Mending publicness through urban form : urban connectivity

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Urban Design, Johannesburg 2016The public realm is continually under pressure as the container of constant urban change. Streets and public spaces function as connectors between public / private transport and the built urban form. The public realm is also responsible for hosting public activity that includes commuting, socialising, trading and governing. In the context of ever changing urban form due to accelerated urban sprawl, suburban growth, complicated politics and the increasing demand for vehicular transport, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain and develop quality public urban environments throughout our polycentric cities. The concept of relinking transport and public space to mixeduse urban form originates from theory of Transport Orientated Development (TOD) and the densification of our cities in order to be more sustainable and to control urban sprawl. The importance of good quality public space, public transport and supporting urban form cannot be underestimated in the drive towards a densified sustainable city. Together the city transport network and supporting public spaces need to stitch all urban form and more important need to be attractive for all types of people living in the city. The assumption is that this will encourage people to move towards these densified areas that are supported by public transport nodes. The aim of this research is to identify possible scenarios for repairing urban fabric in order to improve the link between the community and the public urban realm. Key concepts that will be investigated are public transport, public spaces, urban form, suburban densification and non-motorised transport. The design initiative will be to repair a specific suburban neighbourhood by means of public space creation, urban densification and mixing uses within built form. The heart of the intervention is to create a lively sustainable dense neighbourhood by activating publicness through a humanist urban design approach.XL201