Meet Nonhlanhla Zuma. Nonhlanhla is a traditional medicine trader in Warwick Junction, the busiest transport node and trading hub in Durban, South Africa. Her trading days in Warwick began in 1982 during years of harassment when she would run from the police and watch her goods being removed. Amenities were not provided to traders and she worked on an exposed street pavement where her goods faced constant threat of being damaged or stolen. Now, she has moved her business to a kiosk that is complete with water, lighting and a security facilities to lock her kiosk up at night. Nonhlanhla is one of approximately 8,000 traders who come to Warwick every day to trade informally, offering a range of traditional African herbs and medicine, fresh produce, goods ranging from soap to music to spoons, beadwork, live poultry and traditional cuisine.

A Walk Through Warwick

Walking through Warwick is a kaleidoscope of colours and a symphony for the senses. The myriad of kiosks and markets, and once-derelict-now-vibrant bridges and overpasses offers a glimpse into street traders’ lives and the significant role they play in city life. The creative use of public space to establish an informal trading area accommodating the traders’ needs is apparent all around you as your feet hit the pavement. With 460,000 people and 38,000 vehicles passing through daily, Warwick is at the confluence of Durban’s primary public transportation and trading hub. Let’s take a walk.

Bovine Head Market. Bovine (cow) head meat is a Zulu delicacy. The women in the photo are preparing the meat and dumplings (steamed bread). Traditionally only men were allowed to prepare the meat, but now women are the predominant traders in this market and have ‘take away’ while the men sit at the tables. When I was eating my meat and dumplings (which I found quite tasty) the bovine heads were dropped off at the market – fresh at its finest.

Early Morning Market. A remnant from the past, the ‘Mother Market’ of Warwick is over 100 years old. 670 stalls and more than 2000 traders selling fresh produce, spices, flowers and live poultry make up the largest market in Warwick.

Brook Street Market. A bird’s eye view of this colourful and diverse market shows pinafore traders and others selling traditional Zulu hats, clothes, uniforms and household items underneath a sheltered roof.

Muthi (herb and traditional medicine) Market. With approximately 700 traders Warwick’s muthi market is one of the largest in South Africa. Customers approach the herb traders and traditional healers with their illness or ailment (anything from a stomach-ache to a broken heart) who then diagnose and prescribe their medicine. Herb grinders (pictured here) are hired to grind the herbs for consuming. Once an abandoned overpass, facilities were built for the healers and traders and now the muthi market thrives and is connected by a pedestrian pass to the Music Bridge Market and Early Morning Market.

Clay market

Bead Market. Women come from coastal regions on Friday to sell their beautifully designed handmade bead creations and crafts. An estimated 6 out of 10 street traders in Durban and other South African cities are women. They’re often involved in less profitable trade such as produce, and often have specific accommodations such as child care facilities.

Victoria Street Market. A pink and purple building resembling a Maharaja’s palace http://www.indianmarket.co.za/jhi/, this market holds historic significance. The original traders were Indian indentured labourers who traded along Victoria Street between 1860 and 1910. Many of the market traders here are 3rd or 4th generation descendants of the original Victoria Street traders and now have title rights to their shops.

Urban Renewal

Warwick’s past is steeped in racial discrimination, exclusive policies, and neglect. The area had the reputation as dilapidated and crime-ridden, and due to years of apartheid planning Warwick was segregated racially and divided politically and economically until the early 1990s. Discriminatory legislation and policies, and violent mass evictions made life very difficult for informal street traders. Following the first democratic election in South Africa in 1994, in an effort to transform a poorly designed Warwick into a safer and more inclusive space for street traders’, the Warwick Junction Urban Renewal Project was initiated by the City. For over a decade local officials, street traders and membership-based trader organizations collaborated and negotiated on the Project’s redesign of the area. The Project’s inclusive approach adopted an area-based management and local inter-departmental operating structure, where participation of all stakeholders and consultations occurred on a number of levels. Redesigning infrastructural components of the market area dramatically improved the trading conditions. Following a highly consultative process, priority was placed on increasing pedestrian routes, widening walkways, and easing congestion of primary trading hubs. The trading area was paved, shelter and locked storage facilities increased, trader kiosks with water and electricity were constructed, and new spaces were developed for pinafore and bead traders, and a clay market.

