Abstract

Natural and urban boundaries and barriers relate to edge conditions that have levels of accessibility and permeability. Natural boundaries include low, dense vegetation and water bodies such as streams and wetlands. Urban boundaries and barriers include built elements such as roads, buildings, fences and walls. Spatially, urban boundaries can include other built elements such as parking spaces with impermeable, hard surfaces that add distance within the built fabric. Natural and urban boundaries are blurred when one overlaps the other. Urban boundaries cause fragmentation to natural corridors and prevent groundwater recharge. Natural boundaries can be seen as a disturbance to urban development through flooding, fire or erosion. The natural-urban system is seen to be constantly changing through vertical and horizontal systems of water movement which overlap in a manner that is controlled and uncontrolled. This relates to canalisation and effects to water quality and flow through limited use of BMP’s (Best Management Practice) or SUD’s (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems). Wynberg as the case study consists of open space and a stream that runs through the suburb. However, the boundary conditions of the built environment have caused a disconnect to the natural landscape. This thesis integrates natural and urban boundaries by redefining boundaries to be accessible through levels of permeability by overlapping controlled and uncontrolled conditions in the natural-urban system of Wynberg.