A Grammar for Transformative Urbanism

Abstract

The problems that engulf Southern cities are huge. There is a tendency towards solutions based on models encountered elsewhere emerging as deeper problems when only the symptoms are treated. Therefore, in this concluding chapter, we propose a model that transforms urban development as a process from within. Our arguments are on two levels. On the first level, we propose a grammarian alternative—primarily since it has the potential to challenge the rational models that are overemphasized in urban-planning practice. We also consider that such a grammarian approach could suit the search for a non-deductive model of multiple centres. On the second level, we propose a communication model whereby this grammarian alternative could be operationalized. We show that an autopoietic reproduction of urban space takes place through interaction between social order and natural order. Space for intervention, towards transformative urbanism, can be found in this communication process. There is a need to direct this autopoietic process by picking up on the codes from societal norms. In Southern urbanism, these codes are the experiences of suffering, violence, in-betweenness, social identity, harmony, and context-specific sociocultural practices. Transformative urbanism depends on the ways in which these codes are leveraged by collectives of citizens in the urban-planning process.