Page 91 - Research & Innovation Report 2020

ENGINEERING, THE BUILT
ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY

Social distancing and the

everyday life of the urban poor

The Chair for Sustainable Human Settlements includes researching and assessing the impact
of the coronavirus pandemic on low-income settlements and how to improve spatial planning
for the future.

Flattening the COVID-19 Curve: The socio-economic and cultural “In Walmer E, we asked key informants to point out and discuss
challenges of COVID-19 social distancing on everyday life of the areas of concern, such as where methane gas seeps through
urban poor in South Africa, is the title of research conducted by from the ground, which is an issue in this township. The data
Professor Paul Makasa from the Department of Architecture, we collected during these transect walks was used as baseline
Dr Ayo Adeniran from the Department of Buildings and Human information for the observational study on Walmer E, which we
Settlements and Professor Sijekula Mbanga. supplemented with informal surveys, literature searches in daily
tabloids and other electronic and print media.”
Prof Makasa explains: “Given that a significant part of this study
was conducted in December 2020 and January 2021 under The Walmer E ground-up empirical data was required to inform
COVID-19 protocols, there could be no meeting with groups, so the Department of Human Settlements’ plans to upgrade three
we changed our study approach to structured direct observation selected townships; Walmer E, Vistrus and Chris Hani in Gqeberha
by doing drive-throughs in Walmer E Township and then parking (formerly Port Elizabeth), Eastern Cape. The upgrade was put
the car at the market and observing from there.” on hold because of the pandemic, but the process was geared
towards decongesting, greening and therefore subtly social-
From the car, for two hour stretches at a time, they observed how distancing housing units by strictly enforcing adherence to legal
people related to and interacted with each other. “The drive- building lines, which does not happen currently.
through and market observation followed up the transect walks we
had conducted in March 2019, before the pandemic,” Prof Makasa The researchers gathered, analysed, and reported relevant information
explains. “During the pre-COVID visit, all evaluators walked with for decision-makers to evaluate the socio-economic and cultural
a group of community leaders through the Walmer E and Vistrus challenges of COVID-19 social distancing on the everyday lives of the
settlements; it was important for us to derive visual and locational urban poor. Everyday life involves the daily or routine aspects of how
information. It also helped us create a deeper understanding of individuals behave, act, think and feel. For most of the urban poor this
the environment. behaviour is dictated by their desire to survive to the next day.

“The researchers gathered, analysed, and
reported relevant information for decision-makers

to evaluate the socio-economic and cultural

challenges of COVID-19 social distancing ... “

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