Co-producing Regenerative Public Space Through Transdiciplinary Practices: Four Cases From the City of Tshwane

Abstract

Planning and development in South Africa are often characterised by top-down approaches and centralised or even autocratic decision-making at local municipal level. In spite of many calling for more collaborative approaches to facilitate urban transformation and sustainable settlements, this has often been limited to lip services only. As a result, communities are regularly excluded from the development process, reducing the potential for greater sustainability. The concept of sustainability has evolved over the past few decades to regenerative sustainability, which highlights the role of co-production in sustainable urban transformation. This presentation focuses on the value of public space in cities and their potential to transform the socio-ecological system to allow both humans and nature to heal and thrive. The discussion spotlights a trans-disciplinary approach to facilitate the co-production of regenerative public space and develop a digital platform to assist with its implementation in practice. The presentation draws on data from an NRF project that concentrates on four public spaces in various settlement types in the City of Tshwane. The findings highlight how academics, practitioners and communities work together to co-conceptualize, co-create and establish the foundation for co-care of regenerative public spaces. The paper argue that dealing with socio-ecological systems across scales in different contexts necessitates a trans-disciplinary approach to not only address SDG 11, but to ignite a transformative process in practice that will continue to evolve over time. Transformation in this sense is applicable to both the spatial environment and all the people involved in the process.