37º IAHS World Congress on Housing: - Universidad de Cantabria

XXXVII <strong>IAHS</strong><strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> on HousingOctober 26 – 29, 2010, Santander, SpainCODE: 624THE POWER OF THE URBAN CORRIDOR AS AN URBANPLANNING TOOL, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TOSOUTH AFRICAD. DewarDepartment of Architecture, Planning & GeomaticsUniversity of Cape Towndavid.dewar@uct.ac.zaKey words: Urban Corridor, Intensification, RestructuringAbstractIt is now widely accepted (but not so widely practiced) that housing and transport areinextricably interrelated: that planning for one should not occur in isolation from the other.The form in which these most successfully come together is that of the urban corridor.‘Corridor’ in the sense used here is not primarily a transport-related concept, referring to athin band of higher density housing flanking a public transportation route in order to improvetransportation viability. Rather, it is an urban term. It refers to a thick band of higher density,mixed use development with public transportation at its core. Its primary purpose is toencourage the decentralisation of economic activity in order to increase convenience and thusreduce aggregate amounts of movement. It is argued here that it is a powerful tool to promoteurban intensification and restructuring. The argument is supported by a case study.37º <strong>IAHS</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> On Housing Science 248