Doctoral Degrees (Geography and Environmental Studies)

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Adverse impacts of agricultural expansion on hydrological and nutrient dynamics in a Renosterveld landscape – can natural vegetation offer solutions
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) De Waal, Jan; Van Niekerk, Adriaan, 1970-; Miller, J; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Agricultural systems deliver a range of products to human society including, food, fuel, textiles and pharmaceuticals. However, the global expansion of agricultural activities has resulted in several negative outcomes such as biodiversity loss, increased carbon emissions, topsoil erosion and water pollution. Thus, the degradation of natural landscapes due to agricultural transformation has resulted in a loss of ecosystem services over time by increasing habitat loss, nutrient movement, sedimentation of rivers and pesticide poisoning in non-target species. One of the most impacted landscapes in terms of agricultural transformation in South Africa is renosterveld vegetation. Lowland renosterveld is a small-leaved, evergreen shrubland found on the shale-rich, fertile soils of the south-western Cape of South Africa where it forms part of the Fynbos biome, a species-rich floral kingdom. Renosterveld typically occurs on fine-grained, clay-rich soils as opposed to the sandy, nutrient-poor soils on which fynbos is located. Agricultural expansion has resulted in the destruction of the indigenous renosterveld vegetation which now exhibits a great degree of fragmentation. This dissertation documents an investigation of the impact of agricultural expansion on the hydrological, sediment and water quality dynamics in the Overberg renosterveld landscape in theWestern Cape. An evaluation is reported of whether conservation of this threatened vegetation can allow for the delivery of ecosystem services in vegetation buffers in terms of phytoremediation of nutrient inputs from agricultural slopes. The impact of changing landuse on hydrological characteristics of the area at a landscape level is examined first, followed by a case study of the Bot River by implementing a fully differentiated hydrological model with a sediment delivery component. Results confirm that hydrology on a landscape level has been greatly impacted by changes in landuse, while modelled soil erosion from the Bot River catchment depicts an increase in soil erosion from 22 t/km2/year under natural conditions to 490 t/km2/year under 2018 landuse. A one-year monitoring programme of the river was undertaken to evaluate changing dissolved nutrient dynamics down the river’s long profile through the use of ion-chromatography and stable isotope analysis. The results of this analysis indicate that nutrient loading in the river is linked to agricultural landuses and that NO[x]-N levels in the river vary seasonally and periodically exceed water quality guidelines for aquatic ecosystems. Finally, an assessment was made of the potential for natural vegetation buffer strips to mitigate nutrient inputs from agricultural hillslopes. This was performed by an analysis of soil samples via inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), laboratory-based testing for bio-available phosphorus, nitrate and ammonium as well as isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) testing of N and C isotopic composition in soils. Results show that N concentrations in cultivated field and renosterveld soils are impacted by fertilisation of agricultural lands. There is significantly (p <0.05) more P in cultivated fields than in renosteveld soils, while renosterveld soils have a significantly (p <0.05) higher C content than cultivated fields, thus acting as a valuable carbon sink. Renosterveld fragments are shown to remediate polluted agricultural runoff, and so provide a valuable ecosystem service in the landscape.
Airport noise in South Africa – Prediction models and their effect on land-use planning
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2007-12) Goldschagg, Paul; Zietsman, H. L.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
The use of average energy aircraft noise contours as the sole means for guiding aircraft noise-based planning around airports is being questioned increasingly. A growing proportion of residents who live in neighbourhoods adjacent to airports are dissatisfied with the averaging procedure that is employed. In their experience of exposure to aircraft noise, particularly in the evening and at night when they are at home, the average energy aircraft noise descriptors are misleading. In order to effectively analyse the socio-spatial interaction of annoyance at and interference by aircraft noise, an alternative approach has been suggested – a supplemental noise perspective. Conventional approaches to aircraft noise land use planning based on average energy noise descriptors run the risk of being ineffectual, or even counterproductive, because they do not consider the central aspects of disturbance, namely the loudness of an event and the number of times events are heard. Consequently, an alternative measure to ameliorate the limitations of average energy noise contours is needed by which airport neighbours, the aviation industry and town planners can better understand the nature of the problem. Although supplemental noise analysis is not new, this study applies it to a South African international airport (OR Tambo) for the first time. The airport’s operations are typical of many busy airports close to large urban areas, serving domestic, regional and international routes. Reportedly, there have been few complaints about noise emanating from the airport, but when they are made they are usually about evening and night-time aircraft noise events. In the context of South Africa as a developing society in transition, where growth of urban settlements continues apace, average energy aircraft noise information must be enhanced by providing supplemental noise information. This study investigated the broad issue of land use planning around airports by employing two aircraft noise prediction models, namely the Integrated Noise Model and the Transparent Noise Information Package, to establish the various potential effects and consequences of night-time aircraft noise in noise zones demarcated according to supplemental aircraft noise information. The effects and consequences examined include annoyance, disturbance of sleep, telephone conversations, watching television and work or study, and the likelihood that people will move away to escape night-time aircraft noise. The perceptions of residents living in neighbourhoods around the airport were surveyed and the responses analysed according to noise zones classified as supplemental noise information. The results show that the airport’s neighbours are annoyed by aircraft noise and that aircraft noise interferes with normal household activities. This annoyance and interference decreases with increasing distance from the airport. Furthermore, reported annoyance and interference is greater in those areas where higher numbers of noise events are encountered, even at relatively low noise levels of 60 LAmax – something not evident from average energy noise contours. This finding strengthens the argument that it is insufficient to provide only average energy aircraft noise information when studying the impact of aircraft noise. To understand the situation more fully, supplemental noise information is essential. The study concludes with a framework constructed to apply supplemental aircraft noise information to the abatement and mitigation measures normally used to deal with aircraft noise.
An analysis of an urban edge as urban growth management instrument : Cape Town, South Africa
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Horn, Anele; Donaldson, S. E.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography & Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The City of Cape Town (CoCT) has since the 1990s employed an urban edge line and development edges policy as growth management instruments in its spatial development framework (SDF) (CoCT 2011). However, in the most recent Cape Town Spatial Development Framework (CTSDF) of 2017 they no longer make use of an urban edge line or policy as an instrument to contain horizontal urban spatial growth. Instead, the latest CTSDF champions development that will support transit‐oriented development in the urban core and notes the city’s intention not to extend services towards the urban periphery in the short‐term (CoCT 2017). This sees a considerable turn‐around from the stated historic apprehension to persistent growth pressure to the northern and eastern urban extremities of the metropolitan area by using an urban edge, and seems to suggest that the former urban edge policy was considered inappropriate or problematic to the CoCTs objectives for spatial development in the latest SDF. Reasons for the termination of this policy‐approach formed the basis of this research in which, firstly, the spatial outcomes of the urban edge line and policy in Cape Town since 2001 was evaluated by using an urban sprawl index (USI); and secondly, the decision‐making processes associated with urban development proposals contravening the urban edge line and leading to the ultimate termination of the urban edge policy instrument were analysed by applying a five‐stream confluence model. The research results revealed disproportionate population growth compared to urban expansion over a comparable time period, suggesting that the urban edge line and policy, during its time of acting as an urban growth management instrument was successful. Evaluation of decision‐making processes revealed consistent poorly motivated political decisions contravening the urban edge line and development edges policy, in favour of a neoliberal growth agenda, thereby strongly suggesting a neoliberal capture of the decision‐making authority.
