Urban Planning amidst Ethnic Conflict: Jerusalem and Johannesburg

Abstract

This article investigates the role and influence of urban planning in ameliorating or intensifying deep ethnic conflict. It is based on more than 75 interviews with urban planners and officials in Jerusalem and Johannesburg. Partisan Israeli planners utilise territorial policies that penetrate and diminish Palestinian land control. Post-apartheid urban policy in Johannesburg has pursued both conflict resolution and socioeconomic equity and is seeking to restructure apartheid geography. Both policy strategies are problematic. It is likely that partisan Israeli planning is creating an urban landscape of heightened political contestability and increased Jewish vulnerability. Johannesburg's equity planning is likely to be insufficient as economic forces shape new spatial inequalities. Urban planning must be reconceptualised in polarised cities so that it can contribute meaningfully to the advancement of ethnic peace.

Revitalizacija parkov in odprtih prostorov v središču Johannesburga

“…V poslovnih središčih mest v državi je ta vpliv dokaj jasen, saj so bili ti predeli med apartheidom namenjeni izključno belcem. Ker so imeli nebelci do teh območij omejen dostop, so bili omejeni na mestno obrobje (Bollens, 1998). Zaradi bega belskih podjetij in prebivalcev v Randburg, Sandton in Midrand nekoliko severneje od Johannesburga v 70. in 80. letih 20. stoletja je začelo središče Johannesburga propadati in se močno spreminjati.…”

“…Potrebe in zahteve družbeno in kulturno raznolikih skupin bi bilo treba upošteva-ti v urbanističnih programih za parke in odprte prostore, ki bi tako ustrezno izpolnjevali svoj namen v modernem urbanem okolju (Bollens, 1998;Chiesura, 2004, in Goličnik, 2008. Dostop do parkov in odprtih prostorov je osnovna človekova pravica, in ob upoštevanju trenutnih poskusov spodbujanja prenove v Johannesburgu bi bilo treba tem »zelenim pljučem« nameniti zadostno pozornost, saj lahko prispevajo k prenovi in oživitvi mesta.…”

Segregation, mobility and encounters in Jerusalem: The role of public transport infrastructure in connecting the ‘divided city’

“…This is also manifested in the recent call to pay more attention to the intersectionality of multiple identities within urban segregation research (Valentine 2007). communities (Bollens 1998, Healy 2007, Brand 2009). Several contributions focus on the way geopolitical or ethno-national rivalries can lead to a rupture in the unity of urban systems (Kliot & Mansfeld 1999, Bollens 2000, Hepburn 2004, Calame & Charlesworth 2009, Anderson 2010.…”

The revitalisation of parks and open spaces in downtown Johannesburg

“…This is generally clear in the case of central business districts in South Africa, which were zoned as white-only areas in the apartheid era. Because there was limited access to these areas by non-whites, they were confined to peripheral areas (Bollens, 1998). In the case of Johannesburg's inner city, decline followed as a result of the flight of white businesses and residential populations to Randburg, Sandton and Midrand, further north, in the 1970s and 1980s.…”

“…It should generally be acknowledged that the needs and demands of socially and culturally diverse groups should be accounted for in urban planning programmes specifically for parks and open spaces in order to adequately fulfil their purpose in the modern urban arena (Bollens, 1998;Chiesura, 2004;Goličnik, 2008). Access to parks and open spaces is a basic human right and, in light of the current and ongoing attempts to foster regeneration in Johannesburg, sufficient attention should be given to these This study investigates one aspect of attempts at rejuvenation taking place in the city; namely, the redevelopment of parks in inner-city Johannesburg as part of the city's regeneration.…”