Browsing by Author "Petzer, Engela"

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    Accessibility, affordability, and equity in long-term spatial planning: Perspectives from a developing country
    (2022-05) Van Heerden, Quintin; Karsten, Carike; Holloway, Jennifer P; Petzer, Engela; Burger, Paul AD; Mans, Gerbrand G
    City planners attempt to create more equitable spaces by providing and improving access to benefits of living in cities, especially for previously disadvantaged urban communities. To this extent, evidence-based decision making is required to adequately plan for and improve accessibility to several types of facilities. Accessibility studies in literature focus mostly on one element, which is sufficient when presenting methodological advancements, but it is limiting when providing decision support to city planners. This paper argues that these measurements should be expanded and there is a need for a nuanced view on accessibility for improved urban planning practices. Such a view is presented by simultaneously considering various categories of supply (employment, housing, transportation, health, education, police), multiple modes of transport (walking, private vehicle, numerous transit modes), two cost thresholds (distance-based and monetary cost), level of access (percentage of facilities that can be reached), while distinguishing between the socio-economic profiles of regions in the city on the demand side. This improves the understanding of affordability and equity in the study of accessibility. Furthermore, this paper expands two categories (education and housing) to explain the influence of capacity on accessibility and equity. Lastly, it couples a land-use model to some of the accessibility measures to show the usefulness of using such a combination in long-term spatial planning and what the effects will be without government intervention, again contributing to the understanding of, and planning for, more inclusive and equitable cities.
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    Integrating land-cover data with data on population and household characteristics to assess densification along the BRT route in the City of Tshwane
    (2018-07) Dudeni-Tlhone, Nontembeko; Petzer, Engela; Gxumisa, Athi A; Holloway, Jennifer P; Makhanya, Sibusisiwe A
    This paper is centred on an investigation of whether the integrating earth observation and census data can result in useful information to support transport planning and monitoring. In particular circular buffers with radii of 500 m were created covering the current City of Tshwane’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service areas in order to estimate the proportion of population with convenient access to BRT; and to assess densities in terms of both population and relevant land use characteristics. A combination of data sets were used, namely, the 2011 census, GPS locations of the BRT stops and BRT routes, the satellite derived urban land-cover and the building land use data. The results indicate that 5% of the population in the City of Tshwane has convenient access to the BRT service. Population densities along the BRT service area range from 2 351 to about 37 518 people per 0.79 km2. Some of the BRT service buffers have low population densities and low building densities; while others have moderate to high population densities and high proportions of residential and commercial properties. Routes from Pretoria central towards Sunnyside vary from medium to high densities with respect to population and residential (cluster type residences, flats and student accommodation) and commercial buildings. It can be deduced from these results that there is potential to proceed with proposed densification strategies along BRT routes given that current densities are lower than desired at specific parts of the route. This could subsequently promote public transport accessibility and usage. In conclusion, publically available data that were used in this study and further enhancements of the methodology can be used as a tool for monitoring the implementation of the densification strategy along the BRT route.
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    Is Planning Paying Attention to "the future?" Experiences in Eight South African Municipalities
    (South African Planning Institute, 2016-07) Petzer, Engela
    Planning is inherently about looking ahead. The profession holds the promise of bringing hope of a better future. Among planners it is sometimes taken for granted that planning is concerned with the future and that planners will confront the future and inevitably have a positive impact. However, a number of theorists have claimed that planning is neglecting the future and that planning tends to be reactive. This paper asks whether municipal planning in South Africa has an active engagement with the future. It draws on a literature review of mainstream planning literature in the English language. It further draws on the findings of and specifically the interviews conducted by a group of students at the University of Pretoria during 2014 and 2015. The interviews with key IDP role players in a number of municipalities dealt with issues such as timeframes of plans, plans’ focus on the future and the tools/techniques used to engage with the future. It was found that planning’s engagement with the future is in most cases merely a response to legislative requirements. The paper will highlight the reasons for planning’s ‘neglect’ of the future and will conclude with a reflection on the implications for municipal planning in South Africa.
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    Revising the South African guidelines for human settlement planning and design (the red book)
    (2015-11) Van Niekerk, Cornelia W; Petzer, Engela; Ndaba, D; Pieterse, Amy; Raja, A; Kruger, Daniel M
    The Guidelines for Human Settlement Planning and Design, commonly known as the Red Book, is a South African publication aimed at providing practical guidance to built environment professionals in support of the creation of sustainable and vibrant human settlements. The most recent set of guidelines, published in 2000, are currently in the process of being updated and revised. This revision has been necessitated by a range of factors, including the need to align the guidelines with recent policies and strategies and with current thinking regarding sustainable and resilient human settlements. Also, socio-political changes and global challenges, especially climate change and its impact on the built environment, need to be acknowledged, while new technological innovation in materials and processes should be incorporated. This paper presents the background to the current Red Book, including its nature, purpose and how it is being applied. The reasons why a revision of the guidelines is required are described, and the process and method to be followed in updating and revising the Red Book presented. This is followed by a discussion of the progress made with this initiative and a summary of preliminary findings, including those related to possible enhancements to existing content, new themes that may have to be addressed and potential structuring elements. The paper concludes with an outline of the remaining components of this process to revise and update the Red Book.
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    Smart Cities in South Africa - Can they contribute to spatial transformation and support territorial governance?
    (Springer Nature, 2025-06) Petzer, Engela; Kruger, Daniel M; Sebake, Tandi N; Cooper, Antony K; Ragoasha, Matšubu; Napier, Mark; Du Plessis, D
    The undoing of the inherited segregated spatial settlement form has proved to be a major challenge, despite the implementation of numerous, deliberate interventions by the South African government over close to three decades. Municipalities, the territorial governance structures closest to citizens and mandated to lead local development, have employed various planning concepts with the aim of effecting spatial transformation. This chapter reflects on the concept of smart cities, including its international origins in the early 1990s and the lack of a collective understanding and varied definitions of the term. The chapter further reflects on what a smart approach to spatial transformation could look like. Lessons that can be learned from local South African smart initiatives are discussed. The chapter concludes that the impact of current South African municipal smart city initiatives on spatial transformation is not immediately apparent; however, when integrated into the system of territorial governance—which aims to unify a place-based approach and multi-level governance—the smart city concept may contribute to spatial transformation over the long term, given an appropriate implementation approach.