Masters Degrees (Geography and Environmental Studies)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/618

Browse

Browsing Masters Degrees (Geography and Environmental Studies) by browse.metadata.advisor "Donaldson, Ronnie"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Collaborative governance, social capital, and drought: a case study of Graaff-Reinet
    (2023-03) Light, Rebecca Ann; Donaldson, Ronnie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the Eastern Cape Province lies the small, historical town of Graaff-Reinet: a resource-dependent community that has been experiencing the negative effects of a drought since 2015. Local disaster response has come predominantly from within the community in the form of forum developments and collective action, all made possible using the resource of existing networks between groups, individuals, and forums. This thesis examines the relationship between this resource (known as social capital), collective action and disaster resilience in small towns in order to better understand how social capital can be used in sustainable disaster management of recurring, slow-onset disasters. The paper makes use of an evaluation design method as complex issues with fundamental contextual elements are examined, gathering qualitative data in the form of snowball interviews with key community and forum leaders involved in relevant collective action and forum developments. A diagram model of the links between community forums and public entities was designed to show where examples of bridging, bonding, and linking social capital take place, followed by a discussion of which examples of collective action were effective and how they made use of these connections. The results show that in the event of a disaster where the livelihoods of a community are impacted, civil society can make use of existing trust, networks, and norms to manage these impacts, despite existing in a heterogeneous community. Additionally, the forums and groups founded responding to such events can be used to improve the long-term socio-economic standing of these communities.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The extent of water sensitive urban design in the George municipality
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2011-12) Lottering, Naomey Olive; Donaldson, Ronnie; Du Plessis, Danie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigated the extent of Water Sensitive Urban Design activities in the George municipality in the Western Cape Province, in South Africa. Water resource management in urban areas worldwide had become unsustainable with the widespread implementation of outsized infrastructure, environmental degradation and overuse of natural resources. The result was a concept called Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM). IUWM encapsulates the entire water cycle from rainwater to surface water, groundwater and wastewater, as part of urban water management, and not as separate entities. There was worldwide response to IUWM, with the USA formulating Low-Impact Development (LID), the UK designing their Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS), and New Zealand articulating Low Impact Urban Design and Development (LIUDD), all to improve urban water resource management. Australia responded with Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD). WSUD explores the design and planning of water infrastructural development in an urban setting, vital in Australian cities which experience continuous severe water shortage conditions. The WSUD approach aims to influence design and planning from the moment rainwater is captured in dams, treated, and reticulated to consumers, to the point of wastewater re-use, as well as stormwater use. Various techniques are specified as part of the WSUD approach namely: the installation of greenroofs, demand reduction techniques, stormwater management and the re-use of treated wastewater for irrigation and fire-fighting. These WSUD activities can be implemented from large-scale efforts with whole suburbs working together to manage stormwater by construction of wetlands, as well as small-scale change in design and planning, e.g., with household rainwater tank installation for irrigation and toilet flushing. With South Africa’s progressive legislation at a national, provincial and local municipal level, various WSUD activities can be implemented to aid and guide municipalities. The study aimed to investigate what type of WSUD activities the George municipality has implemented, and to what extent the activities had an impact on water consumption, since the drought in 2009. The reasons behind any lack of implementation were also explored. Proof of only eight WSUD activities implementation could be found. Water debtors’ data and bulk water data was sourced in order to determine the effect of the eight WSUD activities on water consumption. Bulk meter data could however not be used to correlate with the debtors’ data since readings from many bulk meters had not been recorded. Debtors’ data did prove however that the WSUD activities had a short-term impact on water consumption in the suburbs where it was implemented. The reasons given for non-implementation were not satisfactory. Recommendations are that the municipality should focus on better planning and implementation of diverse activities and that keeping records and data should be made a priority to determine any progress made.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Gentrification and “artwashing” in Salt River, Cape Town
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) Campbell, Emma; Donaldson, Ronnie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Artwashing is a classic profit-driven regeneration manoeuvre used by councils and developers in their attempts to emulate normal organic, artist-led gentrification processes by purposefully guiding and encouraging artists to move into areas of cities which they wish to see developed or rejuvenated. The presence of the artists in these new contrived contexts is conceived, from the beginning, as an interim measure for reshaping areas of decay. Since 2016 the organisation Baz-Art has created over 200 murals in the inner-city areas of Cape Town, with many of them in lower residential Salt River. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods this study demonstrates that the environment in Salt River has become conducive to gentrification and that the signs of early-stage gentrification are visible. This is supported by the presence of urban decay and contrasting signs of improvement, state-led regeneration strategies, property valuation and price trends, efforts by the state and private sector and a lack of meaningful artwork. The study stresses the importance of creative policy solutions to promote inclusivity, while empowering local communities and ensuring growth and prosperity.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Retail transformations and consumer preferences in Paarl and Stellenbosch: CBD versus decentralised mall
