Abstract
M.Tech. (Architectural Technology).
The design of a transport interchange, as a catalyst for an integrated
environment, economically viable, that allows people opportunities
for self-realisation through a cohesive landscape of management, production and reproduction. The proposed investigation originates from the observation that public transport in Soweto is characterized by non-integrated routes amongst existing public transport role players amounting to increased travelling costs for commuters in transit. This is because of a lack of information
Exchange amongst existing role players, inadequate employment opportunity and urban vitality within the township milieu.
This dissertation will conceptualise a transport interchange as catalyst for an integrated environment, economically viable, to allow people opportunities for self-realisation through a cohesive landscape of management, production and reproduction (see Figure 1.39 pg 60). The
project seeks to reverse conventional notions which associate transport buildings with crime, race and class differentiation.
The aim of the study is to improve the efficiency of public transport infrastructure in the developing township of Jabulani, Soweto through the design of a transport interchange that contributes to the urban vitality of the Jabulani node. The study will investigate alternative means to
further integrate transportation interchanges into communities by:
(i) critically evaluating the traditional role of transport interchanges in the city as pragmatic spaces where people connect from one mode of public transport to another, and
(ii) rethinking how transport interchanges can be used as a space for the exchange of ideas ultimately re-branding transport interchanges as social platforms that promote the exchange of information between people in transit.