Small Towns & the future of Muizenberg | E37

In this episode we talk about one of our favorite places on Earth - the small seaside town of Muizenberg. We talk about the develop works that are planned and what a upgraded town would look like. We talk about the challenges and some of the wider issues facing this project and then give some optimistic outlooks on anyone can build anything better with just a little bit of effort.

Outline

(0:00) Simplification as the ultimate location for design and how it relates to simple places, brutalism. (2:58) Modern life an utilitarianism of dustbins and the beauty of small towns. (6:04) Specificity vs working at scale with the lowest common denominator & adding character to buildings similar to Thailand. (8:38) The introduction (8:55) How privacy is similar to being forced to build your house in a specific way. (10:32) Talking about the tampon towers in Vredehoek and unpleasant architecture. (11:38) What's happening at surfer's corner right now and the definition, what is the essence of Muizenberg to somebody? (14:11) Laying out the challenges of how the town is designed. (15:48) Similarities to Strand beachfront on the other side of False Bay. (17:35) An idea of a park and a promenade and making things better. (18:20) The citizen participation process is underway in Muizenberg. (18:56) Constraints on such a small town come into this - does tourists mean there's more money?? (20:00) Inevitable that we have to figure out cars, parking & trade-offs. (21:29) Making long-term decisions vs ideology and the downside of loads of people. (23:01) We're getting back onto train transportation again!. (24:10) MVP for a safe train trip mobile app. (26:30) How to improve connection between the train station and the beach. (27:20) Citizen participation and information access needs to be improved! (29:47) Airbnb driving up housing prices Edinburgh (the South Africa one) and getting stuff done. (31:30) Is there a complacency or a challenge of organizing people in a particular direction? (33:35) The bystander effect and what is the future of seaside towns? (35:15) Open co-working spaces of the future. 

Resources

Story if you want to have a look: https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/455321/muizenberg-beachfront-to-get-a-facelift-with-upgrades-and-repairs