Tenth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

We explore social impacts on human experience in the built environment of Hillbrow, Johannesburg. The meaning of the physical environment springs from the people who live within it. The buildings remain the same in Hillbrow’s one-square mile of high-rise residential buildings. Yet the residents and their experiences of life in Hillbrow have shifted radically. Hillbrow is one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the Southern Hemisphere. From the 1890s, Hillbrow attracted waves of immigrants. Until the 1980s, however, most of them were white Europeans, enjoying multiple privileges provided whites by apartheid. They accessed the benefits of a vertical city – including celebrated restaurants, pricey shops, and many entertainment options. Since 1990, tens of thousands of Africans have arrived in Johannesburg with far fewer resources. They inhabit the same built environment as their earlier white counterparts. Yet in order to afford apartments in Hillbrow’s high rises, at times without the use of elevators, electricity, and functional plumbing, multiple families must crowd into spaces once reserved for small families. To understand how recent arrival make their homes and lives in what is now a severely overcrowded and dilapidated environment, we have interviewed more than 80 people who live in Hillbrow. Most are from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, and the Republic of Congo. In spite of extreme poverty, the environment continues to offer opportunities like proximity to jobs and transportation, but also exposes residents to many dangers – including unhygienic buildings and one of the highest rates of crime in the world.

Presenters

Jean Halley
Professor of Sociology, Sociology and Anthropology, College of Staten Island and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, United States

Ron Nerio