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Successes and failures in the use of urban edges or urban growth boundaries as policy instruments to contain or direct urban growth in order to protect non-urban areas and encourage the development of more compact, contiguous urban areas (Nelson and Dawkins 2004) have been widely documented. This is true particularly for cities in the more developed world where edges and boundaries have been in place for an adequate period of time to allow for evaluation of spatial outcomes. More recently cities in the global south have also embarked on such policy evaluation (Lerise 2000; Mubarak 2004; Msoffe et al. 2011; Du Plessis 2013; Inostroza et al. 2013). The City of Cape Town (CoCT), South Africa, has since the early 2000s employed an urban edge line as a growth management instrument in its spatial development framework (SDF) (CoCT 2009a). However, in the most recent Cape Town Spatial Development Framework (CTSDF) of 2017, an urban edge line is no longer applied as an instrument to contain horizontal urban spatial growth. Instead, the latest CTSDF champions development that will support transit-oriented development in the urban core and notes the city's intention not to extend services towards the urban periphery in the short-term (CoCT (City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality) 2017a). This sees a considerable turn-around from the stated historic apprehension to persistent growth pressure to the northern and eastern urban extremities of the metropolitan area by using an urban edge (CoCT 2012a) and seems to suggest that the former urban edge policy was considered inappropriate or problematic to the CoCTs objectives for spatial development. While the spatial effect of the urban edge over the period of 16 years for which it was employed remains a valuable subject of research, this research is interested more in the reasons behind termination of the policy. The paper postulates that, despite a solid policy foundation, the effectiveness of its intent was gradually eroded by political decision-making counter to the policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on Cape Town's planning strategy for the spatial and economic integration of the South East sector, where the majority of its informal settlements are located, with the privileged sectors of the city. It discusses the Wetton-Lansdowne Corridor plan (City of Cape Town, 1998; 1999) within the Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework (MSDF) (Cape Metropolitan Council, 1996; 1999), reflecting the evolving dynamics of the new post-apartheid planning spirit, which oscillates between a revamped interventionist approach and the meta-tale of private sector driven development. Critiques of this plan are emerging from a number of angles (Watson 2000; Watson, 2001). At the same time it has been argued that integration is happening, not through planned approaches, but through their contestation, by means of land invasions and the emergence and persistence of informal settlements (see Saff, 1996; Lohnert, 1998). In this light, it is relevant to examine how the planning initiatives for integration deal with the reality of informal settlements. This, the paper aims to do through the example of the South East sector of Cape Town. The paper does not present an overview of informal settlements in this sector, but rather focuses in detail on the living conditions in one of the settlements, Phola Park, which is strategically located within the planned Wetton-Lansdowne development corridor. The settlement occupies vacant land between a former "coloured" and "black African" township (Manenberg and Gugulethu respectively), at the intersection of a railway line and Lansdowne Road. As part of a bigger research project at the University of Hamburg, which focuses on socio-spatial change in post-apartheid Cape Town, a household survey was conducted in September 2000. In Phola Park we conducted approximately 40 structured interviews with residents, and gained some insight in the socio-economic situation of the community. The survey data of Phola Park contradicts some of... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vacant land in cities is an important resource as it presents opportunities for urban renewal and revitalisation and can contribute to municipal revenue. In a context of growing informality and homelessness in cities of the South, the presence of large tracts of vacant land is a sign of inefficient urban planning and a dysfunctional land market. It is therefore critical for local governments to have reliable data of the extent of vacant land parcels in cities and their potential for housing development, particularly affordable housing for the poor. This paper will detail and discuss the 'Potential Housing Land Model' developed by the Cape Urban Observatory, part of the African Centre for Cities, based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. South African cities, and in this case the city of Cape Town in particular, face huge constraints in terms of suitable, well-located and affordable land for low-cost housing development. A tool like the 'Potential Housing Land Tool' is one tool which could assist decision-makers in identifying such land parcels. Besides identifying land that can potentially be used for housing; the model can also allow officials to pin-point areas that are not well-serviced. The deployment of the model on the World Wide Web makes the tool available to a range of users including municipal officials, academic researchers and organised sectors of civil society who might benefit from this kind of information. The responsible and strategic use of this model and the information it provides, can facilitate a broad-based discussion about vacant land and its potential use in the city, allowing for more transparent and participatory planning. The application of tools like the 'Potential Housing Land Tool' can therefore greatly assist in improving urban governance and can contribute towards more efficient and sustainable urban planning and management systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1990s, a small group of women constructed 148 houses near the townships of Gugulethu and Nyanga in Cape Town. The small neighbourhood became the flagship project of the South African Homeless People's Federation (SAHPF), and the government used the insights of these women to develop their People's Housing Process (PHP) housing framework. In this contribution, their story is told, and in explaining why these women were so successful, we use the theoretical concepts of Pierre Bourdieu and pay specific attention to the changed meaning of power. The paper argues that the coinciding of a 'vacuum' in the planning field, the transition in South Africa to a democratic state and the personal motivation of the women of Victoria Mxenge created a momentum that enabled them to influence governmental policies on a national scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban change has systematically been researched for more than a century. One of the key foci has been the Central Business Districts (CBDs) of cities. The past decades has seen an extensive literature develop on CBD decline focusing on why such decay sets in and which strategies, as well as policies, that might be deployed to stimulate the revitalisation of these areas. The debates are, however, in the main developed within the context of large cities, whilst the geographical focus tends to be on countries of the post-industrial north. In the South African context, a small, but nevertheless significant literature has developed chronicling both CBD decline and subsequent revitalisation strategies deployed to reverse such decline. Similar to the international experience, the focal point has been South Africa’s main metropolitan regions, whilst secondary cities have remained beyond the investigatory focus. The aim of this paper was to provide an outline of the prospects and obstacles that face CBD revitalisation in the secondary city of Bloemfontein. It is argued that whilst generic revitalisation programmes in cities such as Cape Town and Johannesburg have seemingly stemmed further CBD decline, other strategies might be required in secondary cities such as Bloemfontein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of leisure and tourism to re-image and redevelop cities has been interpreted as a mechanism for attracting capital and people. In a period of intense inter-place competition and urban entrepreneurialism, whole built environments become centerpieces of urban spectacle and display. Waterfront developments have become emblematic in this regard. Over the past two decades the redevelopment of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (V&AW) in Cape Town has been transformed from ‘port’ to ‘playground’ and is internationally acknowledged as one of the most successful of these developments. This redevelopment has, as has been the case with numerous other waterfront developments, not been uncontroversial. New tensions and conflicts have arisen over the use, meaning, and ownership of this space. The acquisition of the waterfront by a consortium of London- and Dubai-based property developers in 2006 has renewed concerns about the ‘plasticization’ of the waterfront and signals the symbolic start of a new phase in this waterfront’s development trajectory. The paper tracks the development of the V&AW since its inception in the late 1980s and argues that general critiques of waterfront developments sit uneasily in the Cape Town context. It is also suggested that these developments can fulfil a very significant and positive role for developing world cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]