Case Studies: Warwick Junction

 

 

 

Warwick Junction is a transport hub for the local and regional populations of South Africa. Some 300,000 people, 2,000 taxis, and 70,000 bus and train passengers move through the area each day. The Junction emerged as a result of the apartheid regime. Black and Indian buses were prohibited from entering the center of the city so had to stop on the fringe of Durban. Not surprisingly, a wide range of fringe activities has proliferated at and near the junction. One of the most prevalent of these is the medicinal herb trade. Herb traders sell herbal cures for spiritual and physical ailments. Growing out of ancient Zulu traditions, this fringe activity has developed into a market of 500 informal traders, making Warwick Junction the largest herbal medicine market in Southern Africa.

 

The conditions under which the herb traders ply their trade has given rise to several environmental, health and planning concerns over the past decades. Notably, the traders have no booths or stalls for displaying their wares; consequently, they are taking over the streets and pavements. Many of them also sleep on the streets. The city council was faced with a difficult decision—clear the traders out or work with them to improve their conditions. “We could take the high road or the low road,” says Richard Dobson, architect and project team leader. “We decided to take the high road.” To set up the project, Dobson and his team needed thorough cooperation from all parties. The council’s informal trade and health departments established an umbrella group that enabled the formation of a traders’ street committee. Once organized, the traders were able to articulate their needs and negotiate between stakeholders.

 

The council next looked for likely locations for moving the traders. A section of a highway that had never been incorporated into the city grid was identified as ideal. It was a piece of vacant land 500 meters from the original trading place. The highway was connected to the city at one end but not at the other, so the council constructed a steel bridge that met an elevated pedestrian walkway linking the market to the city.

 

Since the number of permanent trading stalls and traders had never been calculated before, the city council next needed to devise a way of counting them. It did so by measuring the length of curbside that the traders currently occupied to see whether similar space could be provided in the new facility. The first list comprised some 600 people, including gatherers, retailers and Inyangas—doctors. The new location could only accommodate about 200 stalls. The city and the traders thus had to determine who deserved a stall. “It had to be a process of negotiation from the beginning,” explains Dobson. The solution adopted by the trading community was to establish a roll call. Each trader was given the opportunity to present his or her case. Old traders were given priority, and new traders were moved to a secondary list. The roll call took all day, and no one passed the test easily. “It was very democratic,” says Dobson. “Eventually, we managed to get the list down to 350 traders—it took three months.” The traders, mainly Zulus, showed remarkable faith and respect for the process. “They are hard but pragmatic negotiators,” Dobson notes. “Each of us pushed for a fair outcome.”

 

The city council was able to develop the market, providing physical infrastructure and some services at a total cost of approximately US$500,000. An old warehouse was converted into a project administration center—a place for the committee to meet and discuss plans. At one point during the construction, the traders occupied the market overnight before it had been finished. “When I told the contractors that I would just ask the traders to move, I was met with enormous skepticism,” says Dobson. “But when I explained the situation to the traders, they moved.”

 

The success of the project gave the city council credibility and access to a larger trading community. “As project leaders, we have to be really bold and be willing to go to new places we didn’t expect to,” says Dobson. “In a city like Durban, you have to look for innovative ways to weld people into a unique community—the herb traders were an obvious example.”

 

¹Source:
Urban Age, Fall 1999, World Bank.