SAVE THE DATE!
A COLLOQUIUM
A conversation between the Built Environment (BE) professions and identified partners on the establishment of a BE forum and formulating a joint position on new human settlements plans and informal settlements upgrading
SAVE THE DATE:
When: 24 – 25 February 2015
Where: Johannesburg, to be determined
RSVP: Marrit van der Schaar marritvdschaar@hotmail.com
WHY?
We have jointly identified a need to establish a forum for the Built Environment professions. Over the last few months we have been hearing of the new human settlements master plan, referred to as the MSP. The concept document for this “masterplan” has been circulated and presented at a number of forums for discussion. Such a forum will allow professional institutes to engage in conversations, reflect on and perhaps influence the outcomes of these current debates. The other intention of this forum is to broaden the network and establish partnerships between all regulatory bodies in planning and the built environment.
The need to establish such a forum where all relevant disciplines are represented has been emphasised in several events during the past year e.g.:
- UIA Durban 2014: Architecture OTHERWHERE;
- One identified aim was to dissolve distinctions between the architectural profession and other built environment professions, between the building and the city, between South Africa and Africa, between design and making, between public and private, between researchers/academics and communities, between the profession and government – in the belief that this will allow for the future creation of new realities – an INTERFACE that views the profession and its role as part of larger interlinked systems.
- SAPI Planning Africa 2014: Making Great Places;
- There is a need for Architects, Planners, Transport and Civil Engineers to jointly confront the urgent need to set the SA built environment on a new spatially efficient and equitable trajectory. This means that the professions jointly have to work with Government in transforming public spending approaches and activating more thoughtful and innovative practice.
WHO?
The planned colloquium – which aims to include a small group of participants to keep the conversations focused and the outcomes meaningful – will host representatives from several BE professional institutes, invited academics, government representatives and practitioners.
WHAT?
- Establish a Built Environment Forum
- Interrogate the Department of Human Settlements’ MSP
- Formulate a joint position on the MSP
- Assess how Informal Settlement Upgrading (ISU) is perceived in the new human settlements plans
- Engage in debate around current approaches to ISU with special focus on re-blocking
- Investigate alternative tenure options in housing projects and engaging with financial institutions on ways to establish property loan-agreements to non-land owners, offering loans on mobile buildings, diverse rental options and ownership of infill systems within government- or private sector- owned properties to offer easier access to the formal housing market.
- Debate issues around the public realm – spaces, services, infrastructure and how placemaking and integrated development of public space is linked to a sense of place, ownership and identity.
- Discuss transformation of education in the built environment disciplines and responsive curricula
OUTCOMES?
- The establishment of a BE forum
- A formal response to the MSP
- An agreement on a plan for having impact on ISU and better articulating the roles of academics, students, community organisations and government departments on re-blocking – with a future vision established on ISU
- Articulating and communicating alternative tenure options and the implications on the design and delivery process.
These outcomes will be documented and formally communicated to relevant stakeholders in 2015 and future meetings will be planned.
The intentions and anticipated outcomes are open for discussion and input from the invited participants. A longer document will be circulated mid-January 2015 to allow everyone to participate in setting the agenda for the meeting/s.
HAVE A GREAT END TO 2014. IT WAS INDEED A SPECIAL SOUTH AFRICAN YEAR IN TERMS OF DESIGN, CITIES AND SPACE.
SEE YOU IN 2015 WHERE WE CONTINUE OUR JOURNEY TOWARDS TRANSFORMATION IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT.
