Presentations 2018-2019
Annual Presentation Series 2018/19:
APES hosted twelve presentation evenings during the 2018/19 year, which saw an average attendance of about 40 people per event. (a minimum of 14 and maximum over 100!)
We focused on the main objectives and aims of the Society being inclusive of all the main built environment professionals. The theme for the majority of our presentations was “The Cape Town Problematique”, which explored the set of complex and interdependent problems, challenges and opportunities with which all built environment professionals continuously grapple.
The presentation events were as follows:
6 June 2018: A time for inter-disciplinary place leadership in our rapidly changing cities presented by Walter Fieuw of Making of Cities
27 June 2018: A new approach to the City of Cape Town’s MSDF presented by Peter Ahmad
25 July 2018: Whose side are you on? Is it safe to build with an approved building plan? Presented by Tommy Brummer, Nick Louw and Martin Bey
29 August 2018: Introduction to the Cape Town Problematique – to be described and dimensioned as outlined above and augmented, explaining the complexity and interdependencies of the “problematique” – Keynote speakers: Cathy Stone and Janine Myburgh (President of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry) – (Chaired, introduced & facilitated by Barbara Southworth)
12 September 2018: “The Truth about Transport”. Experts described the historical changes from 1988, 1998 & 2008, plus the more current transport volumes and modal splits relative to the Cape Town population and employment growth. An exploration of total travel times using different modes of transport and on different classes of roadways, traffic and transport flow theory, real travel costs and efficiencies, productivity versus land utilization, relationships between different densities and urban form and transport demand and supply, debunking myths, the truth “warts and all”. What is the likely future of transport in Cape Town? – Gershwin Fortune and Steve Sutcliffe – (Chaired, introduced & facilitated by Ron Haiden)
19 September 2018: “Housing By People” by John F C Turner, revisiting his three Laws of Housing 42 years after first publication! Is this a solution to our ever growing housing shortage and, if so, why has Cape Town not applied this thinking to our housing challenge? If not, what are the housing solutions that can eliminate the backlog within say 5 years? – John Spiropoulos and Moegsien Hendricks– (Chaired, introduced & facilitated by Simon Nicks}
26 September 2018: Built Environment Performance Plan (BEPP) 2017/18 – is it based on an analysis of the total affordability per dwelling unit of different areas, densities and urban form, including land, housing, open space and parks, libraries, clinics/hospitals, schools, shopping, offices, industries, transport facilities and services? Who is actually paying for it all, both capital cost and on-going operational costs? Is there an ideal urban form? – Pete Ahmad & Simon Nicks – (Chaired, introduced & facilitated by Cathy Stone)
10 October 2018: Prof Kelvin Campbell of Smart Urbanism on “Making MASSIVE SMALL Change”- “Making Massive Small Change: Ideas, tools and tactics to build the urban society we all want” is the title of the latest book by Kelvin Campbell. He argues that “the key to fixing our broken patterns of urban development does not lie in grand plans or giant projects; rather, it lies in the collective wisdom and energy of people harnessing the power of many small ideas and actions to make a big difference. We call this making “Massive Small” change”.
24 October 2018: Whose land is it really? Speaker unpacked the arguments and the likely consequences of expropriation without compensation – Professor Ruth Hall from PLAAS at UWC (Chaired by Mida Kirova)
28 November 2018: Focus on preserving and managing Heritage Resources in Cape Town given increasing development pressure – Dr Stephen Townsend and Deon van Zyl – (Chaired, introduced and facilitated by Cindy Postlethwayte in place of Bridget O’Donnaghue)
30 January 2019: Who has the Energy? How does it affect our lives and the economy? What are the sources of energy and how should we build and live so as to be less dependent on unreliable and monopolistic energy supply? How best can energy generation & supply help to grow employment? – Hilton Trollip at UCT’s Energy Research Institute
27 February 2019: Focus on preserving and managing Environmental Resources plus important Public Open Spaces under increasing development pressure. How much open space is desirable and what type of vegetation or landscaping is required to better ensure healthy urban living? – Stephen Granger and Ancunel Steyn (Chaired, introduced & facilitated by Sadia Chand)