Taming The Wilds: tactical urbanism and creative placemaking in the revitalisation of a nature reserve in Johannesburg, South Africa
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/bgss-2023-0014Keywords
geography, planning & development, urban studies, tactical urbanism, creative placemaking & public space, urban revitalisationAbstract
Th e use of tactical urbanism and creative placemaking in the revitalisation of public space has received growing research interest. In Johannesburg, there is evidence of these approaches in the revitalisation of Th e Wilds, a nature reserve located near the inner-city. Th e Wilds experienced neglect and decline due to increased crime. By the mid-2010s, an artist championed the bottom-up revitalisation of Th e Wilds through routine maintenance, the introduction of public art, and events to encourage engagement with the space. Th is study draws on personal communication and semi-structured interviews with key informants and utilises netnography. It was found that the use of public art and social media resulted in an increase in visitor numbers and volunteers who assisted in the maintenance, restoration and engagement with the space. Th e use of tactical urbanism and creative placemaking, however, has brought volunteers into conflict with the city over the usage and co-management of The Wilds.
References
Ah Goo, D. (2017). From urban decline to gentrifying spaces: the case of the Maboneng precinct in Johannesburg's inner city. South African Journal of Cultural History, 31(1): 1-18. DOI: https://doi/abs/10.10520/EJC-99ad056ce.
Andres, L. Bakare, H. Bryson, J.R. Khaemba, W. Melgaço, L. & Mwaniki, G.R. (2021). Planning, temporary urbanism and citizen-led alternative-substitute place-making in the Global South. Regional Studies, 55(1): 29-39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2019.1665645.
Aravot, I. (2002). Back to phenomenological placemaking. Journal of Urban Design, 7(2): 201-212. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1357480022000012230.
Arefi, M. (2014). Deconstructing placemaking: Needs, opportunities, and assets. Routledge.
Beavon, K.S.O. (2004). Johannesburg: The making and shaping of the city. Unisa Press.
Bénit-Gbaffou, C. (2018). Why is Co-management of Parks Not Working in Johannesburg?: The Difficult Reframing of State Mandate and Practices in the Post-Apartheid Era. In: C. Ammann, T. Förster (Eds.), African Cities and the Development Conundrum, 101-135, Brill Nijhoff.
Booyens, I. (2012). Creative industries, inequality and social development: developments, impacts and challenges in Cape Town. Urban Forum, 23(1): 43-60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-012-9140-6.
Booyens, I. & Rogerson, C.M. (2015). Creative tourism in Cape Town: An innovation perspective. Urban Forum, 26(4): 405-424. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-015-9251-y.
Bueno, A.V.H. & Lanng, D.B. (2019). Acupunctural mobilities design ‘from below’: Reflecting on uneven material mobilities in the Global South, the Caracas a pie case. In: O.B. Jensen, C. Lassen & I.S.G. Lange (Eds.), Material Mobilities (1st ed.), 185-201, Routledge.
Courage, C. (2013). The global phenomenon of tactical urbanism as an indicator of new forms of citizenship. Engage in the Visual Arts, 32(1): 88-97.
Courage, C. (2021). What really matters: moving placemaking into a new epoch. In: C. Courage, T. Borrup, M.R., Jackson, K., Legge, A., McKeown, L., Platt & J. Schupbach, (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of placemaking (1st ed.), 1-8, Routledge.
Courage, C & McKeown, A. (2019). Creative Placemaking. Routledge.
Comunian, R. & England, L. (2018). Creative regions: from creative place-making to creative human capital. In A. Paasi, J. Harrison and M. Jones (Eds.), Handbook on the Geographies of Regions and Territories, 169-181, Edward Elgar Publishing.
City of Johannesburg (2020). Integrated Development Plan 2020/21. Available at: https://www.joburg.org.za/documents_/Documents/Intergrated%20Development%20Plan/IDP%202021-23/ITEM%2004%20ANNEXURE%20IDP.pdf (Accessed: 17 January 2022).
Devlin, R.T. (2018). Asking ‘Third World questions’ of First World informality: Using Southern theory to parse needs from desires in an analysis of informal urbanism of the global North. Planning Theory, 17(4): 568-587. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1473095217737347.
De Vries, L. (2019). A ‘Paradox of the Commons’? The Planning and Everyday Management of Green Point Park. Urban Forum, 30(3): 325-339. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-019-09362-8.
De Vries, L. & Kotze, N. (2016). The revitalisation of parks and open spaces in downtown Johannesburg. Urbani izziv, 27(1): 123-131. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5379/urbani-izziv-en-2016-27-01-003.