Aspekte van landskapverandering in die landdrosdistrikte van Clanwilliam, Vanrhynsdorp en Vredendal
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1983-03) De Kock, Gerhardus Lourens; Swanevelder, C. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Department of Geography and Enironmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is an analysis of the actual appearance of the visible landscape of the magisterial districts Clanwilliam, Vanrhynsdorp and Vredendal in the Cape Province, R S A. The study area coincides roughly with the basin of the Oliphants River and includes parts of the Sandveld, the Hardeveld and the Knersvlakte between the Atlantic Ocean and coastal mountain range nortHwest of Cape Town. Throughout the study the visible landscape is interpreted as the product of a specific combination of natural and human influences interacting with each other over a long period of time. Consequently the term "Landscape" is defined as the tangible and cumulative result of the intervention of a succession of human life support systems in the natural environment. To establish the extent and nature of this human intervention, the changing landscape is traced from the period before the first human occupance of the area up to the present time. This procedure made it possible to find explanations for the present appearance of the landscape, since the landscape is in many ways the sum total of the influences of numerous visible and invisible processes that operated in the area over time. The method of investigation employed is therefore described as historical-geographical. The study commences with a reconstruction of the genesis of the physical environment (geological and climatogical) and then traces its subsequent evolution chronologically up to the time when Man first appeared on the scene. This provides an understanding of the physical setting and an explanation of the natural resources that later served as a lure for human settlement. The reconstruction and description of the physical components of the landscape start with the geologic evolution. The close relationship between terrain, soil and hydrology, and their relationship to and dependence on the lithologic substructure are discussed. Next an attempt is made at reconstructing local climatic change over the millenia. Against this background of climate,together with soil and surface water, exercising a strong control on the biotic environment, in which vegetation and its evolution is the most significant link in the food chain supporting the fauna of an area,the vegetation is discussed. Finally, a discussion of animals, which appeared last in the evolutionary chain of earthly events, is presented in an ecosystem context. Throughout this first section the natural resources and physical processes that might have influenced Man's settlement in early as well as present times, are identified, setting the stage for the second section of the dissertation, namely an analysis of the cultural aspects of the landscape. The cultural landscape is also unravelled chronologically, beginning with the prehistoric Stone Age Culture (which is subdivided into three sub-cultures), and proceeding through historic periods up to the present mode of cultural occupancy and activities. In studying the evolution of the cultural landscape, most attention is focussed on the more recent period of human occupance and settlement. In this respect the study area has a highly distinctive history in that it formed the first land route from Table Bay to the interior of Southern Africa and was consequently cine of the first parts of the subcontinent to be settled by Whites beyond the innnediate environs of the Cape of Good Hope itself. This analysis of the cultural components of the landscape forms the core of the research and particular attention is paid to the morphology and character of the various types of rural and urban settlements. Presentday rural settlement is confined to extensive stock-farming and limited irrigation farming, whilst typical "Afrikaner-Boeredorpe" (i e, small rural service centers or central place towns) and fishing, railway, and religious or missionary villages and hamlets are found scattered over the 20 500 km2 study area. In the final section of the dissertation a synthesis of al the components of the physical and cultural landscapes is made by subdividing the study area into seven landscape types and their salient characteristics are summarised. In conclusion the problem of ecological imbalance is highligted in this marginal environment where Man is living in disharmony with the constraints of the natural setting and its resources, due to his deliberate or inadvertent abuse of the physical components of the landscape. This finding leads to the proposal that future regional planning programs pay particular attention to the vulnerability of the natural environment under conditions of increasing pressure of population and rising standards of living in this developing community.
A chaos theory approach to understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism businesses in Plateau State, Nigeria
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Iirmdu, Tina Odinakachi; Donaldson, S. E.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Nations worldwide are grappling with the challenges of crises and disasters affecting the tourism industry. The coronavirus (COVID-19) which unexpectedly broke out in 2019 in Wuhan, China spread around the world in 2020, paralyzing tourism businesses. Previous crisis impact management strategies in tourism have relied heavily on linear deterministic models, which are incapable of considering the complex and chaotic nature of the tourism system. The use of chaos theory for crisis management in the tourism industry during the pandemic is still an emerging field that is yet to be fully explored. This study helps bridge this knowledge gap by using chaos theory to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism businesses in the Plateau State of Nigeria. A pragmatic mixed-method inductive research approach was followed in this study. This approach made it possible to obtain valid and reliable data by conducting semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey as the primary data collection techniques. A total of 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the managers and owners of tourism businesses to gather information on the business management practices and risk management strategies they used during the health crisis. In addition, tourism business managers completed a total of 227 questionnaires on the impact of the pandemic on their businesses, while 408 tourists completed the questionnaire on their experiences during the pandemic. The information from the semi-structured interviews was thematically analyzed and descriptive statistics were used to examine questionnaire survey data. Findings about the tourists’ experiences during the pandemic show that non-pharmaceutical interventions have changed tourism practices and tourist behaviour. The pandemic has boosted self-organization among tourists, they have become more aware of the pandemic and they are wary of protecting themselves when travelling, instead of avoiding travel altogether. Moreover, the pandemic has significantly affected the economy of tourism businesses. Due to lockdowns and restrictions, business managers increased product prices because of sharp rises in food prices, witnessed reduced demand and cutbacks in staff wages. Other tourism businesses were able to retain their workers and maintain staff salaries because they were profiting by raising prices of products and providing essential services to customers which they considered a blessing in disguise. The study also identified business management practices and risk management strategies used by the managers of tourism businesses during the pandemic. Businesses suddenly found themselves on the edge of chaos. As a result, managers had to self-organize and invest in new markets while creating unusual attractions as a lock-in effect to reward and retain existing customers and, perhaps, add new ones. The study also provided empirical evidence confirming the futility of the one-size-fits-all approach of deterministic linear models in crisis management. It is recommended that further Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za iv investigation be done into the socio-economic impact of the pandemic on other components of the versatile tourism industry in Nigeria and the rest of Africa. The research results contribute to a better understanding and management of crisis from the point of view of chaos theory, with particular emphasis on the tourism sector of Plateau State.
