Simelane calls for integrated design to tackle spatial inequality

Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane has called for housing, schools, transport, public spaces and economic opportunities to be planned together as South Africa works to reverse apartheid-era spatial inequality.

Speaking to the South African Council for the Architectural Profession's Education Conference, Simelane said architecture should help people live with dignity, reach opportunities and participate in their communities.

The virtual conference was held under the theme “Architecture in Changing Times”.

Public buildings as community assets

Simelane said schools and other public facilities should be treated as parts of living settlements rather than isolated buildings.

A school, she said, should connect with homes, safe transport routes, public spaces, economic opportunities and the broader social life of its community.

She argued that shared community infrastructure could make better use of scarce public land, strengthen local ownership and help protect public assets.

The minister said the quality of architecture also communicates the value placed on a community. Children in townships, rural areas and informal settlements should not receive inferior infrastructure or be made to feel that quality belongs somewhere else, she said.

Public projects should create opportunities for local workers, artisans, small contractors and small businesses where possible. Locally appropriate materials and construction methods could support skills and community resilience.

Architectural education, she said, should combine technical competence with an understanding of inequality, sustainability, place and community.

Simelane called for closer work between government, universities, professional bodies and the built-environment sector, with integrated planning beginning at the design stage.

The address did not announce a new housing project or budget. It set out the minister's policy position on how built-environment professionals should approach future public and residential development.