how land should be dealt with , the Expropriation of Land without Compensation and possible Nationalisation .
The EFF has its grip on “ people ’ s power to grab land ”, the prospect of escalating civil disturbances and a potential police and military intervention in land matters become more likely . There are signs of radical civil unrest : social media and grassroots campaigns have highlighted South Africans ’ dissatisfaction with the government over the issue of land and services .
Southern Farms Concept Sketch
election issue , he stated : “ Without the redistribution of land , we will not build a united South Africa . Without giving the poor the means to productively farm the land , we will not defeat poverty ”. He has made land reform one of his primary objectives after taking office on 15 February 2018 . The ANC has been the primary agent to maintain order and civil stability under the current constitution that protects private ownership and Expropriation of Land without Compensation .
Slow land reform , high crime , corruption , political jostling and infighting have broken out in his ANC party ahead of the national elections planned for 2019 . A familiar pattern of the ANC “ buying ” votes with the promise of swift land reform and services to the majority of South Africans has started again , this time under persistent pressure from the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters ( EFF ). Of greater concern , the EFF and the ANC is now united on
Solutions towards an Agrarian Urban Revolution What could be done from a planning and urban design perspective ? It is not only about accessibility to land but also about how communities ideally want to live and what they should look like .
There are related models to the New Urbanist approach , such as Agricultural Retention , where many techniques are employed to safeguard existing agriculture farmland . Urban Agriculture is an alternative , where citizens take up the project to cultivate unused land or even their rooftops or balconies for agricultural purposes . There is also Agricultural Urbanism , where there are working farms in settlements , but the community is not actively involved in running the farms . Lastly there is Agrarian Urbanism , where the entire society is involved in the food process from organising to growing , distributing and eating .
In the case of Southern Farms , just south of Johannesburg , a few of these approaches were employed under the principles of New Urbanism . The development was awarded a CNU ( Charter for New Urbanism ) award for excellence in 2016 . The urban design model is based on transect zones that are dedicated to levels of urbanity where the core has the highest population density and as one moves towards the periphery , the density decreases . The idea is that all levels are equally important , but each transect zone has its own set of rules and regulations to work within . The site is located on a piece of land that holds the potential to integrate the previously segregated Soweto into the rest of the Johannesburg metropolis , thus adding a politically driven layer to the decision-making process .
This development has the potential to be a prime example of how urban design can establish not only places for people with identifiable neighbourhoods and increased economic opportunity but also illustrate how natural , man-made and political challenges can turn into opportunities and enrich the resulting neighbourhoods with a multitude of layers and complexities .
Conclusion Access to land is a complicated , emotional and contentious issue . First , we should look at what the community and city needs and what resources would enable them to achieve these needs . Agrarian urbanism is a possible solution to bridge the gap between the freedom charter and the urban land issue .
To have a charter with principles that aim to achieve a city that is designed for its people is the best we can do towards achieving the goal of urbanising society , but without policies changing and adapting to the current political and economic climate , it is not an achievable goal . Land ownership in the city should be in individual hands and not in the city ’ s hands . Development is incremental . People should value and understand the resource of land , water , the earth and creating an urban society . Agrarian Urbanism is an advantage of the city itself . Finally , there should be a debate away from only land reform towards Urban Agrarian revolution in Africa .
16 Architecture of Community