‘Yeoville Stories’
Outline
12.12.2011
AIM
-give feedback to Yeoville residents by telling their stories
-not losing incredibly rich material gathered through interviews (this cannot be published in so much
details in academic chapters) – these details often matter (to people/ to academia/ to planners)
-creating an attractive, large audience type of book centered on Yeoville: for Yeoville current and former
residents; for intellectuals, academics and artists interested in the city.
PRINCIPLES
- Collection of individual stories on a theme, preceded or followed by an analytical or conceptual text
written by the coordinator of the chapter (cf Bourdieu La misere du monde)
- Chapters do not need to be long – these can be short stories, limited number of individual portraits (5 for
instance) + the analytical introduction and/or conclusion
- Support could be offered by Yeoville Studio for photographic portraits of persons interviewed / authors
are encouraged to collect their own material, possibly in participatory ways (autophotography, personal
photography collections of participants, drawings and mapping / sketches, etc.)
- Work with residents on their individual stories (feedback sessions). Draft version of chapters MUST be
checked with participants for publication (to check agreement/ possibly rework text of each portrait).
- Match stories (narratives) with images / photographs / drawings/ sketches/ graphics
- This book should be ‘affordable’, and needs to be sold possibly independently of its academic ‘double’
(see next page). Publishers need to be approached for the two books project about a possibility of joint
publication / cross-subsidization.
- Related to the question of the editor - this book could be reviewed (possibly simultaneously as the
academic book); not necessarily ‘peer-reviewed’ as we want to keep a flexibility in our design of these
chapters.
PROVISIONAL OUTLINE
Preamble – George Lebone / Maurice Smithers/ Edmund Elias
(1) Introduction – Claire Benit-Gbaffou
(2) Yeoville from here to there (Sophie Didier, Naomi Roux) – based on photomaps done through
workshops, autophotography, auto-mapping: how residents came to live in Yeoville, what their
experiences there have been, and hopes for the future If Yeoville was a person… (Sophie Didier,
Naomi Roux) - from characterization stories in collective workshops: excerpts of speeches and
paper dolls cut outs
(3) Youth stories (Potsiso Phasha): 5 portraits of teenagers and their perception of space/ places in
Yeoville, through their own photographs of Yeoville, what they mean to them, how they see their
lives and the area)
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(4) Love Stories (Shahid Vawda, Willy Claude Hebandjoko)– interviews of couples who met in
Yeoville – how and where they met, the spaces of mixed /diverse (or clustered) encounters,
overcoming (or not) prejudices (individual/ family
(5) Activists stories (Claire Benit-Gbaffou, Eulenda Mkwanazi, Nicolette Pingo).
(6) Migrant women’s everyday lives (Caroline Kihato and Terry Kurgan) – tracing the lives of 5
migrant women in Yeoville through autophotography
(7) Spaza shop Stories (Mamokete Majtomane): portraits of people trading in the streets of
Yeoville.
(8) Street traders Stories (Nicolette Pingo)
(9) Musical stories (William Dewar)– Narratives of music and place in Yeoville
(10)
Street Portraits (Claire Benit-Gbaffou, Sally Gaulle, Solam Mkhabela): a portrait of
Muller Street / Natal Street through photographs and residents’ stories
(11)
Leaving Yeoville (Sophie Didier): Portraits of former residents of Yeoville who moved
out – memories, recollections, reflections
(12)
Housing stories (Kirsten Doerman, Mpho Matsipa, with Claire Benit-Gbaffou): in depth
housing and lives stories in Yeoville; portraits from a professional photographer STATUS:
CONFIRMED, ALMOST DONE
(13)
Designing for housing in Yeoville (Kirsten Doerman & students)
(14)
Buildings stories (Claire Benit-Gbaffou) – portraits of four different buildings in
Yeoville, based on 3rd years students work
(15)
Sharing a flat in Yeoville (Simon Sizwe) – Portraits of residents sharing a flat in a
building in Yeoville: negotiating spaces and privacy.
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“Lessons from Yeoville, Johannesburg – Understanding communities to design better
cities?”
Outline
12.12.2011
AIM
-In complement to the broader audience book ‘Yeoville residents tell their stories / Yeoville Stories’, we
aim at reflecting more academically, or rather more theoretically, on what we have learnt (as researchers
and as lecturers) on various aspects of planning, policy making and designing in Yeoville, through our
focused engagement at a small scale (on, or with, various ‘communities’).
- Each contributor is asked to write an academic chapter on one or several specific aspects analysed /
studied through the Yeoville Studio (be it housing, politics, public space, informality, xenophobia,
community participation, community policing, etc.)