“Unlike typical market halls the movement of people passing is channelled through curved walkways at several levels, offering different views of the busy and ever-changing scene.” – Professor Keith Hart

The infrastructural changes and repurposing of empty space supported the traders’ needs, and created healthier, less congested, and safer public spaces. The participatory processes and innovative operating structure included in the urban renewal of Warwick were central to the Project’s success of revitalising Warwick as a vibrant area of inclusive space for street traders and the informal sector on the hinge of Durban’s inner-city.

Warwick’s revitalisation has led to economic development including community-based tourism opportunities, and continues to contribute to the local economy and provide employment. Informal trade turnover in Warwick Junction is estimated to be R1 billion annually. There are very few examples in South Africa and internationally where street traders have been acknowledged for their contributions to cities or included in urban plans and development projects.

“Warwick Junction has provided exhilarating proof of how poor people, in sensitive collaboration with urban planners, can enliven a city centre, generate employment for themselves and expand services for the population at large.” – Professor Keith Hart

Traders, their organisations and allies continue to collaborate and advocate for inclusive public spaces and street traders’ right to the city. Asiye eTafuleni is a non-profit organisation who works with Durban’s informal workers operating from the city’s public spaces. AeT advocates inclusive urban planning and design, and serves as a learning hub for those interested in integrating the informal economy into urban design. Through consultative and participative processes AeT has led various projects and campaigns within Durban to develop informal workers’ working environments and opportunities, such as the Inner-city Cardboard Recycling Project and Markets of Warwick Tour Project. Asiye eTafuleni means ‘bring it to the table” in isiZulu, and they are living up to their name – engaging with the public and stakeholders to make inclusive space for Durban’s informal traders in an urban environment that recognizes the informal economy’s contribution to city life and public space, as well as the rights of informal workers.

Although Warwick’s street traders still face challenges and the benefits of the informal trading sector are often ignored , the success of the Warwick Junction Project is a testament to how including street traders in urban plans supports sustainable livelihoods, addresses poverty and unemployment challenges, and creates democratic public spaces that are safer, more inclusive and contribute to city vitality and overall urban connectivity.

For more about the informal economy, read Professor Keith Hart’s paper here.

A mural of Nomkhubulwane the Zulu goddess of rain, nature and fertility – a ‘Mother Earth’ figure- watching over the Markets of Warwick.

DESIGN

• The sans serif of Berlin’s underground: a history of Berlin shown through U-Bahn typography. 
• Not your typical tea party, this art installation in New York City blurs the line between private and public life social interactions
• A look into the gentrification of LA’s Skid Row.

MEDIA & THE CITY

photo from Snap it Oga!

• Snap it Oga! Streetscape photos of Lagos – so smooth and vibrant you can almost feel the city hustling!
• From Bloomberg’s New York to booze fuelled cities to what public space looks like on the inside, The Urbanist is Monocle’s weekly look at the people and ideas shaping our urban lives.
• Explore the streets of Stockholm on film.
• A tumblr collage where urban meets über cool.
• Broadcast live from Cape Town, METROPOLIST is a radio show exploring the people and stories shaping the world’s cities from a South African perspective; covering topics from The Future of Townships, What Makes a Liveable City, to Youth Shaping Our Cities, and The Technology Generation.

Photo by Clarence Eckerson, from The City Lab

PLACEMAKING

• A great read on the concepts of “public space” and “place”, and how the placemaking movement and place-led urban development are emerging as a new paradigm for the world’s future cities.

Image from Sit On It Detroit

• In an effort to create more seating at Detroit’s bus stops—where many of the local riders are senior citizens and long waits for the next bus occur frequently— Sit On It Detroit builds benches with reclaimed wood from abandoned houses and businesses within the city, and equips the seats with a built-in book shelf, creating a network of public libraries around Detroit. How great would it be to grab a seat and a book while waiting for the long overdue 99? If you’re interested in more urban-regeneration initiatives in Detroit, here’s a nice short read on community views of place-led regeneration in Downtown Detroit over the last few years. Put your hands up for Detroit.

ENGAGED CITIES

• Seattle’s Chinatown International District is a historic area where you cannot only enjoy Dim Sum and marvel at early twentieth century brick buildings, but also empty your pockets-of-change at the Seattle Pinball Museum. The district also faces a resilience challenge of preserving the heritage character and cultural identity within Seattle’s urban fabric, while updating infrastructure and implementing new policies and housing standards to protect the buildings that may not stay standing when the next big ‘quake hits. The Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority (SCIDpda) carried out a community engagement mandate to work with residents and property owners in the historic area.
• Smelling your way through the city – here are 5 tips for smellwalking. Go ahead, smell your city!

