National Research Foundation Annual Report 2008 / 2009 [Part 2]

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34 NRFimpact report <strong>2008</strong>/09There are many proposed solutions to the human settlement question.But how many of them are sustainable?a new kind ofneighbourhood watch“The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft awry,” according to poet Robert Burns, but it is the goal ofProfessor Mark Swilling of the Sustainability Institute at Stellenbosch University to ensure that the bridgebetween government’s strategic intentions for housing and development are translated into practicalsolutions for housing in South Africa.Prof. Swillings’ research approaches the various challenges of sustainable human settlements with aparticular focus on the Western Cape, although the solutions that have emerged from the various projectscan be applied in urban development throughout South Africa and abroad.There are few, if any, real examples of sustainable development in South Africa, even though the notionhas been supported by government policies in recent years. A report generated by the SustainabilityInstitute ascribes this to a “continued predominance of old approaches to township planning, infrastructureand housing design and a lack of cross-sector integration and collaboration. Planners seldom designneighbourhoods with a view to their long-term environmental, social and economic sustainability andapartheid spatial constructs and financial constraints mostly overrule integrated approaches to holisticallydesigned settlements”.“It is the Sustainability Institute’s mission to implement sustainable design in human settlements, totransform how neighbourhoods are designed and how they operate,” says Prof. Swilling. “We work directlywith community-based housing movements and groups of the urban poor to find out what it is they reallyneed.” While there are various similar research projects, Prof. Swillings’ team is paying particular attentionto energy efficiency and renewable energy and alternative building materials, especially unfired bricks.“We’re starting at the very beginning of design, with looking at the size of pavements, which give adirect indication of the importance of pedestrians in an urban environment,” he says. Next under theproverbial microscope is the design of infrastructure such as sewage and effluent, how it can be treatedto minimise water consumption – and how structures can be designed to capture rainwater.
35Photovoltaic roof tiles are one of the sustainable housing products thatProfessor Mark Swilling (centre) and his team are testing for South Africa.The tiles, once imported from California, could soonbe made out of recycled plastic!
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Page 17 and 18: 15Associate Professor Robert van Zy
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Page 21 and 22: 19Dr Mario Williams’ research int
Page 23 and 24: 21More energy with less effortThe r
Page 25 and 26: 23The day science becomes real for
Page 27 and 28: 25New life for agricultureMonique M
Page 29 and 30: 27Professor Hongjun Xu (left) of th
Page 33 and 34: 31Mark Mandita, education officer a
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Page 41 and 42: 39There is a wealth of knowledge st
Page 43 and 44: 41A total of 50 postgraduate and po
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National Research Foundation Annual Report 2008 / 2009 [Part 2]

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