which refer both to the upgrading of informal settlements and to new housing projects, should contribute to comparative research of spatial planning systems. By combining governance and performance analyses of planning practices, the study also aims to contribute to the international debate on appropriate approaches to spatial planning in emerging countries, which are characterised by very large economic disparities and cultural differences.
Project duration: September 2017 to August 2020
Funding: German Research Foundation
Research team: Prof. Dr. Uwe Altrock, Dipl.-Ing. Gerhard Kienast
Contact
Prof. Dr. Uwe Altrock
+49 561 804-3225
altrock@asl.uni-kassel.de
Gerhard Kienast
+49 561 804-2413
kienast[at]asl.uni-kassel[dot]de