Creating Dignity Through Pedestrian/NMT Routes - A Small not so scholarly rant.

The dignity of sidewalks

THE USE OF NON-MOTORISED TRANSPORT ROOTS FOR THE CREATION OF DIGNITY FOR THE ORDINARY SOUTH AFRICA.

by : Brigitta Stone-Johnson

This week, Joburg’s  new mayor Herman Matshaba announced to the press that he would put a hold on the 70million cycle lane project, “I was concerned to note that R70m has been set aside over the next three years for the development of bicycle lanes around our city. I intend putting a halt to this project. When every road in Johannesburg is tarred, maybe then we will look at bicycle lanes again,” said Mashaba. (Matsego & Dlamini 2016) Further, “I live in Sandon…and in Alexandra‚ across the freeway from me…are people with no toilets‚ people with no water and dignity.” (TMG Digital 2016)

Let me being by stating that this is not an either-or argument. The city should, of course, provide water, electricity, and sanitation for Alexandra. As it should for every informal settlement within South Africa. What I wish to speak to here, is the notion of the creation of dignity for the ordinarily South African within city space.

The largest injustice created through Apartheid planning was the establishment of the division within spatial planning of Johannesburg. Secondly the construction of the notion that the people of colour were poor criminals, and should be separated from the law abiding ‘white’ people. As well as the conveying the idea that to be poor is undignified. The policies which were enacted to achieve this and their spatial implications are still visible within the city of Johannesburg today.

                                                                                             Alexndra & Sandton, J.Miller (2016)

This kind of separation has been beautifully illustrated by Jonny Miller, in his work “Unequal Scenes” (2016). In the attempt to redress the social, Ill of apartheid planning. Needless to say, some notion of repairing this kind of division is required to heal our society from the wrongs of the past. One of the key issues with this social, spatial engineering is that many people cannot afford the significant burden the cost motorized transport places on their monthly income. Through being forced required to commute between both Alexandra and Sandton as well as the city at large. Enshrined in our constitution is the right to freedom of movement (Bill of Rights, 1996) as well as the right to human dignity. Which asks the question what does it mean to be able to move through city space in a dignified manner?

If you have ever attempted to walk to or from your home or work, within urban Johannesburg. Or even from the Gautrain to Sandton City. You will have observed the isolating and disenfranchising space which our city creates for the pedestrian user. The majority of whom are not hipster cyclist, or elite, professionals. But ordinary people who are walking from the train, their home, the taxi route to their place of work.  Our city space substantially reinforces the notion that to be poor and unable to afford a car is undignified. That a person who uses these ways of moving about are less than human, Subclass citizens, whose ideas, values and hopes are to be ignored over those of individuals who drive cars, or are wealthy or middle class. How we make space says profound things about how we view people, merely asking people what they need does little to redress the wrongs of the past. People on the bead line will naturally begin with “we need water, electricity, sanitation & Food.”

What such project like the BRT, Corridors of Freedom, Cycle routes do. Is to give the poor something which is not an immediate need. It gives them a place within our society, it acknowledges the past wrong spatially and points to our hope for an equal society. To clarify, it is my belief that an equal society is a society where the rich take public transport and walk to work. Rather than a society where everyone has a car.  Equality has much less to do with wealth, than a society where anyone’s full human capital can be reached.

While I agree that Cycle lanes are not used to capacity, the added benefits which come with prominent non-motorized transport roots, are vital for redressing these divisions. It creates safe & decent sidewalks for people to use along main transport roots. Which give pedestrians equal right to the city space previously reserved for vehicles and cuts down on time it takes to move safely through the city. It gives people the right to access the city free of harassment from privatized public spaces. By creating a connection between such sites as Sandton & Alexandra, Soweto & Cbd. It gives people the right to choose how they wish to move through the city.  It empowers the poor to become self-reliant, rather than reliant on government intervention. It creates an opportunity for micro business related to the needs of people moving through these space. Promote city use which is not controlled by Capital.

What does it mean to live the dignified life we have enshrined in our constitution?  Because Apartheid was a system of restriction, primarily of movement.  If we fail to redress this fundamental right, we do not manage to give dignity to the people within our society who need it the most. To live with dignity is to be valued as equal before the law. Equal in our right to walk where we desire to, in a manner which in which our lives are free from endangerment. It is to have a place within the society where our lives can be acted out in a manner that we choose. It is the right to occupy city space without fear of accusation of criminality simply because one is poor. It is the right to rest when needed, to live out our lives in ways which are meaningful. Be that though being allowed to express our desired in the spaces we inhabit. Or through creating meaningful spaces, within the city grid. It is to be allowed to move & think freely. To decide for one’s self what one wishes to do.  Each South African Citizen has the right of universal suffrage; that means they viewed as citizens capable of making decisions which have the best interest of themselves, their family, community, and the country at heart. They are not children. They are not criminal until proven otherwise. They have the right to occupy space in any manner they see fit.  What Sidewalks and transport link do, in short, is the create the space in which citizens can do that.  Free of the supervision and surveillance present within many other city areas.  

Citations:
P.mashego and p.dlamini (2016) Herman Mashaba takes aim at e-tolls, cadres and cycle lanes Businessday Live. (INTERNET) http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2016/09/13/herman-mashaba-takes-aim-at-e-tolls-cadres-and-cycle-lanes  Cited: 2016.09.16 Author Unkown (2016), Dignity of people in Alex trumps cycles lanes: Mashaba defends the decision .Times Live Digital (INTERNET) http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2016/09/14/dignity-of-people-in-alex-trumps-cycles-lanes-mashaba-defends-decision...  Cited: 2016.09.16

Johnny Miller (2016) Unequal Scenes INTERNET http://www.unequalscenes.com/alexandra-sandton Cited: 2016.09.16