DESIGN

• On making room for the invisible micro-urban spaces in ecological urban design, and how the benefits of the small-scale urban can help create more liveable cities.
• Given the transit referendum on March 16^th and ongoing scepticism of new major cycleways in Vancouver, here’s an interesting look into the economics behind the planning for increasing bicycle infrastructure in Christchurch, New Zealand.
• Are ‘defensive architecture and design’ tactics in urban environments creating pervasive, unwelcoming public spaces that make the lives of city dwellers more hostile and ignorant? The article praises RainCity Housing’s shelter-bench initiative as a ‘ray of hope’ for creating more inclusive and equitable cities.

HERITAGE

• A photographic journey into Phnom Penh’s rapid urban development and the effect on the city’s landscape and society.
• The streetscapes of Shanghai’s old neighbourhoods give a glimpse into a Japanese war-time legacy remnant from the past.

PLACEMAKING

• The Guardian asked their network of ‘city bloggers’ from around the world what they would change if they were ‘mayor for a day’ in their city. The answer? More inclusive public space.
• Up, up and away! Submitted to the 2015 Folly Competition by Australian architect Jesse Lockhart-Krause, the playful Balloon Swing may send you soaring as you sit on a swing attached to a colourful hot-air balloon. Recommendations for best Balloon Swing location in Vancouver?
• 7, 500 miles (or 12,070 km) of LA’s underused city streets will transition into active, vibrant and accessible public space with the recently launched program, People St., designed to support community projects that enhance the quality of life in the city.
• A look into the public life of Cairo through 1001 street chairs.
• Birmingham Policy Commission’s recommendations for enhancing quality of life in future cities, which includes ‘a call for processes that engage citizens and create systems and policies for local empowerment.’

PLACEMAKING

• Finding a seat in Ireland’s public spaces­­—a photo story.
• Reflections on how Jan Gehl’s people-oriented approach to urban connectivity and design transformed Melbourne’s city centre – which historically lacked the vibrant public life evident today.

ART

• Lest we forget. The Tower of London Remembers the First World War with 888,246 ceramic poppies filling the Tower’s moat.
• Échale Coloris a community engagement program promoting community development and integration, using art in the public sphere as the medium. A project of Venezuelan NGO’s Somos Posible, Échale Color’s public art installations transform public spaces in the barrios of Caracas.

NATURE

• A glimpse into an almost century-long process of incorporating green space and green infrastructure into Los Angeles’ urban fabric.
• What is the interconnected role of art and the green (and blue) spaces that create the nature of cities? This roundtable forum discusses the nexus of art and urban nature.

DESIGN

• 900 vendors gather under the solar-panelled roof of Haiti’s Port-au-Prince Iron Market after its regeneration from the devastating destruction caused by the 2010 earthquake. The collective process of rebuilding the 123 year old market not only restores the marketplace as a centre of community, but is also an example of how markets can be a tool for disaster recovery.
• The world’s first solar-powered bike lane. If you haven’t heard, yes it’s true, it’s called SolaRoad, is in the Netherlands, and you can read about it right here.
• From swimming pools in the Thames, to urban swings in Mexico City, and support for informal waste pickers in Bogota, the 2014 Guardian World Cities Day Challenge gave cities their chance to tell the world their city’s best idea, and why other cities should adopt it.

ART

• Les Passages Insolites is an urban public space art festival that brings a vibrant kaleidoscope of contemporary art installations to Quebec City’s forgotten passages, making the invisible, visible.

DESIGN

• Forget the urban highway and restore walking as a way of life. Project for Public Spaces paves the road towards creating liveable streets for everyone by challenging the high-speed, auto-centric landscape of many urban centres.
• While street trading and vendors play a vital role in the informal economy of a city, and also add to the vitality and public experiences of cities, street traders are often left out of the urban design equation. Including informal vending in a city’s streetscape, especially where street vending is growing such as in Bangkok, also brings forth this question discussed on Informal City Dialogues—How Can We Reconcile Street Vending With Pedestrian-Friendly Sidewalks?
• As a commuter in Nigeria’s megacity Lagos you’ll spend over three hours in traffic on your daily grind. While mobility remains a challenge for the city’s commuters, Lagos is pursuing mass transit options, such as installing Africa’s first bus rapid transit. Find out more on what the future of sustainable transport looks like in Lagos.

