Public Space in Cape Town: It's not about Design

Abstract

Public space ‘failure’ is often attributed to ‘poor’ design. Perceptions such as these open the way for vanity projects at the expense of interrogations of the less glamorous issues that may lead towards practical solutions. Design over-emphasis and the notion that open space is a ‘nice to have’, further detracts from its many important roles, particularly for vulnerable communities living in Cape Town.
This article considers the challenges of delivering open spaces capable of playing multiple roles. Budget availability for maintenance and management, socio-economic issues, planning and institutional complexity and fragmentation, insufficient or incorrect community engagement, lack of inter-sectoral collaboration within professions, and single use design; are some of the challenges that underlie public space failure – in addition to design.
Resolving these challenges is important because of public space’s critical role. Public space is the ‘glue’ that holds cities together. It is part of stormwater management, provides access to economic opportunities, improves safety, structures food access and agriculture and supplies ecological infrastructure for climate adaptation. Whilst design is not the biggest challenge, good design, appropriate norms and standards, integrated built environment practice, monitoring and evaluation metrics, can enable pathways for change necessary to affect a transition towards resilience.