- Chapters can be of various nature (theoretical, empirical, methodological, reflective, etc.), but all
somehow based / relying on Yeoville as a key (not necessarily the only) case study.
- The aim of the book is not a monograph on Yeoville – it is aimed at analysing Yeoville (from different
perspectives) as a basis for broader reflections on the contemporary city.
- The book will be peer-reviewed (jointly, or separately, from the Yeoville stories book). Publisher:
UNISA Press (accepted the proposal); or African World Press (expressed interest).
PRINCIPLES
- Encourage all academic staff involved to contribute from their various discipline;
- Encourage joint papers
- Encourage junior researchers or students having produced important results to contribute (possibly with
a co-writer)
- Encourage reflections from Yeoville experience but not limited to the Yeoville case.
- Papers to be possibly historically grounded but mostly focused or directed towards understanding
contemporary Yeoville/ Johannesburg.
CHAPTERS’ OUTLINE (PROVISIONAL TITLES)
(1) Claire Benit-Gbaffou - General introduction
A. Community-oriented research and methods
This parts aims at reflecting on the methodologies, politics, frustrations and successes of communityoriented research as experienced in Yeoville.
(2) Claire Benit-Gbaffou, The politics of community oriented research
(3) Terry Kurgan – Research-led practice and practice-led research – The making of hotelyeoville
project.
(4) Naomi Roux, Sophie Didier Urban memories – why does it matter? Yeoville and Sophiatown
compared)
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(5) Obvious Katsaura – Community organizations and the politics of knowledge – knowledge as
capital
B. Informalities and public space
This part reflects on the place and status of informality in public space, the social, economic and political
functions it plays in a low-income, entry-point neighbourhood such as Yeoville, and innovative design /
planning and policy idea to capitalize on these functions. NB – in the making as trading is a key focus of
Yeoville Studio 2011 (also a hot political topic).
(4) Aly Karam, Margot Rubin - Street traders in Yeoville – entrepreneurs or trapped in poverty?
Lessons for public policies
(5) Abdul Abed – Designing with/for the people – integrated trading spaces in Yeoville and beyond
(6) Antonio PEZZANO – City policy and Yeoville trading
(7) Mamokete Matjomane – Community leaders, the City and the issue of spaza shops – whither
local management solutions?
C. Diversity, integration, xenophobia
This part reflects on how diversity is managed at different scales, in various platforms, in Yeoville daily
lives.
(8) Claire Benit-Gbaffou and Eulenda Mwkanazi, The construction of the ‘community’ in public
participatory forum – the management of xenophobic discourses in Yeoville
(9) Pauline Guimard, Africa Week Festival in Yeoville: reclaiming public space
(4) Shahid Vawda, Willy-Claude Hebandjoko – Love in times of migration
(5) Simbarashe Nyuke- Social Integration of migrant children in schools. A case of Sheikh Anta
Diop College in Yeoville, Johannesburg, South Africa.
(6) Maria Suriano, Clara Pienar, William Dewar – A history of the alternative communities in
Yeoville: music, politics and shifting identities (1970s-80s)
D. Affordable and/ or decent housing?
This part discusses current housing conditions, affordability levels and possible lessons for policy and
design in a specific inner city setting.
(7) Kirsten Doerman – Urban Infill: rooms as Urban Currency. Principles of contextual urbanism as
a design tool in Yeoville
(8) Simon Sizwe Mayson – Households vulnerability and housing: informal private and non-profit
provision compared
(9) Sarah Charlton – Housing the working poor
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CONTRIBUTORS
Abdul Abed is a Masters student in Urban Design in the School of Architecture and Planning (SoAP) at Wits.
Interested in participatory design and acutely aware of social and spatial realities of informality in Johannesburg, he
has been participating in a number of community workshops related to trading, and his developing his Masters thesis
around the issue of integrated trading and participatory design.
Dr Claire Benit-Gbaffou is a Senior lecturer in the School of Architecture and Planning (SoAP) at Wits. She is
Yeoville Studio coordinator, and acting Director for the Center for Urbanism and the Built Environment Studies
(CUBES). Her research interests focus on politics, governance, community participation, social justice.
Sarah Charlton is a senior lecturer in the SoAP and currently completing her PhD on housing for the poor, and in
particular on the relationship between economic activities and housing conditions. She has been coordinating the
Yeoville Studio Housing Roundtables, with the support of Simon Mayson.
Dr Sophie Didier is the research director for the French Institute in South Africa (IFAS). Her research interests
range from urban governance and neoliberalism to urban memories and spatial practices. She has been running
Yeoville Stories workshops together with Naomi Roux.
