Human Settlements Review - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

Human Settlements Review, Volume 1, Number 1, 2010
public space; they may trigger off positive
activity in the vicinity and surroundings,
allowing for continued interpretation, change,
adaptation, and involvement.
Hamdi (2004) explains how ‘small’ interventions
grow and guide development and how the role
of the professional becomes one of creating
conditions for emergence and in this respect
searching for catalysts. These catalysts then
generate a process of ‘negotiated reactions’
(Dewar & Uytenbogaardt, 1991), whereby
continuous transformation is achieved within
a stable environment. This is perceived as a
common characteristic of successful urban
places. While projects need to have a bigger
vision, they need to start small, by identifying
where existing energy is and latching on to
that spatially, physically and functionally.
Routes and nodes, may help structure the
development process, section by section, in
the city by allowing for natural process to occur
– thus creating connectors and energy flows
between them. Projects have influence beyond
the confines of their sites as expressed in the
below diagram:
However, it is questioned if single projects
(mega or small scale) can ever achieve the
critical mass needed to ensure positive and
lasting change. While large scale interventions
are needed, they have to be broken into smaller
manageable clusters to ensure buy-in and
participation. Who provides that bigger vision
This vision would need to articulate aims not
only in terms of political and social agendas
but also in spatial and physical terms
3.2.3 The idea of interface and “the edge”
Addressing and activating the routes and
the edges gains considerable importance in
combating the gated houisng trend. When all
housing becomes gated, the spaces in between
housing complexes become unmonitored and
the possibilities for passive surveillance and
crime reduction are undermined. Developers,
including Social Housing Institutions should
be compelled to provide evidence that they
have meaningfully addressed the edges
and surrounding routes so that vulnerability
and susceptibility to crime is reduced and
that the market potential of all developments
is enhanced before project approvals are
granted. This would also go towards providing
positive visual impact on the peripheries of
developments.
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