Megaprojects for SA's settlements (Transformation special issue #95)

In 2014, the Minister of Human Settlements signalled an intention to phase out smaller low cost housing projects and to construct all housing within large 'mega projects' or 'catalytic projects'. According to this new direction, Cosmo City in Johannesburg, Cornubia in eThekwini and the N2 Gateway project in Cape Town were to become the models for dozens of new large scale projects across the country.

As part of GCRO's Spatial imaginaries project, Richard Ballard, together with Margot Rubin (Senior researcher at the NRF Research Chair inSpatial Analysis, and City Planning), conducted research on the way in which this policy move came into being. Their research is published in a 2017 special issue of Transformation on housing mega projects guest edited by Richard Ballard.

Articles in this collection aim to unravel the nature and status of the policy; understand the way in which it was produced; examine which kinds of projects might be included in government’s project lists and which excluded; explain why champions of this policy think it is a good idea; review the concerns of critics; locate this policy in broader historical and geographical contexts of new town construction; and reflect on alternative ways of thinking about urban change.

Table of Contents, Transformation 95 (December 2017)

'Prefix as policy: Megaprojects as South Africa's big idea for human settlements', Richard Ballard

'A 'Marshall Plan' for human settlements: how megaprojects became South Africa's housing policy', Richard Ballard, Margot Rubin

'Satellite settlement on the spatial periphery: Lessons from international and Gauteng experience', Philip Harrison, Alison Todes

'Fractured approaches to urban transformation: Analysing parallel perspectives in South Africa', Liza Rose Cirolia, Warren Smit

'Poverty, subsidised housing and Lufhereng as a prototype megaproject in Gauteng', Sarah Charlton

'Megaprojects and urban visions: Johannesburg's Corridors of Freedom and Modderfontein', Richard Ballard, Romain Dittgen, Philip Harrison, Alison Todes

The articles are available at Project Muse for those with the correct institutional subscription. After a period, the articles will be available on the Transformation web page. Alternatively email richard.ballard@gcro.ac.za to access the articles.