Development of sustainable housing project: A case of the South Hill residential development project, Johannesburg

Abstract: Access to housing that is adequate is one issue that is mostly debated about in democratic South Africa. The government is in a continuous battle with the existing housing provision backlog in which the demand has seemingly increased over the years. In the process of this, the urban population takes to the streets while registering their frustration and rage at the slow advancement of the delivery of services as a whole, which also includes housing as well as the provision of other basic services. This is clearly a vital issue in the country which has greatly driven serious public argument and additional engagement between the people and the state. Particularly, this displeasure endures regardless of the fact that South Africa’s post-apartheid government discourse on state-society relations is centred on greater participation, especially that at the level of local government, as replicated in the obligation to participatory democracy in the constitution of South Africa. The dissertation is an evaluation of the sustainability of the development of housing by the City of Johannesburg, using the South Hills Integrated Residential Housing Project as a case study to try to empirically measure the sustainability. The study attempts to establish how the City of Johannesburg has simultaneously planned for and executed sustainability measures and what the outcome is in the South Hills Integrated Residential Development Project. The objectives of this study contain the outlining of an analytical and theoretical framework for sustainable development as prearranged in the Local, Provincial and National Government legislation and policies that are relevant. The South Hills housing project was chosen due to it being one of the few integrated large-scale sustainable housing development projects in South Africa. The research methodology involves an extensive analysis of relevant and appropriate legislation, policies, literature and project design documentation. Additionally, the field work made use of questionnaires and individual interviews with a sample of residents. The research found that the City of Johannesburg has followed the sustainability guidelines as far as their means allowed it. The level of satisfaction of the residents is average, and it was found that though the people received houses that were designed and constructed to take full advantage of the measures set out by sustainable development, the residents lack the familiarity to maintain all aspects of sustainable living. This indicates that sustainability in housing is very complex and is not only a matter of technology and designing, but also of imparting a specific behaviour among the beneficiaries.M.Phil. (Urban and Regional Planning