INTRODUCTION TO THE THEORY

INTRODUCTION TO THE THEORY To a i d design or p a r t s o f an u n d e r s t a n d i n g cities that cause the p u b l i c The t h e o r i e s f o l l o w. o-f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s needed as an u n d e r s t a n d i n g r e i l m and make i t a vital that cau se c i t i e s of place. the r e l a t io n s h ip s

. INTRODUCTION 1 s C IT IE S - THE GLOBAL NEED Before gog to detail on the network of mutual support an troduction follows that deals with the need for cities.. Th followed by a look \ at the c ity as a resu lt of exchange. Wates and Knevitt of Community Architecture have the follow g to say on the state of and need for c i t i e s, and how p a rticip a tio n can help meet that need. " The challenge posed by the necessity to create human settlements awesome. Accordg to United Nation estim ates, one b il l io n people around the world lack adequate sh e lte r, water su p p lies, san itation and se rvices. At least 100 m illion are thought to be l it e r a lly homeless. Quite apart fi ti copg with t -decay and recent mmanagement of our extg c it ie s there a staggerg demand for expansion. An extra 600 m illion homes are l ik e ly to be needed world wide the next thirty- five years, a total that w ill amount to the creation of 3,5 0 0 new c it i e s of a m illion people. Just three hundred such c it ie s currently e x t. Unless the development dustry can put it s house order r e la t iv e ly quickly, mformned, wasteful and s o c ia lly d iv iv e human settlements are lik e ly to become the major problem the twenty-first century. Wates St Knevitt \ 1987 : 156 ) L U I

Community architecture i s developg the spatial frastru cture required -for the new order. It i s providg a means -for creatg the homes, neighbourhoods and c it ie s which other necessary changes - xn l i f e s t y l e, work patterns, transportation and so on - can take p lac e. The f a il u r e of the development dustry to respond more quickly to so cieties* new needs has been a major factor the frustratio n faced by novations other areas and thus the decle of B rita and many other dustrial n atio n s. provides thew msg l k ; In th respect community arch itecture it provides a means for people to give form to their rapidly changg liv e s and c u l t u r e s." Wates Se Knevitt ( 1987 s 156» 10 V. of new c it ie s will be the developed countries, 90 V. will be less developed coun tries. less developed countries. The greater need for e xp erte These countries are gog to be hard pressed to meet needs of f u e l, food, h e a lth, education and economic advancement. It the public realm that th or can be done. Food and fuel procurg and through th economic advancement take place the part of the urban realm that public space designed with economic advancement as its ten tio n. Social a c tiv ity follows hand hand with economic activity makg for well used enjoyable spaces the c it y. The public realm has a major role structurg the c it y. The public realm structurg device based on movement systems. The quotes above make us aware f the need for c it ie s with quality environments, not " mformed, wasteful... so c ially d iv iv e human settlements The urgency for these the face of explodg populations immense. One of the ways of ensurg a better q u a lity of c it y environment through urban design.

12 intrqductidn 2 s THE CITY AS A PLACE OF EXCHANGE AND THE REALMS WHERE EXCHANGE OCCURS. The c it y a place of exchange Exchange o-f goods and ideas For the exchange o-f goods the c ity a market place For the exchange o-f ideas the c it y a theatre or a hall or a c a fe, places where ideas are exchanged or conveyed C it ie s are places where people come together -for economic and social opportunity - Economic and social a c tiv ity evidences aspects o-f urbanm - L ife c it ie s related to the teraction and a c t iv it y that results from opportunity - It can be economic or social a c t iv it y, with social sp o f f s from economic a ctiv ity and economic sp o ffs from social a c t iv it y - In ancient Greece the Agora was the place of exchange both of goods and ideas and b u ild g s aggregated around and t h place - Exchange has it s public and private s id e s. Public exchanges occur the open and private exchanges behd closed doors - Th troduces the physical realm. That part which houses the a c tiv ity. Public a c t iv it ie s are housed the public realm. Private a c t iv it ie s are housed the priv ate realm. - In the urban fa b r ic, public realm spaces can be regarded as the Voids, and private realm spaces as the So lid. - Voids are currently the hands of local government funded by taxes from the private sector So lids are the hands of private enterpre funded by p riv ate c s o i t a l.

