We have carried out our projects in Kwazakhele, a former township in the
northern part of Port Elizabeth. This residential area was built in the 1950’s
for the black population. In line with the policies of the apartheid regime,
Kwazakhele was isolated from Port Elizabeth. Today the area is a low- to very
low income area and the unemployment rate is high. The area is flat and
featureless and many sites are undeveloped. Due to the lack of housing, many of
these undeveloped sites are used by squatters. There are few developed public
places in the area, such as meeting places and parks.
Information about the project area has been gathered in Port Elizabeth during
four months. Methods of analysis have been Kevin Lynch’s City Structure
Analysis and a SWOT-analysis.
When moving away from apartheid, one important aspect for the municipality is
to improve for various groups. Creating a bus corridor running from Central
Port Elizabeth through the former disadvantaged areas in the north up to
Motherwell is important for developing both integration and sustainability. The
new public transport system is based on trunk busses supported by feeder buses
and completed with local buses and taxi services. The main goal is to provide
an efficient all day public transport service. The Corridor development focuses
on high density and mixed land use as this caters for maximum use of public
transport means when travelling.
Implementing the Khulani Corridor will cause changes to the urban landscape of
Kwazakhele and therefore, a strategy on how this change will take place is
needed to achieve holistic planning. Avoiding uncontrolled development is of
great importance to the urban appearance. We want to present proposals of how
development can take place in our project areas.
We have used five concepts:
• High density and densification
• Mixed use development
• Public space
• Housing alternatives
• Safety and security
The concepts have resulted in a proposal made at two levels, one overall
structure of land use and two detailed proposals.
The area is to a large extent already built up. We have been working with
infill housing on vacant land, unused school sites and land that today is used
by squatters.
We propose an overall upgrading of the street network, creating pedestrian and
bicycle lanes, connecting main attractions in the area. The overall structure
of public space is improved through the upgrading of existing space and through
adding new ones. New parks for recreational proposes are suggested. They are
connected by tree planted streets, green links, with pedestrians and bicycle
lanes creating an overall green structure.
We have used two housing types, corresponding with creating high density and
mixed use development. As the main housing structure we propose small scale
housing blocks, clusters. The structure aims at creating a smooth transition
from private to public by developing semi-priva...