Climate change in the Western Cape : a disaster risk assessment of the impact on human health
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2007-12) Louw, E. J. M.; Barnes, J. M.; Sakulski, D.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
Background The Disaster Management Act (Act 57 of 2002) instructs a paradigm shift from preparedness, response and recovery towards risk reduction. In order to plan for and mitigate risks, all spheres of government must firstly assess their hazards, vulnerabilities, capacity to cope and therefore risks. Studies in this regard, in South Africa, have however only focussed on current risks. Climate Change has now been accepted by leading international studies as a reality. Climate change can impact upon many aspects of life on earth. Studies to quantify the impact of climate change on water resources, biodiversity, agriculture and sustainable development are steadily increasing, but human health seem to have been neglected. Only general predictions, mostly regarding vector-borne disease and injury related to natural disasters are found in literature. Studies in South Africa have only focussed on malaria distribution. Most studies, internationally and the few in South Africa, were based on determining empirical relationships between weather parameters and disease incidence, therefore assessing only the hazard, and not the disaster risk. Methodology This study examines the impact of climate change on human health in the Western Cape, within the context of disaster management. A qualitative approach is followed and includes: · A literature overview examining predicted changes in climate on a global and regional scale, · A discussion on the known relationships and possible impacts climate change might have on human health, · A disaster risk assessment based on the status quo for a case study area, the Cape Winelands District Municipality, · An investigation into the future risks in terms of health, taking into account vulnerabilities and secondary impacts of climate change, resulting in the prioritisation of future risks. · Suggestions towards mitigation within the South African context. Results The secondary impacts of climate change were found to have the larger qualitative impact. The impact of climate change on agriculture, supporting 38% of the population can potentially destroy the livelihoods of the workforce, resulting in poverty-related disease. Other impacts identified were injuries and disease relating to temperature, floods, fire and water quality. Conclusion Risk is a function of hazard, vulnerability and capacity to cope. The impact of an external factor on a ‘spatial system’ should be a function of the impacts on all these factors. Disasters are not increasing because of the increase in the frequency of hazards, but because of the increasing vulnerability to hazards. This study illustrated that the major impacts of the external factor could actually be on the vulnerabilities and the indirect impacts, and not on the hazard itself. Climate change poses a threat to many aspects of the causative links that should be addressed by disaster management, and its impacts should be researched further to determine links and vulnerabilities. This research also illustrates that slow onset disasters hold the potential to destroy just as much as extreme events such as Katrina, Rita or a tsunami. It also reiterates that secondary impacts may not be as obvious, but are certainly not of secondary importance.
CLUES : a web-based land use expert system for the Western Cape
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008-12) Van Niekerk, Adriaan; Van der Merwe, J. H.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
GIS has revolutionized geographic analysis and spatial decision support and has greatly enhanced our understanding of the real world though it’s mapping and spatial modelling capabilities. Although GIS software is becoming more powerful, less expensive and more userfriendly, GIS still remains the domain of a selected few who can operate and afford these systems. Since the introduction of web mapping tools such as Google Earth, accessibility to geographic information has escalated. Such tools enable anyone with access to a computer and the Internet to explore geographic data online and produce maps on demand. Web mapping products have, however, a very narrow range of functionality. In contrast to GIS that focuses on spatial data capture, storage, manipulation, analysis and presentation, the function of web mapping tools is to visualize and communicate geographical data. The positive impact of web mapping tools suggests, however, that GIS has not yet developed to a level where anyone can use the technology to support spatial decisions and enhance productivity. A possible solution is to close the functional gap between web mapping tools and GIS to make spatial analysis more accessible, thereby promoting geographical awareness and supporting better spatial decisions.
Contesting space in urban Malawi : a lefebvrian analysis
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-04) Mwathunga, Evance Evan; Donaldson, S. E.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Cities in Malawi continue to be sites and spaces of resistance, struggle and contest over urban spaces. Since the introduction of colonial modernist planning with its adherence to segregation through functional zoning, homogenisation, and fragmentation of urban areas, squatting and land invasions on urban land have remained one of the widespread struggles for space in urban Malawi. Continued occurrence of squatting, land invasions, and encroachments on urban land reflect the inability of urban planning and its attendant land policies to provide land and housing to the majority of urban dwellers mainly the middle income as well as the marginalised urban poor. Over the years, government efforts have not decisively addressed the issue of land contestations in urban areas in spite of numerous reports of increasing cases of conflicts and competing claims over urban land in Malawi including land dispossessions, conflicts over land uses in urban and peri-urban areas and most significantly contestations manifested in squatting and land invasions on state land leading to growth of spontaneous settlements. In urban areas, efforts to address these competitions have included relocation; titling programmes, sites-and-services schemes, land reform programmes, and forced evictions, but struggles such as squatting and land invasions persist. In urban Malawi, the question is: why is urban planning, as it is conceived and acted upon (i.e. as mode of thought and spatial practice), a creator and not a mediator of urban land conflicts? The study aimed to answer this question, by using Lefebvre’s conceptual triad of social production of space, to gain an in-depth understanding of how the contradictions between people’s perceptions and daily life practices in relation to space, on one hand, and planner’s conceptions of space as informed by colonial, post-colonial, and neoliberal perceptions of space, generate perpetual struggle for urban space in Malawi. The study also investigated spatial strategies and tactics which urban residents employ to shape, produce and defend urban spaces from possible repossession by the state. Finally, the study explored lived experiences and the multiple meanings that urban residents attach to spaces they inhabit and these are used to contest imposition of space by state authorities while at the same time to produce their own spaces. Mixed method approaches were used to gather geodata, quantitative and qualitative data in the two neighbourhoods of Soche West (Blantyre city) and Area 49 (Lilongwe city) where there are on-going tensions over land between state authorities and urban residents. Primary sources of data included household surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, documentary sources, observations, and electronic and print media. In view of the magnitude of the data, three software were used namely, SPSS, ATLAS.ti, and ArcGIS 9.3TM GIS for quantitative, qualitative, and spatial data respectively. Content and discourse analysis were also used to analyse government documents and newspapers. The research found that although planning thought and practice is dominated by imported modernist conceptions of space, planning authorities in Malawi are unable to impose this space on urban residents. Specifically, the research identified a number of constraints faced by planning authorities ranging from human and technical capacity, corruption, cumbersome and bureaucratic procedures, archaic, rigid and contradictory in laws and policies, complexity of land rights, poor enforcement, political influence and emergence of democracy, incomplete reclassification of rural authority into urban authority and shortage of financing mechanisms. In view of these state incapacities coupled with peoples’s perception of the illegitimacy of the state to control urban land, the study found that ‘dobadobas’ (that is middlemen, conmen and tricksters) have taken over to contest planning practices of