Sustainable housing development : a City of Cape Town project evaluation

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The thesis reports on an evaluative study of the sustainability of housing development by the City of Cape Town with the Witsand, Atlantis, housing project as case study to empirically measure such sustainability. The study was attempted to determine how the City of Cape Town has planned for and implemented sustainability measures and what the results were in the Witsand project. The research therefore determined to what extent the expressed policy intent of sustainability housing delivery was implemented successfully in Witsand in terms of output and outcomes.The objectives of this study included outlining a theoretical and analytical framework for sustainable development as prescribed in the National, Provincial and Local Government policies and relevant legislation. An evaluative case study is provided, describing how the City of Cape Town implemented its policy in practice. This housing project was chosen because it is claimed to be the first large-scale integrated sustainable housing project in South Africa.The research methodology entailed an analysis of relevant literature, policies, legislation and project design documentation. In addition, the field work utilised a semi-structured mixed questionnaire for conducting interviews with the Project Manager, community development worker and a sample of residents.The research found that the City of Cape has followed the sustainability blueprint as far as their means allowed. The satisfaction level of the community is high. It was found, however, that the people, even though they received houses that were designed and constructed to take full advantage of the environment without harming it; lack the knowledge to maintain sustainable, energy conserving living. This indicates that sustainability in low income housing is not only a matter of design and technology, but also of instilling a particular behaviour amongst beneficiaries.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University