The Goodspeed Update

Part 4 of my South Africa series
Imagine a public transportation system that combines the low cost and fixed routes of a bus, with the frequency and availability of a private taxi. The system would be idea: convenient, low-cost, and predictable. There’d be no fear the driver was taking you for a ride, and catching one […]

Part 3 of my South Africa Series
The lack of progress bridging the social divides in South Africa has not been due to political will. In addition to a variety of political rights (many which Americans will be familiar with from our Bill of Rights), the South African Constitution includes workers’ rights to join unions, a […]

Part 2 in my South Africa series
The combination of affluence and desperate poverty in South Africa I described yesterday has made the country a world leader in both crime and security technology.
In particular, security measures are pervasive in the physical form of the city. Although some of the security measures date from the apartheid era, […]

Part 1: Setting the Scene
I recently returned from spending one month in Cape Town participating in a study abroad program. Each day this week I will post a new article exploring, in order, the social context, the defensive architecture I observed, government led low-income urban sprawl, Cape Town’s ingenious Minibus taxis, and a selection of […]

So far, my trip to South Africa is going great. I won’t have the opportunity to write much here until after I return in July, but I thought I would share a few highlight photos.
Our studio class is examining housing and economic issues in a small town about two hours from Cape Town called McGregor. […]