the state by employing both violent and non-violent spatial tactics to appropriate, and defend their claim for urban spaces, thereby generating conflicts between the state and users of space. Consistent with our argument regarding representations of spaces and representational spaces, the research found that in both Lilongwe and Blantyre cities, the multiple meanings attached to spaces represent divergent but true lived experiences that involve different core values that may or may not be recognised by those residents who do not share them. Finally, planners, therefore, have to reconcile the contradictions between planners’ visions and the experiences of those who experience the city in their everyday life. By way of recommendation, planners, therefore, have to reconcile the contradictions between planners’ visions and the experiences of those who live in the city. Planners’ emphasis on abstract spaces and their modernist images of order imply that viable alternative place-making processes are not well understood, partially because formal discourse in planning and place-making revolves around largely iterative representations of space and the persuasive capacities of one or another representation. Rather, this researcher recommends continued use of the conceptual triad to enable researchers to become more fully aware of complexity in the human dimensions of space before planning. In the same way, by focusing on the two neighbourhoods, the researcher recommends that planning requires considerable time and effort and that it should priotise the human or the micro scale. Planning ought to bring on board the multiple meanings of space as discussed in the study as these are the multiple dimensions that planning has to grapple with in its quest to organise and produce urban space. Since space is never empty as it always embodies meaning, it is imperative to understand various meanings that people attach to the spaces they inhabit and their attachment to these spaces. In the study the fact that spaces carry multiple meanings encompassing exchange value, use value, emotional value, historical value, and sacred values among others, has been explored. Continued advancement of colonial modernist conceptions of orderliness, segregation, functional zoning and commodification which are constructed largely, by dominant economic and political elites, provokes resistance by groups who defend and seek to reconstruct lived space. Also, in view of the incapacity of the state to impose its conceptions of urban space through spatial practice of planning, urban residents continue to devise their own spatial strategies and tactics violent and nonviolent, to shape their own space. In conclusion, the paper stresses that spaces are not exclusively shaped or moulded by planners and planning practices of the state only, but also by spatial practices of everyday life albeit clandestine and unofficial. In this regard, in Malawi, cities including the post-colonial city of Lilongwe should not be understood as being shaped by planners’ space only but also the changing experiences of the city and everyday life and ambiguities of the users of urban space. Thus plans and documents as conceived spaces should not be understood as the only mechanism to shape and organise urban space but also the changing experiences of the city and everyday life and ambiguities of the users of urban space.
A critical reflection on the formalisation of communal land rights in Namibia : why local contexts matter for bridging the dichotomies of tenure rights
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-11) Matthaei, Elke Astrid; Donaldson, Ronnie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography & Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Struggles over access to, and control of, land have a long history in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since precolonial times, land has material and symbolic significance, with rights to land having been exchanged, negotiated and fought over in the course of political, demographic and economic change. Based on the belief that access to land and the registration thereof leads to prosperity, land reforms have gained prominence on national and international development agendas in recent decades. It is estimated that more than 428 million rural poor depend on access to customary land in Sub-Saharan Africa. Secure property rights, economists and policymakers hope, will increase access to credits and allow reinvestment and upkeep of resources. Several international conventions and declarations underscore the importance of land rights for sustainable rural and urban development. Similarly in Namibia, the Government’s rationale behind securing tenure in communal areas is to encourage investment in land, thus increasing agricultural productivity and ultimately reduce poverty through improved income and access to credit. After Namibia gained independence in 1990, a comprehensive land reform programme was initiated which also focussed on the formalisation of communal land rights. The Communal Land Reform Act (Act No. 5 of 2002) (CLRA) creates the specific legal framework regarding communal land. The CLRA aims to improve the sustainable allocation, development and management of natural resources in communal areas. Yet there is hesitance from communal farmers in some regions of Namibia to register their land parcels, whilst others have adopted this process without contestation. Land has always played a very significant role in the livelihoods and identities of especially Namibia’s rural inhabitants. Within culturally different landscapes, there will be differences in the ways people identify with, manage and use their land. Attempts to replace customary law with statutory law have proven to be expensive and divisive in many countries. Land reform programmes and research on land rights are still based on two typical ‘schools of thought’- one that argues for land policies to be rooted in theories of social capital, and the other that individualised tenure systems are more desirable. Being able to gain an insight into how rural populations regard the formalisation of their tenure is an important step towards challenging the way tenure security is understood through various ideologies of property ownership. Gathering more comprehensive information on land rights and uses of land is important to be able to contribute towards debates about land governance. In the context of the above discussion, this research was carried out in Namibia to gain a better understanding of how the ultimate beneficiaries of communal land rights registration, the farmers living on communal land, use their land. This has an impact on how they understand tenure security and what their needs are regarding forms of ownership. The dissertation will concentrate on findings based on research conducted in selected case study villages in four regions of Namibia. The case study villages are located in the Kavango East, Omusati, Hardap and Otjozondjupa regions, thereby enabling a comparative analysis of the formalisation of land rights within different cultural and geographical contexts. By using such a comparative analysis, the impacts of formalising communal land rights can be better understood, since land use and the significance people attribute to land for their livelihoods can vary greatly. As will be illustrated in the Namibian case, rural livelihood strategies and their relationships to land are diverse. It is argued that even though there are several commonalities between communal areas in Namibia, there are also significant differences in land uses and the role that land plays for livelihoods. Therefore, the formalisation of land rights, as is currently being pursued in Namibia, is unable to address all these different needs. Thus, a singular ‘one size fits all’ approach to formalising land is not feasible. Providing tenure security is undoubtedly important, as it does secure access and use of land. However, the current approach does not support the multiple communal land uses and needs within a broader territory. By looking at a specific area through the lens of a territory, one is also not merely inhibited by looking at the borders around the land, as these do not always consider the multiple functions of the space or area. By doing this, researchers and policy-makers alike will gain a better insight into the pluriactivities of local production systems and the multifunctionalities of land uses, expressed in both the management of and the various production systems on the land. This in turn influences their land tenure needs, if using the typology as represented by the ‘continuum of land rights’. Therefore, this research adds a further dimension to the concept of the continuum of land rights, by linking this to factors of production and farm management styles; highlighting how important different land uses are to determine tenure needs. Such research can thus lead to a better understanding of the policy requirements needed to enable land reform programmes to better contribute towards poverty reduction and economic development in Africa.
