Planning for pedestrians in the core of South African cities

Abstract

Continuing research concerning the real needs of the pedestrian in S.A. city centres is described. To determine the quality of "pedestrian experiences" three hypotheses were formulated and tested using street surveys. As regards perceptions of quality: Life-cycle and culture play an important role as to the First and Third World syndromes, for example, Whites regard the concept "streetlife" as strange while Blacks react differently. Instead of a friendly centre one finds an artificial commercial core where the motor car is dominant, hu­man needs are lost and planning is seen as a rigid techno-economic exercise.