Abstract
M.Tech. (Architecture)
This study explores the concepts of sustainability within the context of South African
secondary cities. Mthatha is a secondary city located in the Eastern Cape Province.
Its location and relevance qualify Mthatha as a regional urban centre for the
surrounding smaller towns and rural enclaves within a 50-km radius from Mthatha.
Mthatha is seen as a regional urban centre by the National Government of South
Africa. The National Government, in 2009, launched the Presidential Intervention
Project and identified the King Dalindyebo Municipality (KSDM), whose seat of local
government is Mthatha, as a key regional urban area that needed the developmental
interventions. This intervention was extended for the KSDM from the original R5bn to
R10 billion by President Jacob Zuma, as the National Government sought to bolster
infrastructure in Mthatha, which it identified as a key regional urban centre
(Ntshobane: 2017).
The objective of the study is to investigate concepts of sustainability as enabling
factors of development in secondary cities, using Mthatha as the case study. This
study argues that the concept of sustainability, which can be traced back to the
World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), held in 1987
(Drexhage & Murphy: 2010), has been applied to and focuses mainly on the
development of megacities. This study further argues for the application of
sustainability principles to smaller, but growing, secondary cities, using Mthatha as a
case study. Secondary cities, like Mthatha, face problems arising from urban
development. Sustainability, urban studies, rural-urban migration, and informality
theories are evaluated to determine their effect on sustainable spatial and
infrastructural development. A mixed-method approach is used as a methodology for
this study. The approach is grounded in qualitative methodology, and also uses
quantitative data generated from the participants and case study. Direct
observations, interviews, and survey questionnaires inform the research. Guidelines
are formulated by triangulating the data collected in response to the identified issues.
The main conclusionsof the study are that secondary cities are important urban
centres in which the majority of the world’s urban population will continue to reside.
The study finds that there is a lack of research in sustainability research in
secondary cities. Moreover, the study reveals that the current classification of...