The Role of Urban Planning in Counteracting Segregation: The Case of Pinelands, South Africa

Abstract: Segregation is a common phenomenon arising worldwide. Residential segregation has been shown to have several negative consequences for people living in less wealthy neighbourhoods, such as health-related setbacks and being less likely to cope with school. South Africa is an especially well-suited country to study segregation and methods to counteract it to achieve better integration and more harmonious communities. This follows as South Africa has had a history of institutionalised racial segregation, known as apartheid, which ended in 1994 and where there has now been near 30 years of work to counteract the ethnic and socio-economic segregation that had previously been established by law and a perverse sort of urban planning. This thesis evaluates methods to promote integration between different groups (as defined by socio-economic status and ethnicity) through urban planning. A case study approach is used whereby various planning initiatives and strategies applied in the South African suburb of Pinelands, situated just outside central Cape Town, form the basis for a specific evaluation. The lessons learned from this place are also evaluated for their potential broader relevance and application. Thus, the thesis aims to distinguish which strategies are believed to be most efficient in counteracting segregation. Site visits and interviews were conducted, and the results show that some of the most critical aspects of achieving an integrated and inclusive society are housing location, affordability and a good range of public spaces where people of different socio-economic statuses and ethnicities can meet. The results suggest that an integrated society could be reached by providing different forms of tenure and different rental housing types (both subsidised rents and market-driven rents) in the same building. Moreover, enabling social interaction when designing urban areas could be an efficient tool in promoting an integrated society, since interactions between different groups of people seem vital in creating higher levels of social cohesion and trust. The results also show that complex laws and regulations, combined with inadequate communication between the public sector and the residents, result in NGOs playing an essential role in improving coordination between the city and its residents.