Deconstructing vulnerability: exploring the lives of young black men in urban informal settlements
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Zweig, Patricia; Visser, Gustav; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Globally, over a billion urban dwellers live in slum conditions today, increasing by around ten million inhabitants annually. Much of this growth is occurring in Africa, where some estimates suggest that more than half the urban population already lives informally. Generally unplanned and inadequately serviced, these densely settled urban areas are becoming hot spots of urban risk, strongly rooted in social and economic vulnerabilities associated with unstable sources of livelihood and deplorable living conditions. Daily life in these contexts is thus a precarious and constant confrontation with the lived realities of poverty that shapes the way people respond to the world around them. In these environments, women and children are generally considered to be most vulnerable to the hazards associated with daily life. But there is growing concern about the lives of men and their perceived marginalisation, feelings of self-worth, and collective and individual vulnerability in an urban environment in which their roles have fundamentally changed. If we are to influence behaviour change among young men to reduce the acknowledged risks they pose to others, we must understand how they are being made vulnerable in a changing society that no longer defends their rights. This study sought to understand the challenges faced by young Xhosa men and the nature of their vulnerabilities in informal settlements in contemporary South Africa, by determining the building blocks of their vulnerability and how these are shaped and change over time and space. In contemporary South Africa, poor young Black men are being confronted with new circumstances that are profoundly shaping their identities. Adopting an interpretivist theoretical approach, a grounded methodology involving suite of methods was employed to interrogate the nature of the young men’s perceived vulnerabilities, how they coped with them and how in response they constructed their identities. These ranged from adapted participatory methods involving drawing, to diary-keeping and one-on-one discussions. In describing their lives in informal settlement environments the young men in the study revealed how they were made vulnerable and what they were vulnerable to, which included physical threats but also less tangible forms of susceptibility that included navigating relationships in a changing world, unemployment, living up to the social and cultural expectations placed on Xhosa men - both by themselves as well as others around them - and trying to accommodate new gender and other fundamental rights discourses brought by democracy that have brought traditional masculine forms of identity into question. In navigating complex urban informal landscapes, the identities of young men were found to be constantly mediated in response to new circumstances in which they find themselves. As a consequence, they shift interchangeably between different masculine identities to reduce their perceived vulnerability, often accommodating conflicting value systems, with each man positioning himself in relation to the power dynamics he encounters, shifting from hegemonic to subordinate forms of masculinity. This study has revealed that young men are currently conflicted in not knowing how to accommodate change without forfeiting the very essence of what it is that they believe makes them men. It suggests that we should adopt a far more culturally attuned and Afro-centric approach to understanding poor young African men that considers the ways in which they are made to feel vulnerable. This means challenging our preconceived notions about the masculine identities we think they are invested in.
Developing a spatial risk profile: assessing building vulnerability to extreme coastal inundation hazard
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12) Williams, Lauren Lyn; Luck-Vogel, Melanie; Pharoah, Robyn; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Coastal zones are dynamic spaces where human activities and infrastructure interface directly with natural forces, particularly extreme weather events such as storm surges. Coastal inundation is regarded as one of the most dangerous and destructive natural hazards, and while there are many studies to analyse these events, few provide assessment techniques relevant to the local context. This research aimed at developing a spatial risk profile for building vulnerability to coastal inundation hazard. GIS was determined to be the most appropriate technology as more sophisticated technologies such as hydrodynamic modelling were found to be limited to specialists,‘data-hungry’ and computationally expensive. An improved GIS based enhanced Bathtub Model (eBTM)was thus developed, which is more appropriate to the local coastal inundation context than the widely used simple Bathtub Model (sBTM). The advantage of the eBTM is that incorporates beach slope and surface roughness and that it instils hydrological connectivity to the coast through embedded cost-distance models. The use of such models thus allows for simplistic hydrodynamic processes such as the water distribution through urban infrastructure to be simulated, the output of which also includes the potential water depth relative to the input elevation model. The model was packaged into a user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) tool and the modelled outputs were further tested and validated against observed data, which supported its applicability. Strand and Fish Hoek (Cape Town, South Africa )were selected as the study sites for which the inundation levels for three independent scenarios were determined by combining the xtreme sea level for a 1-in-100 year storm and two sea level rise scenarios. The risk assessment component used the eBTM to generate inundation hazard maps for the three defined scenarios and to identify affected buildings. Both the hazard and hazard exposure scores were directly dependent on the eBTM outputs in terms of the inundation limits and water depths respectively. The physical building vulnerability indicators were developed through stakeholder engagements. The assessment was undertaken through the use of desktop technologies and on site building inspections. Weighted indicators were used to determine the vulnerability scores for each individual building. Determining the spatial risk profile was based on the scores from the preceding work to determine the risk status of each individual building in each study site. Again, weightings were applied to highlight the importance of components and to reduce the weight of less robust input factors. Overall, in Fish Hoek, one building was found to be at high risk of experiencing coastal inundation based on the given scenarios and three are at low risk. In Strand the spatial risk profile showed that 71 buildings are at low risk, 86 at moderate risk and 35 at high risk. The identified high risk buildings can thus be further assessed in terms of methods to reduce their vulnerability and/or hazard exposure.This study departs from existing regional risk assessment approaches and presents an assessment mechanism that allows the risk components (i.e. hazard, hazard exposure and vulnerability) to be assessed individually, at a locally relevant scale and through their individual assessment frameworks.The eBTM tool and assessment techniques were developed to be transferable to other areas. Furthermore, the eBTM tool enhances the accessibility of GIS based techniques for undertaking localised coastal risk assessments. The maps produced for the individual risk components can thus be used for knowledge transfer, while the final risk maps can be used to inform the management response required relevant to the local context.
