Decision-making dynamics at the rural-urban fringe:lessons from Jamestown, Stellenbosch Municipality, by Corrine Cash.
The ‘rural-urban fringe’ is under assault worldwide, as cities expand in seemingly
unstoppable growth, commonly known as ‘urban sprawl’. The rural-urban fringe was
first defined
More... by Wehrwein in 1942 as ‘the area of transition between well recognized
urban land uses and the area devoted to agriculture’. As cities grow, this ‘transition
zone’ becomes a contested area as various actors fight for space, with varying objectives and opinions on how land should be used.
This is clearly the case within the Jamestown area, located in the rural-urban fringe
within the Municipality of Stellenbosch. Based on primary data gathered during 2011-
12, this paper describes the decision-making dynamics governing land use in the
Jamestown area – a process that is altering both landscapes and community relations. A
fundamental lesson that emerged out of the research is that local outcomes are highly
vulnerable to economic and political realities and decisions that may exist far from the
rural-urban fringe area itself. This results in clear winners, and “losers”, often
depending on the ideological perspective of the individuals involved. The paper aims to
draw out several lessons for planners, as well as social activists, and advocates of
sustainable urban design: in other words, given the complex pressures governing land
use in present day South Africa, what is there to be learned from this particular case in
terms of ‘best practice’ and best/better ways forward?
Corrine Cash is a PhD Candidate in Planning at the University of Waterloo in Canada
and a Research Fellow at the African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town. She is
recipient of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council’s Bombardier
scholarship and Michael Smith award.Venue: Studio 5, EGS Building Upper Campus,
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Start date: 6 August
Start time: 03:00 pm
End time: 05:00 pm
GPS lat: -33.9575
GPS long: 18.4605
Street:
City: Cape Town
Country: South Africa
Websites:
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