Bridging the divide: an exploration of the intensification of Voortrekker Road Corridor as a means to restructure the City of Cape Town

• Main Author: Duncan-Brown, Emma
• Other Authors: Dewar, David
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2017
• Subjects: City and Regional Planning
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22726

After nearly two decades of democracy, South African cities remain inequitable, exclusionary and spatially inefficient. This dissertation argues that the adaption of the principles of modernism by apartheid spatial planning has resulted in the formation of settlements that are characterised by sprawl, separation and fragmentation. Using Cape Town as a study, it can be demonstrated that the urban form and structure of South African cities has been affected by urbanisation and in-migration furthermore increasing levels of poverty and unemployment have had significant social, environmental and financial consequences. Therefore, in order to challenge conventional development models in the city and to achieve inclusive growth, this dissertation makes a case for urban corridor intensification in Cape Town. By working across a number of site scales, from metropolitan to precinct scale, this dissertation presents a development framework for the Voortrekker Road Corridor. This framework argues for the intensification of the "economic backbone" of the metropolitan to spatially restructure the city's inefficient and inequitable form. This framework proposes that the spatial intensification of the Voortrekker Road Corridor will improve integration and equitable access to economic and social opportunities throughout the city. Therefore, this dissertation establishes a framework to enable choice, opportunity and spatial equity in Cape Town.