T h i s s e t s th e s c e n e, However if e v e r y t h i n g seems t o f i t are we look ar o u n d u s i n t h e c i t y we s e e, 1. public 2. private l i f e, 3. p u b l i c p r o p e r t y i s p r e s e n t on a s c a l e th a t with W nere t h e s p a c e s h a v e b e e n d e s i g n e d to place. as envioned th o ug h vible, the d egree of p u b lic E v i d e n c e of a c t i v i t y, i s p r e s e n t on a small p r e s e n t on a l a r g e Public i s not c o n s i s t e n t livg the p u b lic realm, m im al, Balance for called ( except peuple a c tu a lly the fo llo w g sues relat g t o t h e u rb a n 1. balance 2. balance th e b e n e f i t s o f 3. a bala nce t h e control r e a l m of of It t h e u r b an e n v i r o n m e n t. If t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n of v a r i o u s p a r t s o f to an o th er i e. fo r s o much p u b l i c th e c i t y. It a l s o hert t h a t s t r e e t s and these places should i n fo r m a l seek it ab o u t the p u b lic that are m sg to t r o d u c e traders t r a d e s p r i n g s up a t p o i n t s o f fd to their and i t the c i t y. foothold terchange of space e x t s, why i s so l i t t l e e s p e c i a l l y at p o i n t s w h e r e t r a i n s s t o p traffic take p e o p le m eet, human ), the the evident? d e s ig n e d marches transport t o t h e economy. A l o o k at J o h a n n e s b u r g show s v e r y f e w o u t s i d e u a l l y from o.ie p l a c e t o a n o t h e r u r b a n economy. t h e u rb an e n v i r o n m e n t. m ode, As t o th e q u e s t i o n : A c l i m a t e such livg. goer beyond w a lk g the c a s e of p u b l ic used. high e x c h a n g e of g o o d s and i d e a s ( no t j u s t t h e d e l i v e r y o f them ). P la c e s for these a c t i v i t i e s should be provided the p u b lic In fo r m a l environment i outdoor itself t h e s j that urban d e s ig n environm ent, public t h e s e p l a c e s v e r y w e ll as ours lends scale an d w h e r e t h e y l o c a t e d n e a r p l a c e s of c o n c e n t r a t i o n an d a l o n g r o u t e s o f f l o w we f i n d scale to the fa b r ic a c t i v i t y Da o th er ( void than fo r ) spaces that w a lk g from one over. congregate. city tra ie. buy and t h e n move o n. a r e a s where T h e m ajo r r o u t e s i n t o town become s p i n e s a l o n g w h ic h T h e s e r o u t e s become t h e m ajor r e t a i l Eloff stations We w i l l These are e s s e n t i a l l y p u b lic dcuss, from t h e s t a t i o n and p e d e s t r i a n Street, the Major r e t a i 1.s t r e e t at e a c h end o f it. zones a network of the the c ity has A r o u t e can g e n e r a t e go on t o loo k at r o u t e s and p a t t e r n s o f The r o u t e s when a v e r l a y e d r e s u l t traders use use. a city part. the c i t y. It th

Author Clur G Name of thes The public Realm: part of a balanced city 1989 PUBLISHER: University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2013 LEGAL NOTICES: Copyright Notice: All materials on the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Library website are protected by South African copyright law and may not be dtributed, transmitted, dplayed, or otherwe publhed any format, without the prior written permsion of the copyright owner. Dclaimer and Terms of Use: Provided that you mata all copyright and other notices contaed there, you may download material (one mache readable copy and one prt copy per page) for your personal and/or educational non-commercial use only. The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, not responsible for any errors or omsions and excludes any and all liability for any errors or omsions from the formation on the Library website.