Shortage of public spaces in the city, and specifically in informal peripheral areas : reinstating City of Tshwane’s Nursery to a functional and meaningful landscape in the urban fabric

The purpose of the research was to identify Afrocentric human-nature relationships from park uses and identify design informants for more inclusive design approaches. The design approach also integrates current activities that are happening in an around the existing site while upgrading the site to be a landscape that connects people from home through the provision of spaces to perform cultural activities, farm, and harvest medicinal plants, and to relate back to nature. The City of Tshwane is largely devoid of formally provided Public Open Space for Afrocentric cultural activities related to nature and landscape – which at present often take place in rural landscapes. This has implications for identity making and feeling ‘at home’ in the city.