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-11-01) Venema, Jeroen; Donaldson, Ronnie; Spocter, Manfred; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography ad Environmental Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Shopping malls represent high shopping convenience that contains much choice, and great access and entertainment. However, from an urban geographical standpoint, shopping malls represent decentralisation, car dependency and low access by disadvantaged consumers, who live remotely, without a car, in poor neighbourhoods. Shopping malls started to compete with retain in the central business district (CBD) in several countries throughout the world, and it would seem that the CBD is losing the retail battle. Furthermore there also are social consequences, such as low access by disadvantaged consumers, and whereas this topic is discussed in the global north, there are few South African examples of CBD retail and its consumers. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to examine the retail transformations and the consumer preferences in two medium-sized South African cities, namely Paarl and Stellenbosch, which are located in the Western Cape. Through convenience sampling on the basis of 346 surveys, in-depth interviews with key informants, retail street observations and a Google street view analysis, this research provides an overview of the retail transformations experienced in the CBD and two selected shopping malls in Paarl and Stellenbosch, in combination with the experiences and preferences of disadvantaged and advantaged consumers. The empirical findings confirmed the negative impact on retail in the CBD in Paarl after the building of a new, decentralised shopping mall along with stronger, segregated retail use. On the other hand, the empirical findings in the CBD of Stellenbosch showed a strong sign of retail resilience, alongside a decline in retail in a decentralised shopping mall. The chances of retail resilience and a more resilient CBD, such as in Stellenbosch, were explained by the literature, in the context of diverse cultural, retail and economic facilities, along with the provision of education and public areas and buildings. Furthermore, limited access to retail facilities by disadvantaged consumers in Stellenbosch was not found, probably due to the presence of a very accessible city mall for disadvantaged consumers in the Stellenbosch CBD.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    University in the rural and rural in the university: examining the heterotopia and production of spaces at the University of Zululand
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Ndimande, Nothile Prudence; Donaldson, Ronnie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The University of Zululand, a historically black institution, was established by apartheid policies with the intention of segregating black students. It is located in KwaDlangezwa, a village under the Mkhwanazi Traditional Authority whose land was seized in order to build the University. This study's primary objective was to investigate the heterotopic nature of the University and the production of university spaces. The study utilised Henri Lefebvre's spatial triad, Michel Foucault's heterotopia, and Frantz Fanon's wretchedness to accomplish its various objectives. In order to accomplish the stated objectives, the study was carried out in four phases. It was structured as a qualitative case study in which the University, the community, relationships, and students served as distinct analytic units. For data collection, the study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews and gathered pertinent University documents comprising strategic plans, university calendars, and institutional audit reports, videos, and audio recordings, newspaper clips. The first objective was to examine the pre-1994 and post-1994 development of the University of Zululand as an institution of higher education in South Africa and as an idea. Heterotopia was utilised to comprehend the University's ideological conceptions as an idea and a reality. By applying Barnett’s (2010) notions of being and becoming a university, the research was able to enhance heterotopia. Given the circumstances surrounding its creation, it is not surprising that many viewed the University as an apartheid initiative during the University's early years, as was evidenced by the study findings. In the 1980s, a self-reflection exercise led the University to adopt a new identity as an "African University," and after 1994, in a radical reshaping of the higher education landscape, it was redesignated a ‘comprehensive’ institution. The University’s being and becoming mirror societal issues in South Africa. As a heterotopia, the University has always been a site of juxtapositions of contradictory and frequently difficult-to-navigate strata. For the second objective, Henri Lefebvre's spatial triad was utilised to investigate the lived experiences of on-campus students at the University. In order to create new campus cultures, including squatting, on-campus students appropriated and disrupted campus spaces. Students have demonstrated their ability to appropriate university spaces, but they feel powerless because they are unable to fight for improved maintenance of campus housing facilities. Fanon's concept of wretchedness was utilised to analyse off-campus students' lived experiences. Rapid enrolment growth at the University of Zululand has led to the studentification of the host village of KwaDlangezwa and the vast expansion of off-campus housing. Campus accommodation is extremely limited at the University, consequently, a number of students reside in village-provided off-campus housing. Student housing provides proprietors with a source of income. The students at the University of Zululand are wretched of our time, and the apartheid-era core-periphery geographies persist in post-apartheid South Africa. The absence of a formal structure through which off-campus students could collectively express their complaints about off-campus housing marginalises them and renders their struggles invisible. Lastly, the study examined the relationship between the University and the community. The results reveal an antagonistic relationship between the two, as evidenced by the community's protests against the University. Additionally, land disputes have contributed to the strained relationship between the community and the University. This demonstrates the need for calculated and systematic efforts to create connections between the University and its surroundings.