Supervisor: Dr Jan Hugo
Research Field: Climate Change Adaptation in Public Spaces
Client: City of Tshwane (CoT)
Keywords Regenerative design, Place making, Allowance Theory, Public Spaces, Craft Market.
Abstract
The informal trade sector within the urban sphere contributes real economic activity towards it, keeping cities alive through cheap goods and services. (Poojara, 2025). However, urban planners often disregard the needs of this sector, treating it as a nuisance and not an important part of the city life (Satagani, 2020). The purpose of this project is to provide spaces for craft vendors, those who informally trade products that they personally make in the city.
This site, located on Helen Joseph Street and Sisulu Street, provides an opportunity for the implementation of Regenerative design as well as Gibson’s affordance theory (Gibson, 2014) which coalesce into the theory of placemaking, not only for crafting vendors but their engagement with the public realm. As an abandoned site, that was intended as a hotel, this project hopes to illustrate the potential for the site and others like it to be safe havens that aim to promote safety, comfort and access, as seen through researching the Moja Gabedi study case. To understand this, the process of city and people mapping, based on Jan Gehl’s work, was implemented to further understand not only site activities, but user needs too.
The aim of this project is to bring life back into public spaces in the City of Tshwane, as many of them are being privatised and, or, closed off from the surrounding urban threads. By reintroducing open accessible public areas back into the city, we can revitalise the city’s relationship with its citizens.
