Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (former Departments)

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Browsing Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (former Departments) by Subject "Cities and towns -- Growth"

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    The influence of control mechanisms on urban form : some urban design implications
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002-03) Schutte, Corli; Welch, T. C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Sustainable Development Planning & Management.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The urban designer works within an environment characterized by constraints. Control mechanisms are part of these constraints. They were created out of necessity because the control of the urban environment became strained as cities grew in size. In the beginning control mechanisms regulated the urban environment to create better public safety. This objective evolved to include aesthetics and sustainability of the environment. Controls, however, tended to become standardized and were often blindly applied irrespective of changed circumstances and contexts. Control mechanisms include inter alia height, density, bulk, and aesthetic controls, which can be applied to regulate form, space and behavioural or activity patterns. These control mechanisms generally embrace a system of codes embodied in legislation enforceable in law. Urban designers should realize and take full advantage of the potential of the law as an urban design control element. This study examines the nature of control mechanisms as applied to town planning in general and urban design in particular and their efficacy in achieving and maintaining a range of human and social objectives. To this end, attention is paid to examining historical precedent, examples reflecting different cultures and approaches and resultant urban forms. On the basis of the aforementioned this study aims to identify a range of urban design principles and to propose suggestions as to how control mechanisms as part of a system of law can best be applied. A case study of central business district sites in Durbanville, Western Cape is researched.
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    The role of special management areas in the protection of the urban edge
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001-12) Dreyer, Annerine; Claassen, P. E.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic & Management Sciences. Dept. of Sustainable Develop Planning & Management.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study considers the possibility of using special management areas at metropolitan level as a measure to control urban sprawl in South Africa, and specifically in the greater Cape Town area. Important issues included in the study are: international and local measures currently and previously used, relevant South African legislation that support urban edge protection, economic and ethical theories regarding urban edge protection, the measures currently implemented in Stellenbosch, an examination of special management areas and recommendations. International attempts in curbing urban sprawl dates back to post-Industrial Revolution Europe (1800s). British and American measures are compared, mostly differing in the level of public support of sustainable development. Local attempts have been limited and have not been implemented at the scale of international measures. Recently developed policies such as the Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework (1996) and the Bioregional Planning Framework (2000) are more directly focussed on sustainable development than previous policies (e.g. guide plans and structure plans) have been. The Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework proposes the demarcation of urban edges in the Cape Metropolitan Region, while the Bioregional Planning Framework is intent on dividing the Western Cape Province into bioregions. The Bioregional Planning Framework originated the use of special management areas to control development in rural (agricultural and natural) areas. The idea of this study is to measure the feasibility of using special management areas at metropolitan level, in conjunction with both the Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework and the Bioregional Planning Framework, to protect the urban edge. This study concludes by disproving its hypothesis: special management areas have limited applicability as a general urban edge control measure at metropolitan level.