Didier, S. Peyroux, E. & Morange, M. (2012). The spreading of the city improvement district model in Johannesburg and Cape Town: urban regeneration and the neoliberal agenda in South Africa. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 36(5): 915-935. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2012.01136.x.
Didier, S. Morange, M. & Peyroux, E. (2013). The adaptative nature of neoliberalism at the local scale: Fifteen years of city improvement districts in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Antipode, 45(1): 121-139. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2012.00987.x.
Dirsuweit, T. (1999). From fortress city to creative city. Urban Forum, 10(2): 183-213. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03036618.
Duconseille, F. & Saner, R. (2020). Creative placemaking for inclusive urban landscapes. The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, 50(3): 137-154. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10632921.2020.1754985.
Edwards, G. (1949). The Wilds. Veld & Flora, 35(1): 10-12.
Emmett, M. (2022). A new public art and wellness park soon to launch in Braamfontein, Daily Maverick, 14 February. Available at: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-02-14-a-new-public-art-sculpture-and-wellness-park-soon-to-launch-in-braamfontein/ (Accessed: 27 April 2022).
Finn, D. (2014). DIY urbanism: implications for cities. Journal of Urbanism: International research on placemaking and urban sustainability, 7(4): 381-398. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17549175.2014.891149.
Foster, J. (2012). The wilds and the township: articulating modernity, capital, and socio-nature in the cityscape of pre-apartheid Johannesburg. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 71(1): 42-59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2012.71.1.42.
Friedmann, J. (2010). Place and place-making in cities: A global perspective. Planning Theory & Practice, 11(2): 149-165. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14649351003759573.
Gevisser, M. (2014). Lost and Found in Johannesburg: A Memoir. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Gregory, J.J. (2016). Creative industries and urban regeneration - The Maboneng precinct, Johannesburg. Local Economy, 31(1-2): 158-171. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0269094215618597.
Gregory, J.J. & Rogerson, C. (2016). Tracking the policy environment for creative industries in South Africa. In: #CelebrateCenturyofGeography: Proceedings of the Centenary Conference of the Society of South African Geographers, Stellenbosch: Society of South African Geographers, 30-37.
Gregory, J.J. (2019). Creative Industries and Neighbourhood Change in South African Cities. In: J. Knight & C.M. Rogerson (Eds.), The Geography of South Africa: Contemporary Issues and New Directions, 203-211, Springer.
Grundlingh, L. (2012). "“Parks in the veld"”; the Johannesburg Town Council's efforts to create leisure parks, 1900s-1920s. South African Journal of Cultural History, 26(2): 83-105. DOI: https://doi/epdf/10.10520/EJC129229.
Harrison, P. Rubin, M. Appelbaum, A. & Dittgen, R. (2019). Corridors of freedom: Analyzing Johannesburg’s ambitious inclusionary transit-oriented development. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 39(4), 456-468. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0739456X19870312.
Hoogendoorn, G. & Gregory, J. (2016). Instagrammers, urban renewal and the Johannesburg inner city. Urban Forum, 27(4): 399-414. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-016-9287-7.
Hughes, J. (2021). An annotated history of creative placemaking at the federal level. In: C. Courage., T. Borrup, M.R. Jackson, K. Legge, A. McKeown, L. Platt & J. Schupbach (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of placemaking (1st ed.), 27-37, Routledge.
Landman, K. (2006). Privatising public space in post-apartheid South African cities through neighbourhood enclosures. GeoJournal, 66(1): 133-146. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-006-9020-5.
Landman, K. (2016). The transformation of public space in South Africa and the role of urban design. Urban Design International, 21(1): 78-92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/udi.2015.24.
Landman, K. (2019). Gated communities in South Africa: An emerging paradox. In: R. Massey & A. Gunter (Eds.) Urban Geography in South Africa, 55-74, Springer.
Landry, C. (2012). The creative city: A toolkit for urban innovators. Routledge.
Lew, A.A. (2017). Tourism planning and place making: place-making or placemaking? Tourism Geographies, 19(3): 448-466. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2017.1282007.
Lima, J.F. & Jones, A.J. (2021). Placemaking as an economic engine for all. In: C. Courage, T. Borrup, M.R. Jackson, K. Legge, A. McKeown, L. Platt & J. Schupbach (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of placemaking (1st ed.), 14-26, Routledge.
Lou, J.J. (2010). Chinatown transformed: Ideology, power, and resources in narrative place-making. Discourse Studies, 12(5): 625–647. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1461445610371055.
Lydon, M. & Garcia, A. (2015). Tactical urbanism: Short-term Action for Long-term Change. Island Press.
