Mapping & Planning

Mapping for Spatial Redevelopment

Monwabisi Park is located along the southern tip of Africa in south eastern Cape Town, South Africa, and is a neighborhood of Khayelitsha. Meaning “New Home,” Khayelitsha was established in 1984 during the apartheid era in order to accommodate the growing influx of black workers to Cape Town. When apartheid ended, there were no longer regulations on the movement of black people, and people poured into metropolitan areas from the Eastern Cape seeking new jobs. In many cases these workers only set up temporary houses on public spaces with the intention of either returning to the Eastern Cape or moving into more permanent housing once they had saved enough money.  With so few jobs and such a large demand, these squatter camps quickly became both permanent and common place. Such was the case with Monwabisi Park.

As a result of this complete lack of formal planning, the vast majority of the land has been used for residences. Roads, gardens, community centers, and recreational facilities received little, if any consideration as people moved into the area. In turn, 66% of Monwabisi Park is currently inaccessible by emergency vehicles, while the entire park is home to only one community center.  Without any formal planning or major roads, the Park is currently a maze of pathways and houses, making it incredibly difficult to navigate throughout efficiently. The vast majority of the park is also unlit at night time, resulting in making it a haven for thievery, murder, rape, and other violent crimes. With so little concern for anything other than residences, the community also lacks the ability to produce enough food to sustain any significant portion of its residents.

We have documented the factors that effect spatial redevelopment including lighting, violence, emergency access, movement patterns, and places of congregation. Through the examination of the strengths and weakness of the current practices, locations for three more community centers have been proposed, as well as a more expansive travel network that permits the access of emergency vehicles while making pedestrian movement safer and easier.

More Information

2008 Mapping & Planning Team Executive Summary

2008 Mapping & Planning Team Chapter of Envisioning Endlovini