The right to the City (Centre): a spatial development framework for affordable inner-city housing in Cape Town's Foreshore
type: CreativeWork
description: There is a spatial dislocation between jobs and people in Cape Town, which is largely caused by financial exclusion through urban land markets. The majority of low-income households - who also constitute the majority of the city's population - live on the urban periphery, where property is affordable but opportunities are scarce. This places the burden of high transport costs on the shoulders of those least able to pay, and reinforces the patterns of segregation imposed by apartheid. This deep-rooted spatial inequality has recently been brought to the fore through a series of housing-related protests by Reclaim The City and others. These movements prove that the need for well-located, affordable housing is only getting more urgent. If Cape Town is to overcome the spatial legacy of apartheid, it needs more affordable housing in areas of economic and social opportunity. This dissertation demonstrates how affordable housing can be provided in one well-located, inner-city site: The Foreshore. Situated in the City Bowl, the Foreshore is close to the abundance of employment opportunities and social facilities of this established and growing district. Further, the City of Cape Town has recently begun a tender process for development of the Foreshore. This included a request (albeit vague) for affordable housing to be included in the resulting project. Building on the City's intentions, this dissertation presents a spatial development framework for the Foreshore site that prioritises affordable housing and a mix of uses. The need for affordable, inner-city housing was established through an analysis of Cape Town and the City Bowl. Through this analysis, the Foreshore emerged as a prime site for fulfilling this need. A review of housing policy and legislation, together with an assessment of Cape Town's housing market, determined that Social Housing is the best model for achieving sustainable affordability in an urban context. However, it was found that the involvement of pri…
abstract: There is a spatial dislocation between jobs and people in Cape Town, which is largely caused by financial exclusion through urban land markets. The majority of low-income households - who also constitute the majority of the city's population - live on the urban periphery, where property is affordable but opportunities are scarce. This places the burden of high transport costs on the shoulders of those least able to pay, and reinforces the patterns of segregation imposed by apartheid. This deep-rooted spatial inequality has recently been brought to the fore through a series of housing-related protests by Reclaim The City and others. These movements prove that the need for well-located, affordable housing is only getting more urgent. If Cape Town is to overcome the spatial legacy of apartheid, it needs more affordable housing in areas of economic and social opportunity. This dissertation demonstrates how affordable housing can be provided in one well-located, inner-city site: The Foreshore. Situated in the City Bowl, the Foreshore is close to the abundance of employment opportunities and social facilities of this established and growing district. Further, the City of Cape Town has recently begun a tender process for development of the Foreshore. This included a request (albeit vague) for affordable housing to be included in the resulting project. Building on the City's intentions, this dissertation presents a spatial development framework for the Foreshore site that prioritises affordable housing and a mix of uses. The need for affordable, inner-city housing was established through an analysis of Cape Town and the City Bowl. Through this analysis, the Foreshore emerged as a prime site for fulfilling this need. A review of housing policy and legislation, together with an assessment of Cape Town's housing market, determined that Social Housing is the best model for achieving sustainable affordability in an urban context. However, it was found that the involvement of pri…
author: Weber, Megan
language: eng
date published: 2018
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:06Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/28145