Markusen, A. & Gadwa, A. (2010). Creative placemaking. National endowment for the Arts. Available at: https://www.idsa.org/sites/default/files/CreativePlacemaking-Paper.pdf (Accessed: 15 October 2021).
McKay, T.J.M. & Tantoh, H.B. (2021). A dialogue approach to stakeholder engagement with urban communities: The case of Mofolo Park, Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 64(12): 2172-2191. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2020.1862769.
Mould, O. (2014). Tactical urbanism: The new vernacular of the creative city. Geography Compass, 8(8): 529-539. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12146.
Murray, M.J. (2011). City of Extremes: The Spatial Politics of Johannesburg. Duke University Press.
Nemutamvuni, K. McKay, T.J.M. & Tantoh, H.B. (2020). Active citizenry, community-based organisations and the protection of urban wetlands: The case of Colbyn, Tshwane, South Africa. Global Ecology and Conservation, 24: e01244. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01244.
Oldfield, S. & Parnell, S. (2014). ‘From the south’. In S. Parnell, S. Oldfield (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook on Cities of the Global South (1st ed.), 1-4, Routledge.
Parish, J. (2020). Re-wilding Parkdale? Environmental gentrification, settler colonialism, and the reconfiguration of nature in 21st century Toronto. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 3(1): 263-286. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848619868110.
Richards, G. (2014). Creativity and tourism in the city. Current Issues in Tourism, 17(2): 119–144. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2013.783794.
Richards, G. & Duif, L. (2018). Small cities with big dreams: Creative placemaking and branding strategies. Routledge.
Rigolon, A. & Németh, J. (2020). Green gentrification or ‘just green enough’: Do park location, size and function affect whether a place gentrifies or not?. Urban Studies, 57(2): 402-420. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0042098019849380.
Rogerson, C.M. (2006). Creative industries and urban tourism: South African perspectives. Urban Forum, 17(2): 149-166. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-006-0003-x.
Rogerson, C.M. & Rogerson, J.M. (2019). Historical urban tourism: Developmental challenges in Johannesburg 1920-1950. Urbani izziv, 30: 112-128. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5379/urbani-izziv-en-2019-30-supplement-008.
Roy, A. (2009). Why India cannot plan its cities: Informality, insurgence and the idiom of urbanization. Planning Theory, 8(1): 76-87. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1473095208099299.
Schupbach, J. (2021). Preface: Placemaking in the age of COVID-19 and protest. In: C. Courage, T. Borrup, M.R. Jackson, K. Legge, A. McKeown, L. Platt & J. Schupbach (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Placemaking (1st ed.), 11-13, Routledge.
Silva, P. (2016). Tactical urbanism: Towards an evolutionary cities’ approach? Environment and Planning B: Planning and design, 43(6): 1040-1051. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0265813516657340.
South African Cultural Observatory (2018). BASA award winners announced at laid back event. Available at: https://www.southafricanculturalobservatory.org.za/article/basa-award-winners-announced-at-laid-back-event (Accessed: 25 February 2022).
Strydom, W. Puren, K. & Drewes, E. (2018). Exploring theoretical trends in placemaking: towards new perspectives in spatial planning. Journal of Place Management and Development, 11(2): 165-180. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMD-11-2017-0113.
Venter, Z.S. Shackleton, C.M. Van Staden, F. Selomane, O. & Masterson, V.A. (2020). Green Apartheid: Urban green infrastructure remains unequally distributed across income and race geographies in South Africa. Landscape and Urban Planning, 203: 103889. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103889.
Visser, G. (2014). The film industry and South African urban change. Urban Forum, 25(1): 13-34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-013-9203-3.
Webb, D. (2018). Tactical urbanism: Delineating a critical praxis. Planning theory & practice, 19(1): 58-73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2017.1406130.
Wenz, L. (2012). Changing tune in Woodstock: Creative industries and local urban development in Cape Town, South Africa. Gateways: International Journal of Community Research and Engagement, 5: 16-34. DOI: https://doi/abs/10.3316/INFORMIT.912864971641670.
Wyckoff, M. A. Neumann, B. Pape, G. & Schindler, K. (2015). Placemaking as an economic development tool: A placemaking guide. East Lansing, MI: Land Policy Institute, Michigan State University.
Zitcer, A. (2020). Making up creative placemaking. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 40(3): 278-288. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0739456X18773424.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 James J. Gregory
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Title, logo and layout of journal Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series are reserved trademarks of Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series.Stats
Number of views and downloads: 1122
Number of citations: 0
