Politics by design

Abstract

Unprecedented rapid urbanization, accompanied by growing urban informality, have positioned housing delivery at the frontline of national political agendas in the Global South. This paper analyzes the housing redevelopment of the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Cape Town, South Africa (2004 to present) to shed light on the role of architecture and urban design in democracy building and city production. As an alternative framework to the ideas of ‘normalization’ and ‘resistance’, this case offers insights into the importance of situating spatialized political tensions and conflict at the heart of the analysis of city production. The Joe Slovo redevelopment initially deployed an inclusionary welfare-state policy that resulted in exclusionary housing design practices, causing political contestation among the residents of the informal settlement. The community materialized their struggle for housing and urban rights in creative examples of ‘design from below’. These practices not only re-defined the spatial control over Joe Slovo’s territory, but also, by the production of alternative urban space, they challenged institutional spaces, re-defining who plays what role in housing delivery. The findings reveal multidirectional design politics between governments and communities that occur when the state loses control over design decision-making processes. The community’s right to not be displaced to distant locations was guaranteed by reducing the state’s implementation and delivery capacity, exposing the challenges of city co-production and inviting us to rethink who has the right to design, code and imagine our cities. This case opens a window into understanding design as a political device of urban governance.

Key words:

• design
• politics
• housing
• redevelopment
• community participation
• South Africa

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to my Ph.D. advisor Lawrence Vale and Marilyn Levine at MIT.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Laura Sara Wainer http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8820-8137

Notes

1 By ‘design’ I mean urban design, architecture and spatial transformations developed by communities.

2 As a comparison, the United States Federal Government has provided 1.3 million low-income housing units since 1937 (Source: Department of Housing and Urban Development: https://www.huduser.gov/periodicals/ushmc/spring95/spring95.html).

3 According to Buckley, Kallergis, and Wainer (2016) other countries are: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Mexico, China, Russia, Ethiopia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Thailand, Philippines, India, DR Congo, Rwanda, Ghana, Kenya, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Laura Sara Wainer

Laura Sara Wainer is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. Email: [email protected]