Earth observation methods for sustainable Karoo Rangeland Management
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Harmse, Christiaan Johannes; Van Niekerk, Adriaan; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Rangelands, which comprise 25% of the earth's land surface, are under severe pressure due to the increasing global environmental problem of rangeland degradation. Ecological rangeland studies aim to determine the condition and productivity of rangelands and the severity of their degradation. In situ assessments are considered the most accurate way of monitoring rangeland degradation, but they are expensive and time-consuming, particularly when carried out over large areas. The Nama-Karoo biome in Southern Africa is primarily used for sheep and goat farming and is at risk of being overgrazed. Rangeland monitoring aims to determine whether grazing management strategies meet the goals of sustainable resource utilisation. Three experiments involving the combination of Earth observation technologies for rangeland monitoring were carried out in this research. First, a hypothesis that sheep graze more selectively under low stocking rates – potentially resulting in localised overgrazing – was tested. Livestock tracking, in situ observations, and Sentinel-2 imagery were used to make rangeland-scale observations of sheep grazing behaviour and vegetation conditions in the Nama-Karoo. The results showed that livestock congregates along drainage lines with deeper soil depth. There was a clear difference in the use of grazing areas among different stocking density classes. The conclusion was that spatial analyses of remotely sensed data can provide a landscape-scale overview of livestock movement patterns; and that high-resolution normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) data can be used as a grazing management tool to determine the spatial variability of productive areas across the semiarid Upper Karoo rangelands and identify preferred grazing areas. Monitoring animal weight gain is expensive and often involves rounding up animals over large areas and long distances, leading to stress-related health problems and weight loss in animals. The second experiment evaluated remotely sensed vegetation indices for modelling sheep weight gain in semi-arid rangelands. The experiment also analysed the grazing behaviours in relation to time and location by using Sentinel-2 imagery and sheep movement data obtained from global positioning system (GPS) collar receivers. The results show that the average daily distance covered by sheep remained consistent throughout the year. The study successfully demonstrated the predictive capability of the NDVI in determining changes in the weight of sheep. The third experiment evaluated the effectiveness of multispectral (MS) and hyperspectral (HS) remotely sensed, unmanned aerial vehicle-(UAV)-based data and machine learning (random forest) methods to differentiate between 15 dominant Nama-Karoo plant species to aid ecological impact surveys. The results show that MS imagery was unsuitable as classification accuracies were generally low (37.5%). However, higher classification accuracies (>70.0%) were achieved when HS imagery was employed. Using in situ spectroscopic data collected with a fieldspectroradiometer, 12 key wavelengths were identified for discriminating among the dominant Karoo plant species with accuracies exceeding 90%. Reducing the dimensionality of the in situ spectroscopic dataset to the 12 key bands increased classification accuracies from 84.8% (all bands) to 91.7% (12 bands). Although classification accuracies were comparatively lower (76%) when HS remotely sensed imagery was used (instead of the in situ spectroscopic data), the results indicate that HS remote sensing imaging has the capability to effectively map indicator plant species in the Karoo region. The techniques developed in this research can be used to carry out satellite and UAV-based ecological assessments over large and inaccessible areas, assisting in managing the extensive Karoo rangelands more sustainably.
Evaluating the potential of Earth observation for supporting sustainable urban land use planning
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013-12) Musakwa, Walter; Van Niekerk, Adriaan; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In many developing countries, rapid urbanisation continues to substantially transform land from agricultural and rural land uses, as well as natural landscapes into urban areas. This leads to significant changes to the socio-economic fabric and nature of the natural environment. Data to monitor such transformation is often out of date, unreliable, in unstandardised format, cumbersome and expensive to collect or simply unavailable in urban centres of many developing countries. These characteristics inhibit local authorities‘ and other stakeholders‘ capacity to monitor and leverage resources toward sustainable urban development. Sustainable urban land use planning is a major objective of urban planning, but it is difficult to put into practice. This study investigates the efficacy of earth observation (EO) for collecting information required for sustainable urban land use planning and proposes the use of decision consequence analysis (DCA) as a simple and structured way to put sustainable urban development into practice. The study focuses on three central determinants of sustainable urban land use, namely (1) land use change and land use mix, (2) urban sprawl and (3) the urban built-up area. Consequently, urban sustainability indicators of these three components were identified. EO data for Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, was gathered and used to perform spatio-temporal analyses of the indicators in a geographic information system (GIS). This enabled the establishing of the positive or negative trajectory made toward achieving sustainable urban land use planning. The study demonstrates how the use of EO data, DCA, urban sustainability indicators and GIS can enhance local authorities‘ capacities for monitoring urban sustainability. EO data and urban sustainability indicators were used to develop an urban sustainability toolbox which facilitates evidence-based decision making. The results also show that urban sustainability indicators derived from EO are valuable in providing synoptic, up-to-date, standardised and normalised information on urban areas. Such information would be expensive and cumbersome to collect without the use of EO and GIS. As a result, earth observation will continue to play a key role in monitoring urban sustainability, particularly in developing countries.
Geografiese invloede op die bosboubedryf in die Wes-Kaapstreek, die Kaap-Middellandstreek, die Oos-Kaapstreek en die Transkei
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 1967-03) Roos, T. J.; Nel, A.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies; Jacobs, Ivan
The impact of spatial planning on the structure of South African cities since 1994
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Du Plessis, Daniel Jacobus; Geyer, H. S.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography & Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South African cities have been shaped by colonial and post-1948 apartheid city policies resulting in what is commonly referred to as ‘apartheid cities’. The vision of urban spatial transformation supported by goals such as compact urban form, increased population densities, and a greater mix of land uses hence emerged as key elements of the spatial planning doctrine after the transition into democracy in 1994. The aim of this research is to establish the influence of spatial planning and spatial plans on urban structure in South Africa since 1994 through empirical analysis across a range of metropolitan and intermediate sized cities. A comprehensive methodology for evaluating the influence of spatial planning processes and spatial plans is developed based on an analysis of alternative paradigms of procedural planning theory. A framework to incorporate the spatial planning evaluation methodology into the existing prescribed SDF preparation process is provided. Elements of this methodology are applied to evaluate the evolving spatial structure of eight South African cities since 1994. The results established modest increases in net population densities since 1994, and only marginal changes in the overall levels of land-use mix. The density increases occurred mostly at decentralised suburban locations but, in the case of the four largest metropolitan cities analysed, also in and around the traditional CBD areas. The results also led to the identification of five different variants of the double-linear density model to describe urban built-up space of cities. The influence of spatial plans on population density and land use mix was found to be limited, but the influence on the location of new economic activities over the study period was significant. The results of the plan quality assessment indicated that spatial plans require substantial improvement in the areas of spatial analysis of the urban economic space, quantifying infrastructure and capital investment, translating broad sustainability principles into quantifiable sustainability indicators and targets, focusing more specific attention on the informal sector, and applying innovative spatial statistical analysis techniques in the preparation and evaluation of spatial plans. Spatial plans to drive ‘reconfiguration’ will require consistent intervention at various scales and across different timeframes. Spatial plans and policies based on a limited number of principles, rather than complicated ‘integrated’ plans, are most likely to produce persistent and systematic outcomes aligned with the spatial planning vision. The precondition for such a planning approach is a rigorous process of ongoing evaluation and feedback to assess the effect of the established planning principles. Improving the influence of urban spatial planning will require a shift in focus from planning activities primarily aimed at the plan preparation phase to spatial plan evaluation during the implementation phase.
