Control and congestion in the shared space of Stellenbosch town
This research revolves around a seemingly technical problem experienced mostly as an everyday source of frustration and exasperation for commuters in Stellenbosch: extreme traffic congestion. With an excess of single-passenger cars, burgeoning construction and growing business interests, the terrific state of congestion is well understood by all who use the roads and has been under some form of interrogation for up to 20 years.
Nationwide, South Africa is a pedestrian society. But the volume of motorized transport and freight industry has grown beyond the capacity of road network infrastructure to withstand it (Department of Transport, 2022). Pedestrian deaths, multi-car accidents, and the heavy smog of carbon-emissions are a running theme in South African media.
The aim of this long-term study is to explore and describe the structural relationships between social justice and environmental justice in the context of urban infrastructure, and situate a critique of congestion within the literature of science communication.
Principal Investigator: Dr Jessica Webster