Urban regeneration through transit-oriented development: an initial perspective from the global South

As cities age and change, certain areas begin to physically decay and suffer from the flight of both its residents, as well as socioeconomic activities. The means by which these areas are regenerated remains an issue for many cities, who are unable to reconnect these places with opportunities needed...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Vandewater, Samuel
Other Authors: Winkler, Tanja
Format: Dissertation
Language:English
Published: University of Cape Town 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11427/18713
Description
Summary:As cities age and change, certain areas begin to physically decay and suffer from the flight of both its residents, as well as socioeconomic activities. The means by which these areas are regenerated remains an issue for many cities, who are unable to reconnect these places with opportunities needed to thrive. In response to this challenge, transit-oriented developments have become a more recent, sustainable form of urban growth that allow people to navigate a city's socioeconomic activities and opportunities through well-established modes of transportation. This has the potential to create cities in which people are able to have a 'live, work, play' lifestyle, supported by various modes of public transportation that also connects them to the broader urban context. The case study method is used to determine the viability of utilising transit-oriented developments as a path for enabling urban regeneration and to examine a space in need of regeneration that is also well-connected to various modes of urban transportation. Bellville Central provides an example of attempts to address urban decay through various efforts of regeneration, with the insights of the users of the space became invaluable resources for the study. The users found that safety, walkability, and transportation were of the utmost importance and should be improved to help regenerate the area, while other data suggested a need for more diverse socioeconomic activities. The results of the study reveal many overlapping principles such as notions of liveability, that, while aimed at different goals, use methods that are often complementary or even identical to each other, thus regenerative interventions should include additional theories (like transit-oriented development) and broader, inclusive impacts.