Replanning of Bongani / Victoria Mxenge Precincts and Bangiso – Tandazo Pedestrian Link, Khayelitsha
The Project Challenge
The purpose of the Bongani / Victoria Mxenge Precinct planning project was to address the primary need for housing as well as associated social and economic opportunities to enable the creation of a more sustainable living environment.
The objectives of the project were:
- The reconfiguration / re-planning of Victoria Mxenge and Bongani Precincts
- Creating a sustainable living environment and thriving community life
- Creating spaces for shelter
- Rationalising the storm water drainage system
- Improving access to schools and dealing with security threat posed by gangs to pedestrians.
Principles & Approach
The principles adopted by the project team included:
- Robustness in structure and texture
- Encourage walkability
- Promote access and human comfort
- Ensure dignity and quality of urban space making
- Linkage and integration of public and private spaces
From a design point of view, the approach was one of simplicity, using simple means, measures and materials to achieve a good quality space. From a process point of view, it was necessary to embark on a participative and inclusive process which relied on local input at the planning, design and implementation stages.
Proposals
The Bongani/Victoria Mxenge replanning exercise proposed a way of intervening that attempted to address the causes and not the symptoms of the problems identified in the study. It comprised an urban design framework and a set of action plans and strategies that dealt largely with the need to create a healthier living environment and which went further to identify opportunities for the future growth and development of the area.
The framework proposed a structural and spatial system informed by patterns in the area but which promoted the externalisation of activity onto the primary routes and nodes. It was hoped that it could improve legibility of the public environment and offer a means to address the fragmented nature of the public institutional system.
It also intended to direct public investment and assist in locating opportunities for private investment and housing development that supported the aims of the framework strategically.
Bangiso-Tandazo Pedestrian Link was the first project to be implemented. It involved the opening of a narrow route, affected by surface water, that had become a zone for dumping and criminal activity. A widened servitude included paving, seating, trees, play equipment, water points and a colonnade structure which defined a new link space and series of public court areas as an extension of the private housing interfacing onto the spaces.