Urban South Africa
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South African cities face the same rapid urbanisation sweeping across most of the developing world. As South African cities grow, residents have to be better facilitated – living conditions maintained or improved and better public transport options developed. Densification also requires the provision of more open public space. Space for protest, celebration and relaxation, representative of the diversity inherent in South African cities. While the development of South African cities is an ongoing process, with plans and projects in the pipeline for many years, often little is realised quickly enough to create a lasting result. The FIFA World Cup 2010, if anything, provided a deadline to host cities. Development initiatives had to be speedily implemented, parks created, public spaces opened up, stadiums built, public transport initiated and residents energised. Cities were forced to work or else they would fail dismally on a global stage. Far from failure however, South African urban settings energised World Cup revelers, facilitated them with ease and formed the backdrop to their memories. South Africans now have urban centres improved by the public space, transport and investment of the World Cup, with strategies in place that can expand in future to better include larger portions of the population. PodcastsDr Laurine Platzky, World Cup Coordinator for the Western Cape Provincial GovernmentPresenting at the first DESIGNING_SOUTHAFRICA panel discussion at the Turbine Hall, Newtown, on 22 September 2010. FilmsGallery      |