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Research 

NUST_Research Day 2018
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According to Reid Ewing et al (2002) for Smart Growth America, sprawling cities are characterized by “a population that is widely dispersed in low-density development; rigidly separated homes, shops, and workplaces; and a lack of downtowns and town centers”. Segregationist land policies in Namibian cities have remained largely unchallenged since independence, further creating spatially disjointed urban environments with unequal access to amenities. Town centers are important social condensers, allowing for inclusive socio-economic interaction. Rigid single-use zoning and outdated planning schemes result in decentralization and dispersion. Densification and mixed-use development are the key to sustainable urban environments and livable public spaces and constitute the focus of this research.

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This proposed area of research ties in with the impending Memorandum of Understanding between NUST and the City of Windhoek (CoW), focus area Spatial Development Framework; Urban, Transport, Environmental and Human Settlement Development. This research will also aim to contribute to the current revisions of the CoW’s Town Planning Scheme as well as an update to the 1996 Structure Plan.

Nam Tong New Town
Hong Kong

www.namtong.org

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Nam Tong is a conceptual new town of 350,000 residents at the eastern edge of Hong Kong’s urban core. Based on the principles that define Hong Kong’s sustainability, Nam Tong is envisaged as a vibrant, mixed-use community – with a balance of homes and employment – and as an exemplar of people-oriented urban design.

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Manifesto for Hong Kong
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10 Propositions for a better Hong Kong - an urban design manifesto presented to Sir Terry in 2017. 

Work undertaken on a non-commissioned basis, eventually presented at conferences and talks in Hong Kong. 

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Proposition 4, Nam Tong New Town, is explained in more detail above. 

MArch 2009​
University of Cape Town

A new typology of space

Re-imagining the civic building
In South Africa economically driven new space production to rational standards and guidelines has resulted in public space becoming a
commodity. A privatised public realm that is exclusionary and restrictive is ubiquitous - shopping malls and gated communities characterise our cities. The anticipated changes in public space production and construction of the urban realm post-apartheid have not occurred. Civic building is no longer a priority, itself governed by economics rather than by a desire to create useable public space.
Civic building as a typology is no longer a structuring or important element in South African cities with many of the administrative civic functions housed in generic office buildings that could accommodate any private
administrative company - the introverted tower block. The focus of this investigation is on a re-imagining of the civic administrative building type
as one that has an inherent responsibility towards its citizens and its urban environment in creating a new building typology which functions both at an
urban scale, an architectural scale and a human scale.

 

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