An implementation model for integrated coastal management in South Africa : from legislation to practice
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2011-03) Taljaard, Susan; Van der Merwe, J. H.; Slinger, J. H.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In South Africa the government’s progress in developing policy in support of people-centred Integrated Coastal Management (ICM), as expressed in the Coastal Policy and the Integrated Coastal Management Act, is commended. However several challenges pertaining to policy implementation remain which constitute the primary need for this research. Indeed, South Africa already has many pieces of the ICM implementation puzzle, but a structured framework or model to assist in achieving a workable, integrated system is still lacking. The aim of this research is to design an implementation model for ICM within the South African context and to propose a novel and innovative generic process for the design and refinement of such models. This aim is achieved by addressing four research questions, namely: (i) Can contextual, country-specific knowledge be harnessed to design a prototype ICM implementation model for South Africa?; (ii) Is the prototype design workable (or compatible) in the existing coastal marine statutory and governance system of South Africa (i.e. a practical validation)?; (iii) Is the prototype model for South Africa scientifically credible and how can insights into the uniformities contributing to improved integrated environmental management (IEM) and ICM be applied to assess such credibility as well as inform refinements to the model (i.e. a theoretical validation)?; and (iv) Can a generic process for the design and refinement of country-specific implementation models be derived from the research methodology applied in this study? Design science was selected as the primary strategy of inquiry for this study and a mixed-methods approach was used, claiming that the specific focus is real-world practice. Qualitative and quantitative methods are used to execute this research. This research demonstrates a method where experience and country-specific knowledge are harnessed to design a prototype ICM implementation model for South Africa and, in doing so, experientially capturing important emerging paradigms for improved ICM implementation – as identified in the scientific literature – namely the ecosystem-based management, spatial planning and cooperative environmental governance paradigms. In the prototype design, the ecosystem-based management and spatial planning paradigms are combined with traditional problems- or issues-based approaches, applied in many of the earlier ICM models. Personal experience also confirmed the importance of informed and well-established actor involvement in coastal management (cooperative environmental management) which manifested in the inclusion of the important avenues of actor involvement (i.e. the support elements) in the prototype model. Moreover, South Africa’s sector-based governance system is accommodated in the design by anchoring the management programmes component (remaining largely sector-based) between the resource vision, objectives and zoning component and the monitoring and evaluation component, implying that management programmes remain grounded in an ecosystem-based approach and subservient to the agreed vision and objectives, and needs of the coastal ecosystem. A practical validation, using the management of land-based activities as case study, reveals that approaches to coastal management in South Africa, grounded in the current statutory framework of the country, can largely be aligned with the approach proposed in the prototype implementation model. Indeed it is inefficiency or a lack of operationalisation of existing legislation that may pose the biggest challenge for effective implementation of this model. Because the prototype model is designed to accommodate sectorbased management programmes, it can be extended to accommodate sectors or activities other than those presented in the case study, such as conservation, transportation (shipping) and fisheries. Consequently, the prototype model can be applied in South Africa without any substantive adaptation of the existing statutory framework. Clearly, the challenge of effectively operationalising existing statutes remains. A critical review of relevant scientific literature provides information on and understanding of uniformities in IEM, the broader domain within which ICM is nested, using the key paradigms that contribute significantly to the improved implementation of IEM, to express such uniformities. It became apparent from studying the evolution of ICM over the last two decades that many of the key paradigms that significantly contribute to improved implementation of IEM have also proved valuable in the implementation of ICM. The insight gained from scientific literature was applied in determining fourteen evaluation criteria with which to assess of the scientific credibility of the prototype design. The subsequent assessment of the prototype design confirmed that the collective learning in IEM (and ICM) implementation over the last two decades is consolidated in this prototype design, apart from two aspects, namely scientific support networks and sustainable financial support. These were not initially defined as key components for ICM implementation in South Africa, but in retroflection proved to be valid; South Africa has established independent scientific networks outside the realm of government that coordinate scientific research in support of coastal management, and the explicit recognition of these scientific support networks in the prototype model will highlight their importance to ICM. Also, the inclusion of a sustainable financial support mechanism as a key component in the model will significantly enhance the importance and necessity of having a sound funding strategy associated with ICM implementation in South Africa. Considering the prototype design and its practical and theoretical validation, two interdependent but distinctive adaptive cycles emerged. The refined model therefore incorporates these dual, adaptive cycles coined the resource and actor cycles. The resource cycle is much in alignment with the original components of the prototype design, but a distinct modification is the inclusion of the demarcation of the geographical boundaries of coastal management units as a separate component in the model. In essence, the components in the actor cycle represent the key actor groups involved in the governance system for ICM. These components reflect the original support elements in the prototype design but include the two additional components identified in the theoretical validation, namely scientific support and financial support mechanisms. The revised model with its dual, adaptive cycles contributes an implementation perspective to the growing body of scientific literature on social-ecological systems. In this literature, the ecological system is viewed as intricately linked with and affected by the social system as depicted by the interlinked resource and actor cycles of the revised model. Further, a practical and novel three-step generic process for the design and refinement of country-specific ICM implementation models is proposed, based on the design-science approach applied in this study. First, the process involves the design of a prototype model, primarily based on local knowledge within the countryspecific context. Second, the process entails dual validation procedures, namely an empirical validation and theoretical validations. Finally, the outcome of the validation process is used to refine and improve the prototype design. Further, the refined model design proposed in this study is posed as a suitable prototype design for countries with similar sector-based coastal management milieus to South Africa. The research reported here does not offer a complete solution to the identified problem as there are manifold angles from which to approach effective and sustainable ICM. In this study an implementation angle was chosen, more specifically from a practical environmental management perspective that recognises important economic and social elements and interactions. Opportunities exist for researchers in other expert fields to investigate ICM policy implementation in South Africa from their perspectives. For example, ICM can also be viewed from purely economic, public administration, social or educational stances. In particular, techniques such as science mapping could be used to identify whether paradigms exist that constitute uniformities in IEM and ICM in addition to the ten key paradigms studied in the research. Any new characteristics deriving from the analysis of the additional paradigms can then be used to refine the evaluation criteria for the assessment of the scientific credibility of ICM implementation models. Knowledge gained and innovations made in such studies can be integrated into the ICM implementation model presented here to continuously improve its operationalisation. This research provides two main products, namely a workable and scientifically sound implementation model for ICM in the South African context and a generic process for the design and refinement of countryspecific ICM implementation models, both requiring adaptive management approaches.
