Making sense of Warwick Junction for future development

FOLLOWING the release of two books that recorded the past of the Warwick Junction Precinct (WJP) by DUT’s ROCS research project, the University’s Physical Planning Department is now engaged in a long term project focusing on imagining how this space could be developed and planned for the future.

Shedding more light into this matter was architect Leonard Rosenberg, ROCS (Research Of Curries and Surrounds) research project founder and head of the University’s Physical Planning Department during a seminar last month.

“Making sense of the history of the Warwick Junction Precinct has been critical to understanding possible futures for it, including for the DUT City Campus. The research undertaken by the ROCS project has, up until know, focused on the urban history of Durban with an emphasis on the North Western part referred to as the Warwick Junction Precinct. It is within this fascinating and vibrant space that DUT is located. The Physical Planning Department is now engaged in a long term project focusing on imagining how this space could be developed and planned for the future. This imagining will inform the new ‘master plan’ for the DUT campuses. The presentation provided insight into the multifaceted, complex and contested history of the Warwick Junction Precinct, and demonstrated how elements of this past are now informing the planning exercise for the DUT master plan,” said Rosenberg.

He said DUT should also play a leadership role, but more importantly it made sense to ‘adopt’ the precinct as a focus area for research by various departments within the university.

“That’s what the ROCS research project has done, by focusing our research on the precinct, this research has helped inform the physical planning aspects at DUT,” said Rosenberg.

Commenting on the role of the Urban Futures Centre (UFC), a new initiative at DUT, Prof Monique Marks, research professor at DUT’s Engineering and the Built Environment Faculty, said the initiative was currently in its foundation stages.

“The UFC is an initiative of Prof Ahmed Bawa, DUT vice-chancellor and principal. It is his vision that the UFC will become an internationally acclaimed interdisciplinary hub that serves as the central node for a network of projects, institutions, practitioners and academics interested in the future of cities locally (in Durban and South Africa) and globally. The UFC will be a deliberative and practice oriented space for designing, in the broadest sense, cities and urban settlements that are aesthetically pleasing, equitable, humane, resilient, and fit for purpose. In order to achieve this, the UFC at DUT recognises the importance of taking stock of the needs, uncertainties and dreams of the people that occupy city spaces,” she added.