My visit to Wits on Tuesday was preceded by the usual laptop lurking in coffee shops justified by the need to buy Fair Trade coffee beans from Bean There at 44 Stanley and meet a friend at Melrose Arch for lunch.
44 Stanley is located on 'Braamfontein Werf', a redevelopment that is small enough in scale to feel intimate, close enough to the city to feel urban. It works, despite the chaotic parking arrangements (or lack thereof), the seemingly neverending construction work and the messiness of its edges.
In order to reach the 'new urbanist' Melrose Arch I found myself on that notorious
M1 again. Access is controlled and job creation is to a large extent enabled through security employment. My friend Jane's mosaics look beautiful in the 'square', whilst the 'High Street' bears little resemblance to the active corridors it seeks to emanate. Despite the conscious attempts to protect and enclose I find myself on edge (more than I would in a township for example). The CCTV cameras on the empty squares seem to follow my movements and as I take photos I find that I am watched by at least 2 casually clad security personnel. The shops are empty and the public spaces feel sad and lonely. I can't help but think that in order to experience the urban one is required to experience the less predictable and more volatile aspects of city life...
In order to reach the 'new urbanist' Melrose Arch I found myself on that notorious
M1 again. Access is controlled and job creation is to a large extent enabled through security employment. My friend Jane's mosaics look beautiful in the 'square', whilst the 'High Street' bears little resemblance to the active corridors it seeks to emanate. Despite the conscious attempts to protect and enclose I find myself on edge (more than I would in a township for example). The CCTV cameras on the empty squares seem to follow my movements and as I take photos I find that I am watched by at least 2 casually clad security personnel. The shops are empty and the public spaces feel sad and lonely. I can't help but think that in order to experience the urban one is required to experience the less predictable and more volatile aspects of city life...
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ReplyDeleteI'm afraid that in South Africa, the 'public space' is a product that is now in the hands of the private property developer. And what this means is that those unpredictable elements of everyday urban life are eliminated through ubiquitous surveilance and other means, such as economic barriers to entry.
ReplyDeleteIt's a matter of economics, the supplier has seen a demand for 'safe' public spaces (from the middle class) and has duly supplied it. Unfortunately, I see no change in the way public spaces will be perceived in the near future, because the vision that a public space should be controlled has become entrenched in the minds of many South Africans.