The influence of topographical variability on wildfire occurrence and propagation
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-03) Christ, Sven; De Klerk, Helen; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Wildfires have increasingly become a point of concern, especially with notable incidents like the 2017 Knysna fire. These naturally occurring phenomena, despite their disruptive nature, are crucial for the sustainability of certain ecosystems. At the heart of understanding wild-fires lies the relationship between climate, vegetation, topography, and human land use, with topography standing out as a significant determinant. This thesis delves into the fundamen-tal role of topography, emphasizing its effect on the ignition, propagation, and behaviour of wildfires. Utilizing Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), the research extracts invaluable topographic data aiming to augment the understanding of wildfires, especially in mixed natural forest and fyn-bos ecosystems. Existing fire models have shown certain shortcomings, often overlooking crucial localized wind data, which has profound implications for predicting fire behaviour. By bridging this gap, the study explores the potential of computational fluid dynamics in modelling surface winds based on topography for fire research. The research systematically addresses several key objectives: Mapping the current land-scape of topography-cantered wildfire research and investigating the utility of DEM-derived surface wind in refining fire propagation models, identifying and analysing historical fire patterns to pinpoint fire refugia in the Knysna/Tsitsikhama region, employing machine learning techniques, to determine if topographic variables extracted from DEMs can antici-pate fire refugia. The findings underscore the salience of topography in wildfires. Especially significant is the role of aspect in determining fire refugia, emphasizing that a combination of multiple variables offers the most accurate insights. Machine learning, notably the XGBoost model, showcases potential in identifying critical topographical features impacting fire behaviours. Furthermore, the research sheds light on the pivotal influence of wind chan-nels, formed by topographical features, in both the inception and spread of wildfires. In summary, this thesis underscores the integral role of topography in understanding wild-fires. It charts a roadmap for future research, emphasizing the importance of high-quality validation data, a more comprehensive mapping of fire refugia, and an acknowledgement of the influence of human activity on fire regimes. By building on the methodologies and in-sights presented, there lies an opportunity to advance sustainable wildfire management so-lutions that benefit both ecosystems and human communities.
Informal Capacities: Exploring grounded architectural practice in transitions to sustainable urbanism in Cape Town
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-12) Perold, Philippus Rudolf; Donaldson, Ronnie; Devisch, Oswald; Verbeeck, Griet; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The research presented in this dissertation pertains to the role of architectural practice in the in situ upgrading of informal settlements in Cape Town, with in situ upgrading being understood as a transition to sustainable urbanism in terms of socio-technical transition theory. Two ideas guide and structure the research: the notion of ‘in[formal]ity’ as a dialectic whole to replace the dichotomy of formal vs. informal (thereby enabling architectural professionals to develop the informal capacities required to engage constructively with residents in informal settlement upgrading interventions) and the phenomenon of grounded architectural practice (GAP) as unit of analysis. I embark on a hands-on exploration of GAP – engaging with residents through live project case studies undertaken in collaboration with local organisations – so as to arrive at a better understanding of this emergent mode of architectural practice, as well as the informal capacities that architectural professionals require in order to engage with residents in such practice. The empirical data obtained during the case studies is supplemented by an analysis of existing data derived from literature reviews. As a multi-disciplinary extension of third generation activity theory (AT) that enables empirical analyses of work activity, the method of developmental work research draws together the live project case studies and AT mapping, and in doing so provides a framework for the exploration of GAP. This framework incorporates the notion of ‘in[formal]ity’ into AT, mapping the activity systems of residents and local government as networked around the partially shared object of fostering transitions to sustainable urbanism. GAP is then positioned as an intermediate ‘empty stage’ between the live project case studies and the AT mapping, and is used to capture the ideas that emerge. The latter are understood to be the informal capacities that architectural professionals employ when engaging with residents in the co-production and collaborative design of upgrading interventions. These informal capacities offer architectural professionals (who it enables to comprehend the socio-technical regime of local government as well as the informal spatial practice of residents) the opportunity to foster spatial justice by advocating on behalf of these residents in support of the in situ upgrading of their settlements as a transition to sustainable urbanism. As such, this research does not aim to develop a new model for architectural practice – doing so would require a much larger data set than the three live project case studies that inform this research – but rather to explore the informal capacities that are required and developed when engaging in GAP in the specific context of Cape Town. In doing so, I wish to contribute to the influence of this emergent niche-level practice on the regime of conventional architectural practice, thereby encouraging more architectural professionals to engage with residents in supporting informal settlement upgrading as a transition to sustainable urbanism.
Informal settlement upgrading and the effect of governmentality on women's social networks : a case study of New Rest and Makhaza, Cape Town
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2013-12) Massey, Ruth Thokozile; Donaldson, R.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: It is estimated that 70% of sub-Saharan Africa’s urban population resides in informal settlements. Cape Town (South Africa), in particular, has a projected 223 informal settlements within its boundaries (which house almost 136 000 households). The national government has attempted to meet housing needs through the upgrading of informal settlements. In situ upgrading has been seen as a particularly popular route to follow. This study aimed to investigate the City of Cape Town’s governmentality in the in situ upgrading of Makhaza and New Rest in Cape Town and explore the implications of this governmentality for women’s social networks in these two settlements. The study focused on the governmentality elements of rationalities, practices and techniques and counter-conduct. A review of the literature shows little attention has been paid to the various governmentalities (practice, techniques and rationalities) that exist within informal settlement upgrading. The literature has also not paid much attention to how the governmentality of those undertaking informal settlement upgrading, relates to women’s social networks (and their governmentality) within upgraded sites. The research made use of qualitatively-driven methodologies and approaches, employing the techniques of Neighbourhood Social Mapping, Social Network Assessment (SNA), semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, transect walks, observational studies and secondary data gathering. The study found, amongst other things, that the governmentality (rationalities, techniques and practices) used by the City to plan and implement the upgrading of informal settlements differs from that of the women’s social networks. The profound differences in governmentalities have meant that the settlements do not meet the needs of the women and their social networks. In response the women have redesigned their new settlement to meet the needs of their social networks. Integral Theory is used in this thesis to map and better understand the differing governmentalities and their relationship and was used to propose an Integral approach in managing differing governmentalities. The thesis suggests that, in order to understand fully and respond appropriately to the challenges faced in upgrading, those in power need to be aware of and include all perspectives and actors within their upgrading process and practice.
'n Kartografiese studie van die vernaamste dorpe in Suidwes-Kaapland
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1951) Nel, Andries; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: No abstract available.

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