Projects by Year
2009
In 2009, twenty-seven WPI students with two faculty advisors worked for four months, two on campus and two in Cape Town, to assist local stakeholders in planning for sustainable community redevelopment in Monwabisi Park. Energized by the Indlovu Project vision for transforming this informal settlement into an eco-village, and with major programme sponsors once again the Shaster Foundation and the City of Cape Town's Violence Protection through Urban Upgrading Programme (VPUU), the seven WPI teams worked on project activities that extended many of the insights and plans begun in 2008.
With the City having learned in 2008 about the unique vision emerging through collaborative work centred at the Indlovu Project and identified Monwabisi Park as a principle focus for informal settlement upgrading innovation, the students had a diverse set of project partners with whom to interact. They also faced challenges borne of the sometimes difficult process of aligning the agendas and capabilities of diverse redevelopment stakeholders. The teams nonetheless analyzed and advanced plans in each of their thematic areas, enjoyed interacting with community members and others, and built this website as a basis for ongoing exchange of ideas, research and experiences relating to life in informal settlements and the search for positive futures.
2008
In 2008, we conducted a set of six integrated projects focused on helping one informal settlement - Monwabisi Park - move toward the goal of transforming their squatter camp into a socially and ecologically sustainable "ecovillage." Students worked closely with community members, local leaders, and city agencies to conduct projects on six themes - buildings, water and sanitation, energy, communications, economic development and urban planning and mapping - that had three aims:
1) to analyze existing community practices and conditions;
2) to generate options and a coherent plan for realizing the ecovillage vision;
3) to implement hands-on programs and projects, such as a sewing center and "TV Indlovini," designed to make near-term, tangible contributions to the life of the community.
The work was assembled into a 200 page report that included chapters covering the work of each of the individual teams as well as an "integrated plan" chapter prepared by all that set forth a core notion behind the redevelopment strategy: to "grow" change in small, incremental steps that maximize public and private benefits, maintain and strengthen local social networks and decision-making, create jobs, training and leadership development opportunities, and build the foundation for a healthier community going forward.
2007
The Cape Town Project Centre began in 2007, when we worked on six projects that addressed important community needs and provided the Project Centre an introduction to critical issues impacting informal settlement upgrading, including in the areas of community engagement, housing, the informal economy, transportation, recreation and youth programming, flood management and other disaster risks, city governance, and the local cultural and political milieu. Our students had an exceptional educational experience and sponsors received tangible and intangible benefits (e.g., reports, presentations, small construction projects, new programs and ideas, videos, collective learning, and new partnerships) on projects focused on sustainable housing practices, flood risk management, informal trading, transportation, and recreational facilities for youth. This work also confirmed both the interest of many city professionals in improving conditions in settlements and the difficulty they experience trying to collaborate with communities and others to do so.