Speaker
Description
Cities and urban spaces worldwide and in South Africa are changing rapidly. New challenges confront planners in dealing with these changes in ways that will consider the future well-being of the planet and its people. Cities, precincts and public spaces need to adapt and transform to address the challenges of rapid urbanisation, densification, climate change, social conflict, exclusion, and disconnection from nature. In a time of planetary crisis and human suffering, cities must adopt alternative approaches to prioritise people and the planet.
As transformative and often disruptive action and forced to deal with complex challenges, Planning relies on strong narratives to inspire and move actors in the most appropriate direction. Old habits clash with new visions, while technological innovation offers hope and hazards. For example, in South Africa, post-apartheid planning and development policies have repeatedly called for spatial transformation to address many of the abovementioned challenges. However, 30 years after the dawn of democracy, most of the interventions reflect signs of spatial redistribution, with limited evidence of spatial adaptation and regeneration. Social conflict, exclusion and disconnection with nature remain critical in the context of growing urbanization, poverty and inequality. Although international debates highlight the importance of regenerative sustainability, there is still limited evidence of that being promoted and implemented in South Africa.
Building on local planning debates and trends in South Africa, juxtaposed with growing international work on regenerative sustainability, this paper is an experiment to introduce a new narrative towards transformative planning actions. The presentation highlights the need to move beyond a simplistic interpretation of transformation to a more nuanced reading of continuous evolution. The paper proposes the notion of evolutionary urbanism and its supporting principles to allow nature and humans to heal and thrive, harnessing the power of adaptation and regeneration. The discussion argues that evolutionary urbanism could assist in re-orientating planners and other key stakeholders towards more equitable and just futures in rapidly changing cities.
| Keywords | Changing mindsets, alternative narratives, regenerative sustainability, evolutionary urbanism |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