William Dewar is a Masters student in the School of Architecture and Planning. He is interested in documenting the
relationship between music and place identity, in a historical perspective. He compiled a CD of popular music
produced in, or about, Yeoville, from the 1970s till today.
Kirsten Doerman is a Lecturer in the SoAP. Her main area of interest and research are cities, rooms, spatial
communication, smart objects. She has been working on housing research and design in Yeoville, with Mpho
Matsipa.
Sally Gaule is a Lecturer in the SoAP. Her main area of interest and research is architectural / urban photography.
She has been working with her students on street photography as well as portraits of activists, together with Claire
Benit-Gbaffou.
Pauline Guimard is a PhD Candidate from France (University of Paris West- Nanterre-La Defense). Her research
focuses on the role of public art in urban spaces in Johannesburg, and one of her case study is the Yeoville Pan
African festival.
Willy Claude Hebandjoko is a Master student in the SoAP. He just completed his thesis on the relationship
between shop owners and street traders in Yeoville.
Dr Aly Karam is a Professor in the SoAP. His research interests range from urban informalities and their
management, to housing and property markets.
Obvious Katsaura is a PhD candidate from the SoAP. His research topic is on the place of minority groups (such as
African migrants and women) in community policing, using Yeoville and Diepsloot as case studies.
Dr Caroline Kihato is an independent consultant and post-doctoral fellow in the School of Architecture and
Planning. She has recently completed her PhD on Migration, Gender and Urbanisation in Johannesburg inner city,
with a specific focus on Yeoville, and using autophotography as a key method.
Terry Kurgan is an artist who lives and works in Johannesburg. Most of her projects are realized through photobased media. She conceived and managed the project Hotelyeoville, a public art / community oriented research
project (www.hotelyeoville.co.za).
Simon Sizwe Mayson is a Masters student in Development Planning in the SoAP. He is the Yeoville Studio
administrator. He is starting his research on the production of affordable housing, from the perspective of (private
and public) developers, in Yeoville and the inner city.
Majtomane Mamokete is a Masters student in Urban Studies in the SoAP. She has been doing research for her
masters report on spaza shop owners and their governance in Yeoville; and will focus her masters thesis on the
governance of informal trading in the inner city.
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Mpho Matsipa is a PhD candidate from the University of Berkeley, lecturing in SoAP. Her key research interest is
on the black middle class and urban regeneration; she is also interested in cultures and foods. She has been working
on housing research in Yeoville together with Kirsten Doerman.
Solam Mkabela is an artist and urban designer lecturing in the SoAP. His involvement in Yeoville Studio focused
on engaging with his 2nd year Architects class in street photography and activist portraits.
Eulenda Mkwanazi is an Honours Student from the SoAP. She just completed her thesis on spaces of participation
in Yeoville.
Simbarashe Nyuke is an Honours Student in Wits Dpt of Anthropology. He has focused his honours thesis on
issues of integration of migrant youth, taking the case study of Sheikh Anta Diop college.
Dr Antonio Pezzano is a Research Fellow at the Department of Arab and African Studies at Università degli Studi
di Napoli "L'Orientale". He has been doing research for several month on inner city informal trading, its governance
and its politics.
Potsiso Phasha is an Honours Student from the SoAP. He just completed his thesis on youth perceptions of public
space in Yeoville using autophotography.
Clara Pienaar is a Masters student in the Dpt of History. She has been working under the supervision of Maria
Suriano on the musical-political history of Yeoville.
Nicolette Pingo is a Masters student in Development Planning in the SoAP, with a strong interest in photography
and video. She has been working, through one of her courses, on local activists and leadership in Yeoville; and has
driven a mini-research on street traders.
Naomi Roux is currently a PhD candidate in the UK. A former researcher from CUBES, she has been focused on
Yeoville Studio for the whole of 2010. Her research interests are focused on urban memories, urban stories and the
role they play in urban practices. She has been running Yeoville Stories workshops together with Sophie Didier.
Margot Rubin is a PhD candidate from the SoAP. Her PhD topic is about the role of the judicial system in urban
governance in Johannesburg and Delhi. She also did numerous studies on informal trading, affordable housing, land
tenure, local corruption.
Dr Maria Suriano is a lecturer in the History Department. She specializes in urban popular cultures in East Africa;
and is now focusing her research on the history of popular music in Yeoville.
Dr Shahid Vawda is an Associate Professor and Head of the Anthropology department. His research interests
include urban anthropology, migration, development, citizenship, museums, public culture.
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