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Overcoming the Challenge of Vertical Consolidation in South Africa's Low-Income Settlements: a Case Study of Du Noon

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Abstract

Theoretically, the evident demand for housing in growing cities, particularly in the Global South would result in vertical consolidation of properties. However, unlike places in Latin America, where market and state responses to urbanisation are pushing cities higher and higher, in South Africa, the densification and land use intensity has, generally, remained horizontal, rather than vertical in nature. Du Noon offers an interesting counter position to this narrative. Unlike other Reconstruction and Development Housing Programme settlements, many property owners are demolishing the state-delivered units and erecting double-storey rental accommodation. Drawing from interviews conducted with 21 of these structure owners, this paper explores the drivers of this ‘vertical consolidation’ in Du Noon drawing lessons for housing policy and practice in South Africa.

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Notes

  1. The relevance and value of higher density approaches can be seen in the work of Dewar (2000), Jenks (2000) and Burton et al. (2004)

  2. The term “RDP housing” is widely recognised to mean housing delivered through the state delivered, subsidised housing programme (Charlton 2009). In some quarters, the term has been replaced by ‘BNG housing’ to reflect the change in housing approach contained in the ‘Breaking New Ground’ policy document. Notwithstanding this, the term RDP housing is still widely used.

  3. The Urban Foundation, founded in 1976, piloted a project in Inanda, Newtown in 1980, producing 4,000 shell homes for internal division by beneficiaries. This was followed by the government initiated pilot project in Khayelitsha in 1983 where 5,000 complete homes were produced for extendibility (Jones and Datta 2000). In the early 1990s, the IDT launched some of the first systematised and country wide ‘site and service’ projects as part of the implementation plan for the Urban Foundation’s 1990 Proposal for a National Housing Policy (Huchzermeyer 2001a, b; Khosa 2000).

  4. Provided it is physically possible, legally permissible and financially viable.

  5. This paper presents the neo-classical theory from a profit maximisation (income) perspective but the same principles would apply if it was presented from a household utility perspective.

  6. It is important to note that Shisaka did not differentiate between well located and poorly located sites.

  7. There was already reference to this community in the Approval of Layout Plan for the Less Formal Settlement: Du Noon Millerton where it states that ‘the location of Phase 1 should also take cognisance of the site where the relocated ‘West Beach squatter community is temporarily houses’ (Department of Housing, Local Government, and Planning: Provincial Administration: Western Cape 1995, p. 4)

  8. The Marconi Bean upgrade and relocation was a result of extensive negotiations between the community and the local municipality, supported by NGOs including the Development Action Group (DAG) and the Surplus Peoples Project (SPP) (personal communication DAG).

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Acknowledgments

Acknowledgement is given to Darren Bosman, James Brownlee, Edwin Bath, Marc Forrester, Keletso Modise and Inge van Rooyen who undertook the field research for the paper towards completion of their honours degree in the Department of Construction Economics and Management at the University of Cape Town.

This work is supported by Mistra Urban Futures, a global research and knowledge center in sustainable urban development, funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the Mistra Foundation for Strategic Development.

Mistra Urban Futures is an international center for sustainable urban development. The headquarters is located in Gothenburg, Sweden and the center operates in five cities around the world including Cape Town, Gothenburg, Greater Manchester, Kisumu and Shanghai. Co-production of knowledge as well as creating Fair, Green and Dense cities is a winning concept for a successful sustainable urban future. A global Arena provides for interaction with external actors and between the five cities. Mistra Urban Futures is funded by the Mistra Foundation for Strategic Development, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), and seven consortium members.

Acknowledgment is given to the Western Cape Department of Human Settlements for their ongoing support of the African Centre for Cities Human Settlements Citylab.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Construction Economics and Management, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa

    Robert McGaffin & Mark Massyn

  2. African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa

    Liza Rose Cirolia

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  1. Robert McGaffin
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Correspondence to Liza Rose Cirolia.

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McGaffin, R., Cirolia, L.R. & Massyn, M. Overcoming the Challenge of Vertical Consolidation in South Africa's Low-Income Settlements: a Case Study of Du Noon. Urban Forum 26, 59–75 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-014-9232-6

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