IN-PERSON Barcelona Livable Cities. Section B

Abstract

This paper examines a chicken outlet on a sidewalk bay in Johannesburg, along one of the city’s main pedestrian and vehicular arteries. It offers a nuanced understanding of this urban microcosm as a public space that seeks recognition, created by and for people on the go while others stay. The paper highlights essential elements that contribute to the ‘livability’ of emerging ‘twilight’ public spaces through a cross-disciplinary analysis. Methodologically grounded in storytelling practices, the protagonists, Fish, Thomas, Vimal, Mduduzi and Fungai, form a local business collective. Their narrative, set against a complex historical backdrop of a landscape undergoing radical change, unfolds the complexity of what the paper coins “the twilight zone.” The “Chicken Dust” case study, a small business in this sidewalk bay, exemplifies a multifaceted environment serving diverse purposes – from dwelling to business. This dynamic setting becomes a focal point in an ongoing dialogue about individual agency, community participation, and collective activism to reimagine urban space into place. The paper emphasizes the operational and spatial innovations characterized by “twilight intelligence,” which reflects a culture of thinking that, while loosely accepting the status quo, manages to operate outside conventional regulations and norms. Anchored in the spatial blueprints shaped by apartheid laws of the 20th century, the Chicken Dust narrative draws from the rich tapestry of contemporary local community life, providing insight into the constraints that shape these urban transformations. Twilight operations run as undercurrent to large-scale government projects that struggle with implementation. By scrutinizing existing out-of-sync design and planning policies, this paper – as empirical work forming part of a completed PhD submission – prompts a deeper investigation into alternative forms of public space use necessary for creating more livable cities.