119 We weren’t surprised. Our interviews with road
users had revealed a narrative where NMT was fre-quently a mode of choice, despite the challenges.
sharing news with neighbours. And everyone noted that it’s cheaper to travel using your own steam.10
Endnotes
1 An outcome of the White Paper on National Transport Policy (1996).
2 Draft National Non-Motorised Transport Policy (2009)
3 We are aware of the debate regarding the car-centric term NMT (rather than ‘active mobility’). However, within the context of mobility in African cities, we prefer the term NMT, despite its inad-equacies, as we recognise the key difference between NMT users in developing and developed cities. Cycling is already problem-atically seen as a sport (i.e. active) and not a legitimate transport mode. Further, cycling is proposed as a key way to reduce the amount of activity among the transport disadvantaged, in a shift from walking (sometimes 20km per trip) to cycling.
4 See further, Jennings G, Petzer B & Goldman E (2017) When bicycle lanes are not enough: Growing mode share in Cape Town – an analysis of policy and practice. In: WV Mitullah,
MJWA Vanderschuren & M Khayesi (eds) NMT Integration into Urban Transport Planning in Africa. Abingdon Oxon &
New York NY: Routledge
5 In 2011.
6 Now known as Yarona, from ‘Ke ya rona’, meaning, ‘it is ours’ in Setswana.
7 That is, what we can do with the leftover space.
8 The NMT guidelines, for example, are aligned to the Road Traffic Act of 1996, the National Land Transport Act of 2009, the Moving South Africa Action Agenda (2020), the Road Infrastructure Strategic Framework of 2006, among others. The 2014 revision – Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) Facility Guidelines – is also
linked to other planning tools and standards such as the South African and SADC Road Traffic Signs Manual, the South African Road Safety Manual, and a number of other documents.
9 Jennings G (2016) Freedom of movement/freedom of choice:
An enquiry into utility cycling and social justice in post-apartheid Cape Town, 1994–2015. In: A Golub, ML Hoffmann, AE Lugo &
GF Sandoval (eds) Bicycle Justice and Urban Transformation: Biking for all. New York NY: Routledge
10 With thanks to my colleague Christo Steyn for this term.
121
Introduction
Johannesburg has a history of spatial and racial segregation. For decades, public space in the city was strictly regulated and controlled by the state.
State-sanctioned entertainment and leisure spaces were spatially confined and available to whites only.
However, amidst the inequality, disparity and frag-mented spaces from the apartheid era, new public spaces have emerged (Bremner 2006). The geography of social interaction and entertainment and leisure spaces in the city is changing. Today, some high streets that are situated within Johannesburg’s sub-urbs have become popular entertainment and leisure spaces. These streets are a representation of social interaction and are sites where consumer culture is expressed in a suburban setting.
The high streets in 7th Street, Melville, and 4th Avenue, Parkhurst, are explored in this chapter.
Melville is situated west of Johannesburg’s cen-tral business district (CBD) between Barry Hertzog Avenue and Main Road, between the M5 and M16. It was established in 1896 as a white working-class suburb. Today this area has many amenities and is subject to strong pressures for commercial, office and mixed-use development (Joburg 2006). Melville is regarded as well established and trendy (Dirsuweit 2009) and symbolises the changing city, with its original working-class history, gentrification and transformation into a cultural hub (Pre Brixton Community 2013).
This area is easily accessible via public trans-port as it lies on the bus rapid transit (BRT) and Metrobus routes as well as on a major minibus taxi route. A Metrobus stop is situated on 7th Street and, approximately 800m away, one can find a ‘Rea Vaya’ BRT stop (Figure 1). There are established commercial precincts such as the South African
Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and Media24’s offices. In addition, the area offers natural attractions.
Melville Koppies is a nature reserve and heritage site, with important botanical and geographical features.
Melville is also situated close to the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens at Emmarentia Dam. The suburb is within close proximity to both the University of Johannesburg (UJ) as well as the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). It houses Campus Square, a shopping centre catering to the students and resi-dents in the surrounding area, with all the essential daily goods local residents could need.
There are two prominent streets in Melville.
Main Road is situated just off Kingsway Avenue and is one of the busier commercial nodes in the area. It has a medical practice, some entertainment and leisure venues as well as more reputable shopping and grocery outlets (Spar included) than the other prominent street, 7th Street. On the other hand, the venues on 7th are more attractive if one wants to
‘chill out’ (Melville Resident 1, 2014). Melville is one of Johannesburg’s trendier suburbs and its character-isation as a bohemian village is associated with 7th Street (Corrigall 2012). An interesting development, which some business owners believe might influence business activity on this street, is a shipping-con-tainer shopping centre: 27 Boxes is said to “inject life into the suburb of Melville” (Samakosky 2015) (Figure 2). Stores include a bookstore, patisserie, a boutique tea store, artist studios, and galleries, to name a few. This is a one of its kind type of develop-ment and the developers’ intention is to encourage a culture of enjoying the city (Samakosky 2015).
Another key informant envisages that this develop-ment will be beneficial not just for 7th Street but for the whole suburb as business filters through the area.
557m
Melville Koppies 7th Street
500m 800m
8th Ave 7th Ave 6th Ave 5th Ave 4th Ave 3rd Ave 2nd Ave 1st Ave To Northcliff,
Cresta, Randburg, Honeydew
To UJ, Soweto
Kingsway Ave
BRT STATION
To SABC, Wits (2km), M1 Highway (2km), Gautrain Station (4km), CBD (4km)
0 100 200 500
N
metres