Forum of Design for the Public Realm
Places
AboutFoundation
Partner Schools
Print Archive
Peer Review
Submissions
Donate
Contact
Departments
CritiqueEssays
Gallery
Interviews
Multimedia
Partner News
Peer Reviewed
Poetry & Fiction
Projects
Topics
ArchitectureArt
Books
Cities / Places
Community
Culture
Design History
Design Practice
Development
Ecology
Economy
Education
Energy
Environment
Film / Video
Food/Agriculture
Geography
Health / Safety
History
Housing
Ideas
Infrastructure
Landscape
Photography
Planning
Politics / Policy
Preservation
Public / Private
Reputations
Sustainability
Technology
Theory/Criticism
Transportation
Urbanism
Water
Design Observer
ArchiveBooks + Store
Job Board
Email Archive
Comments
About
Contact
Log In
Register
Most underground gold mines ceased operations in the 1970s, leaving large tracts of land vacant in the mining belt. Since then, many of these areas have been converted to light industrial uses and have become important employment centers. Informal settlements have encroached on non-developed mining land, with residents living in close proximity to abandoned mining equipment and waste. The settlement shown here took over vacant land at the foot of a mine dump in Ekurhuleni. Due to low property values, mining companies had little incentive to spend money policing their unused land holdings, and after decades of illegal occupation, it is now very difficult for government entities in South Africa to relocate these communities. [Photo by Andrew Watkins]
SLIDESHOW: Image 2/28
ABOUT THE ESSAY
Ecologies of Gold: The Past and Future Mining Landscapes of JohannesburgOn Places, Dorothy Tang and Andrew Watkins explore the ecological rehabilitation of the defunct gold mines of central Johannesburg.
Read Essay >>
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dorothy Tang is an assistant professor of landscape architecture at the University of Hong Kong.More Bio >>
Andrew Watkins is an architect and urban designer at SWA in Southern California.More Bio >>
