Informality In South Africa Essay

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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 …show more content…

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

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