Building an African city, part by part

Written By Saran Koly

Cape Town: Building an African city, part by part, step by step

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In Africa it is expected that 900 million additional people will move into urban areas or cities in the next 4 decades. Considering that the current population of China is 1.4 billion and that of India 1.3 billion, how African cities will house future generations has become a critical question.

While the South African government has since arrival of democracy in 1994 delivered close to three million RDP houses, they are usually located on cheap land on the peripheries and the demand for shelter has far outstripped the supply. It is estimated that approximately 7.5 million people live in informal settlements with a national housing shortage of 2.5 million units. The uncertainty and instability of living in informal conditions is exacerbated by limited or poor access to amenities, services, jobs and functioning ecological environments.

Within this context, professionals including architects, planners, urban designers and other urban actors are grappling with the new role of incrementally co-producing housing in informal settlements, which expand beyond traditional narratives of top-down mega-development planning and implementation as cookie-cutter solutions. This new role is cognisant of the need for community-led action and leadership in improving living conditions through meaningful participation with professionals and government.

Alternatives are emerging and changing the way that local governments and the urban poor interact around the complex juxtaposition of worsening human development indices, service delivery constraints, insecure tenure, and security concerns.

In Cape Town, a city of 3.5 million,three projects born out of extensive community engagement shed light on how an incremental urbanism approach is raising the quality of life and living conditions of the urban poor.


The Table House

The Table House project is part of the UrbanXchanger Project, a Deutsche Bank initiative which provides support innovative projects in various cities around the world. Four teams of Urban Practitioners, including architects, partnered with local organisations from each of the four Cities that were part of the Deutsche Bank Urban Age Program, to find solutions to local problems.

In Cape Town Noero architects worked with the the NGO Hands of Honor, and chose to respond to the housing crisis and the in particular uncertainty of living in informal settlements exacerbated by unstable structures, lack of tenure and poor basic service delivery and access. The solution that was co-developed is the “The Table House”, both a technical solution as as as a symbolic gesture to provide stability in areas where there is often none.

Developed around the idea of a table the structure comprises: four PVC pipes filled with concrete as posts (Table legs) and steel beams and deck (Table top). The Deck can be a roof for an existing shack or a first floor for a second storey. In this case, the architect does not “dictate the conditions, the aesthetics or the lifestyle but simply provides a sturdy structure that anchors a house to its site and dwelling to the city”. 

The construction allows flexibility within the structure or can become the structure itself. Most importantly it anchors the dwelling to the ground—a solid base from which to start according to the architect.

 
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Empower Shack

Alfredo Brillembourg and Urban-Think Tank (U-TT) known for design innovations in informal settlements or slums of the global South, have been developing and implementing a plan for the rapid incremental upgrade of an informal settlement in Khayelitsha, Cape Town’s largest township in Cape Town.

The project called, Empower Shack is described as an “an interdisciplinary and participatory housing prototype” and is being built as an ongoing pilot in the BT-Section of Khayelitsha with the aim to focus on 68 houses.

Working in partnership with local NGO Ikhayalami Development Services and architecture firm Design Space Africa, the goal is to to develop a comprehensive and sustainable informal settlement upgrading strategy by the end of 2017. The strategy is centered on four core components: a two-story housing prototype, participatory spatial planning, ecological landscape management, and integrated livelihoods programming.

The first iteration featured a two-storey metal-clad modular wood frame structure that is economical for the residents and can be self-built, while the second iteration comprises of four units combining brick and corrugated iron in its construction to adapt to the needs and requirements of the residents. There is also an opportunity to add a third storey in future.

 
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Flamingo Crescent

Another project which embraces the incremental upgrade of​ ​the living conditions of

urban poor communities is the ​ ​upgrading of Flamingo Crescent informal settlement. In 2007 the settlement site was characterised by smoke and dust-filled pathways and a patchwork of 104 structures made of old cardboard, zinc, timber and plastic. The 450 residents - of which 95% were unemployed​ ​- were relocated to the site from living on the streets and under bridges in various parts of the city.

In 2012,​ ​Flamingo Crescent residents collaborated with the South African SDI Alliance  (Federation of the Urban Poor, Informal Settlement Network and Community​ ​Organisation Resource Centre)​ ​the local government in Cape Town to  start​ t​​he process​ of​ ​ incremental upgrading​ ​using an approach called re-blocking. 

“Re-blocking”​ ​is a term used by the SA SDI Alliance which ​refer​s​ to the reconfiguration and repositioning of shacks in very dense informal settlements in accordance to a community-drafted spatial framework. The aim is to better utilize the spaces in informal settlements to allow for better service provision

The upgrade project​ ​strongly ​ ​focused on community residents as central actors in the process. This included in depth social facilitation between all actors involved including​ ​community savings (as​ ​a percentage contribution to upgraded structures and an enumeration​ ​to gather social and demographic data.

The re-blocked layout​ ​developed by the community with the support of the SA SDI Alliance and planning students from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology,​ ​opened up access roads​ ​and courtyards which enabled successful negotiation with the local government agreeing to install 1:1 water and sanitation points,  electrifying the entire settlement and provide each home with a formal address.

In May 2014 implementation commenced on a cluster-by-cluster​ ​basis, with all structures (today painted in various pastel colours) erected by end 2014.

Beyond the physical legacy,​ ​the upgrading process contributed to an organised community with strengthened leadership structures to address various social issues.​ ​It demonstrates an example of meaningful co-production and has established the potential​ ​for future collaboration between the community and city​.​

 
 
 
Saran Koly
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