Compulsory acquisition of property for urban densification in South Africa: an answer to the chronic housing backlog?

The cities are rapidly sprawling in South Africa, despite the city authorities’ attempts at containing the sprawl. This has signalled the need for strong urban densification policy which – if properly designed and implemented – promises to yield several benefits such as smart, inclusive, equitable a...

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Main Author: Gaopalelwe Mathiba
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19463138.2024.2389111
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author Gaopalelwe Mathiba
author_facet Gaopalelwe Mathiba
author_sort Gaopalelwe Mathiba
collection DOAJ
description The cities are rapidly sprawling in South Africa, despite the city authorities’ attempts at containing the sprawl. This has signalled the need for strong urban densification policy which – if properly designed and implemented – promises to yield several benefits such as smart, inclusive, equitable and sustainable cities. Densification policy can also facilitate access to adequate housing which remains a challenge in South Africa where millions of people are inadequately housed, if not homeless. Using a qualitative investigation and literature review to analyse the relevant policies and case law, this article investigates whether a legally sound argument can be developed for compulsory acquisition of property to be deployed as a mechanism to facilitate enhanced access to housing for the poor and marginalised. Put differently, the article asks whether compulsory acquisition could be an ideal method of facilitating densification to ramp up housing provision across the country. The findings suggest that urban densification policy is a necessary intervention in that regard. Compulsory acquisition of property is advanced as an optimal method to achieve this endeavour.
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spelling doaj-art-c3a0176f68e94fe0a16f1a22e6b536242024-12-03T12:52:33ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Urban Sustainable Development1946-31381946-31462024-12-0116129931610.1080/19463138.2024.2389111Compulsory acquisition of property for urban densification in South Africa: an answer to the chronic housing backlog?Gaopalelwe Mathiba0Department of Private Law, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South AfricaThe cities are rapidly sprawling in South Africa, despite the city authorities’ attempts at containing the sprawl. This has signalled the need for strong urban densification policy which – if properly designed and implemented – promises to yield several benefits such as smart, inclusive, equitable and sustainable cities. Densification policy can also facilitate access to adequate housing which remains a challenge in South Africa where millions of people are inadequately housed, if not homeless. Using a qualitative investigation and literature review to analyse the relevant policies and case law, this article investigates whether a legally sound argument can be developed for compulsory acquisition of property to be deployed as a mechanism to facilitate enhanced access to housing for the poor and marginalised. Put differently, the article asks whether compulsory acquisition could be an ideal method of facilitating densification to ramp up housing provision across the country. The findings suggest that urban densification policy is a necessary intervention in that regard. Compulsory acquisition of property is advanced as an optimal method to achieve this endeavour.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19463138.2024.2389111Urban densificationcompulsory acquisitionhousing rightshomelessnessproperty rightsSouth Africa
spellingShingle Gaopalelwe Mathiba
Compulsory acquisition of property for urban densification in South Africa: an answer to the chronic housing backlog?
International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development
Urban densification
compulsory acquisition
housing rights
homelessness
property rights
South Africa
title Compulsory acquisition of property for urban densification in South Africa: an answer to the chronic housing backlog?
title_full Compulsory acquisition of property for urban densification in South Africa: an answer to the chronic housing backlog?
title_fullStr Compulsory acquisition of property for urban densification in South Africa: an answer to the chronic housing backlog?
title_full_unstemmed Compulsory acquisition of property for urban densification in South Africa: an answer to the chronic housing backlog?
title_short Compulsory acquisition of property for urban densification in South Africa: an answer to the chronic housing backlog?
title_sort compulsory acquisition of property for urban densification in south africa an answer to the chronic housing backlog
topic Urban densification
compulsory acquisition
housing rights
homelessness
property rights
South Africa
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/19463138.2024.2389111
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