City regeneration from the inside: Urban compounding in Johannesburg

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines ongoing urban redevelopment of a near-inner-city neighborhood in Johannesburg through transformations of the South African Victorian bungalow, from freestanding residences into complex courtyard typologies—i.e., bungalow compounds . These changes, reflecting predominantly new lower-income residents’ social and cultural values as well as economic opportunities, are part of wider city-making processes, here termed urban compounding . After apartheid's abolition in the early 1990s, the suburb Yeoville has been mostly re-populated and intensely densified through non-formal processes. Official policy promotes urban regeneration “top-down,” expecting re-development through 3–4 floor walk-ups as (formal) private sector initiative, whereas desired densities and socio-economic objectives are being met through emergent compounding processes. Methodologically, the study documents knowledges embedded in lived realities through in-depth micro-scale case studies. It regards the dynamic emergence of new urban forms as an opportunity to read what is as the basis for alternative imaginaries of what could be at macro urban scales.