Inez Adams
The Jessie McGavin Prize
for the best student in any year of study in the course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Planning
The Moses Nzama Khaizen Mtileni Memorial Prize
awarded for the Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Planning student who obtains the highest mark in the Histories, Theories and Futures of Planning course
Developing Expressions of Black Belonging and Identity Within Neighbourhood Streets
I am a third year Urban and Regional Planning student with a passion for writing, research, theoretical studies, politics and design. My fascination with the built environment and the use of space, dates from my early childhood years where I was exposed to vastly different environments, while at the same time becoming aware of the complex dynamics a single space can hold. I grew up in the leafy neighbourhood of Saxonwold, but visited members of my family: my maternal grandmother in the Indian neighbourhood of Mayfair; and my paternal grandparents in the largely Cape Malay and coloured neighbourhood of Bosmont. This was a personal yet limited understanding of Apartheid’s legacy. I have also come to experience the current socioeconomic conditions shaping our city spaces. All this has motivated me to pursue a career in the planning field. I would like to participate in the planning of an improved environment: to see change in the urban fabric of our communities where injustice remains prevalent.
In the South African context, the creation of spaces that allow for the dignity of inhabitants becomes a matter of spatial justice and historical redress of racial discrimination. I worked with a classmate, Asive Nohashe, on a comparative study looking at the spaces of our childhood neighbourhoods: she grew up in Quigney, East London
We investigated the influence of the street typology on the ways in which black individuals express belonging and share in a sense of identity, within such neighbourhood streets and spaces. Quigney was the chosen site for our design intervention, and it allowed us to reimagine the poorly maintained and rigidly gridiron neighbourhood, which is occupied by a black community of largely Xhosa descent
The proposed urban design framework and precinct plan are intended to encourage diversity and the burgeoning of a vibrant community life, as well as to promote a sense of spatial dignity through greater community participation and investment.
2020 Prizewinning Projects Exhibition
© 2021 School of Architecture & Planning, University of the Witwatersrand
