SUPPORTING INFORMALITY IN SOUTH AFRICA
Informality is by no means an exclusively South African phenomenon. This being said, our history lends itself to several issues that are particularly contextual. The Apartheid concept of "separate development" for black South Africans can be considered to be at the root of many issues. Apart from general inhumanities, segregation was paired with the need for low cost labour in white urban areas. This led to the implementation of mass low-cost housing schemes in the 1950's. These are located on city fringes in designated "black zones". As a result, the formal construction of the Apartheid city with its characteristic spatial structure and inherent inequalities was conceived. (Haarhoff: 2011)
In South African society, economics and politics exists a continual state of tension between formal and informal. Informality is almost always considered to be outside regulation and alludes to illegality (Trangos: 2013). Traditionally employed by the poor, it is a means to manipulate and evade power. This might be true to a large extent, but the heart of the matter is: informality is a survival strategy. It is a
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Space is in the eye of the beholder. The architect with a background of privilege (or not) will see a given environment in light of his own past experiences, and not that of its user. Not only must one record physical and cultural paradigms but understand them. Community involvement is therefore of utmost importance. Public participation is more often than not the defining factor in determining the success or failure of a community project.
In his urban design Framework for Marabastad Aziz Tayob (2002) considers not only physical components that make up the cityscape, but also the memories imbedded there. The social, cultural and economic energies of its population form an integral part of the rehabilitation plan for
Panhandlers are given the opportunity by vendors to be a part of their business system through division of labor advancing their place within the community. They earn money by providing a service to vendors, rather than begging on the street corner, and are able to advance financially making more money than if they were to continue begging, the advancements of panhandlers are limited. Eventually, not all but most waste their earned money on drugs and alcohol, or other expenses leaving them once again broke. Through the process of mentoring and social support once might raise his position, but rarely ever out of the current socioeconomic class. Same thing applies to these vendors.
In Mark Mathabane’s autobiography, Kaffir Boy, the black civilians of South Africa are kept caged by the oppressive, racist government by means of unfair laws, lack of opportunity, segregation, and absurd bureaucratic procedures. In chapter 3 of Kaffir Boy the poll-tax and tribal-tax are introduced
From 1948-1994, apartheid raged across South Africa. The people of South Africa were split into four different social groups based on race. The top of the social hierarchy at the time were the white South Africans. They held control from the government and kept the other groups in a constant state of oppression. These other groups included Indian people, “colored” people, and black people.
Question#1 Some people might think that abandoned, “ghetto” sites have become useless, uninspiring, invaluable and should be demolished to create a building in which people could inhabit or use with a purpose. Although, that is not always the situation, some places could be transformed into a building that is advantageous to all. To support this, it clearly states in Source#2 that “Through government partnerships, public art can also transform dull or run-down public spaces and inspire the people who live and work there. We believe that art is educational and belongs to all people.
At times whiteness can hold sentiments of privilege or a desirable social status. Other times, it can position itself as source of victimhood or a “tenuous situational identity” (Twine & Gallagher, 2008, p.7). The study of “whiteness” was birthed in the early 1990s from critical race theory (CRT) in the United States of America (Delgado &Stefancic, 2001). CRC was built on two movements, critical legal studies and radical feminism (Delgado &Stefancic, 2001).
Throughout time diverse regions have considered other societies to be barbaric, causing them to have the desire of “civilizing” them. Many individuals accept the rule of a higher and civilized region as they believe that their alterations will benefit them. Although, by enabling a higher power to acquire authority in another foreign nation, will diminish that regions culture and individuals will not truly possess respect, ultimately causing them to rebel against that foreign power after they comprehend their true nature. Likewise, after the Berlin Conference, which set certain rules for the partition of Africa, numerous European powers desired in colonizing Africa and obtaining control during the early 1800s, which was known as the Scramble
12/10/16 Sociology Final Laura Fischer A time line of Nelson Mandela’s Life Over the course of the semester we have had the opportunity to study Nelson Mandela and the impact he has had on the world. In this paper I dug deeper to look at and study his key life experiences from a sociological perspective. Mandela lived a remarkable life because he was willing to suffer. Mandela was fearless. I think we can all learn a lot from Mandela, he once wrote “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Utilizing that knowledge in architectural and urban design can guide architecture towards a more humane experience.
In Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country, we see how black communities were subjected to segregation, inequality, and a rising crime rate. A few of the most controversial laws that took place during the apartheid include; The Race Classification Act, The Mixed Marriages Act, and the Group Areas Act. The Race Classification Act divided all citizens into different racial classes, examples being White, Black and Indian… (Etc.). The Mixed Marriages Act prohibited marriage between those of different racial classes. And finally, the Group Areas Act appointed segregated areas for housing and services for each race.
Introduction Apartheid was an official barrier which separated the different races in South Africa, namely the black South Africans and the white Afrikaans South Africans. Although Apartheid ended 20 years ago when Nelson Mandela was elected president, Apartheid still plays a large role in South African History. Apartheid began long before it was officially named Apartheid in 1948 by the leading political party, National Party. The separation between the black and white people of South Africa began around the time Jan Van Riebeek arrived in the Cape in 1652. Since then the segregation escalated due to events which caused hatred between the two races.
In the architectural realm these nonvisual experiences become important in how our space is perceived, how it makes people feel and even perform. The scale of architecture in relation to the person, the sensation a hand feels while touching a handrail, or the sound a person makes on the building as they walk: all of these
Informal Networks The article written by Richard McDermott and Douglas Archibald talks about informal networks in companies. Informal networks are more a kind of informal groups that are automatically formed in a company. The main motive behind forming this socially based informal group is to share knowledge. These informal networks have many names peer groups, communities of practice, functional groups etc.
There are millions of foreigners in South Africa, with majority being black foreigners and they have come to be seen as a serious threat to the impending economic health of the country. They are seen to be wiping off public services while persistently deteriorating the economy for their own self-interested survival. There is a certainty that the socioeconomic problem created by the coming in of African migrants is not manageable. With the high
Apartheid The unbelievable crimes that have occurred in South Africa are horrific. The fight for freedom and democracy has cost many innocent lives and harm to almost all black South Africans. Apartheid was the policy of segregation or discrimination or ground of race. Even though the fight has come a long way it is not over yet. It all started in 1948, when the government of South Africa introduced new laws putting a fine line between black and white.
When we talk about architecture as a professional activity we do recognise the contribution of different people in the designing process and successful completion of a project. But out of all the relationships among the professionals, a successful Architect –Client relationship plays the most crucial part. Assuming that this relationship can be structured, the researchers have been developing models for a systematic strategy to address the problems and gaps in management of this relationship. In this research, I want to acknowledge the psychological and sociological perspective of this relationship and enhance our understanding of the problems of this relationship.