PLACEMAKING

• How do you ask the people of Shoreditch, East London for their thoughts on how they imagine green spaces in their community? Drop four large cubes in public parks.
• NL Architects have restructured shipping containers into interactive public kiosks that aim to facilitate interaction in Seoul’s Dongdaemun Plaza.
• Using Caracas, London and Cape Town as examples, This Big City article focuses on the in-between spaces of our cities, and how these under-utilized parts of the urban landscape can benefit the community.

ART

• Copenhagen. Helsinki. Tokyo. Montreal. Melbourne. Since the first Nuit Blanche all-night art festival in Paris in 2002 cities around the world have taken part in this creatively expressive event. Last week’s Nuit Blanche in Toronto transformed the city into an open art gallery.
• Bringing meaning to place, Wolfstrome connects people to community through communication and cultural placemaking. Wolfstrome’s Lightwriting in Durham, England is a recently-awarded installation that expresses a place-specific narrative through typography and information design using public art as the medium.

PLACEMAKING

• If you found yourself in La Paz on the first Sunday of September this year you would have noticed something missing on the streets – and not just on one or two main avenues – you wouldn’t have seen a single car on the road between 9am and 6pm in this South American city that touches the clouds. Turning streets into soccer pitches, the fourth annual Day of the Pedestrian and Cyclist reclaimed the public streets of La Paz and neighbouring El Alto for pedestrians and cyclists. See it in photos and words here.
• São Paulo-based non–profit Bela Rua creates projects to transform ordinary public spaces in Brazil’s metropolis’ into colourful places that inspire good moods and community.
• Every first Sunday of the month in Amsterdam, urban citizens ‘adopt’ benches to craft a shared public space offering anything from a slice of pie to salsa lessons; creating what the organizers BankjesCollectief call “the largest outdoor café in the world.”
• Have you ever waited at a bus stop for what seems eternity and often devoid of conversation, imagining how much better waiting for the bus could be? Project for Public Spaces had, and transformed Pittsburgh’s bus stops into vibrant public spaces through placemaking and community engagement collaborations.

NATURE IN THE CITY

• From Mr. Rogers to Jane Jacobs, neighbourhoods are often the living room of a city. Read about why neighbourhoods matter for city-building and creating resilient and liveable cities, and where we are going wrong here.
• Working towards 20% more urban green space in Australia by 2020, the 202020 Vision campaign advocates the need to include more trees and plants in city design and the Australian urban landscape.

DESIGN

• (Re)designing a city for the people, Future Christchurch released a documentary series telling the people’s story of how the post-quakes-ravished-city on New Zealand’s South Island is revitalizing itself as a city rebuilt by the people, for the people.

• From Talking Streets, to Corkabitation and Mobile Benches, Cape Town is bringing projects to the city and surrounding areas that highlight design as a transformative means to social, cultural and economic development as the 2014 World Design Capital. One project featured hopes for a more equitable, and shared public street design to bridge the social and spatial divides of the city. Open Streets is a citizen-driven organisation dedicated to fostering discussion and (re)education on re-designing and re-working Cape Town’s streets.

• Earlier this month, Buenos Aires hosted the Future of Places conference where public space experts, practitioners, placemakers and urbanists discussed the importance of the public realm in city planning. This year’s theme: Streets as public spaces and drivers of urban prosperity. The key messages developed will contribute to shaping UN Habitat’s mandate for public spaces in cities around the world.

ART

• Neon Nomads. Bodies in Urban Spaces. The Walking Neighbourhood. Sydney, Australia becomes a living canvas this week as Art & About Sydney brings art to every nook and cranny – and an armchair— in the city.

• In a city where the walls narrate pieces of history through the portraits of Che, Fidel or Raul, French artist JR collaborated with Cuban-American artists José Parlá photographed the wrinkles of the city to tell a different story of Havana. Wrinkles in the City is a public-art series that crosses culture, histories and continents; a short documentary illustrating the process in Havana is the most recent edition made available online for public viewing.

PLACE AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE

• Lagos Wide & Close is an interactive documentary film that takes you on a journey into the streetscapes and soundscapes of the megacity that is Lagos, Nigeria.

• Bridging economic development and the contemporary challenges of maintaining organic urban public space, URBIA: cities I communities l people explores the emerging and disappearing human scale of Asian cities.

• Placemaking in Kibera, Kenya is leading the way in creating safe and accessible spaces for the community to gather by taking a participatory approach to building recreational and citizen-focused spaces in one of Nairobi’s informal settlements.

PLACEMAKING in Your ‘Hood

Check out Vancouver’s ‘place happenings’, and subscribe to the VPSN blog for more good reads.