Graffiti has flourished in the post-apartheid period in Johannesburg, South Africa, in a context where investment in the inner city carries large risks and the city struggles to support arts and culture. In the Maboneng precinct, graffiti and street art have become prolific alongside the recent redevelopment of the neighbourhood. Embracing the global creative city discourse, property developers in Maboneng have co-opted public art, street art and graffiti to brand space and make place, echoing instances of artwashing in other cities around the world. However, Maboneng’s first street art festival was initiated by artists among several other artist-led creative activities. Using mapping and photography, we combine visual and spatial analyses to show the variety and concentration of creative visual inscriptions in Maboneng. Our analysis demonstrates how artists have responded to the opportunities for increased visibility generated through the process of redevelopment. Mapping graffiti and street art reveals a hybrid space that combines both sanctioned and unsanctioned visual inscriptions and shows how urban redevelopment can enable a platform and audience for creative endeavours. Our research shows we need a more nuanced understanding of the potential impacts of implementing the creative city discourse in cities such as Johannesburg in the global South.

Equitable access to green spaces is essential in cities, especially those with complex socio-economic challenges. This study considers how socio-economic characteristics influence traditional park access measures, using a geographically weighted regression (GWR) to analyse park access equity in Johannesburg. The use of a spatially sensitive statistical approach enables a more nuanced analysis of equity than previous studies have permitted in Johannesburg, thus empowering better park access planning. The method considers the number of parks and distance to the nearest park as important access measures. The study shows a complex relationship between different interpretations of park access relative to various socio-economic considerations, such as population density, unemployment rates and education levels, and that inequity in access to park space according to these measures varies across the city. The findings offer an opportunity for an improved understanding of local environmental justice and could potentially inform more equitable park planning and management policies in cities.

Post-mining landscapes are multifaceted, comprising multiple characteristics, more so in big metropolitan regions such as Gauteng, South Africa. This paper evaluates the efficacy of Fuzzy overlay and Random Forest classification for integrating and representing post-mining landscapes and how this influences the perception of these landscapes. To this end, this paper uses GISs, MCDA, Fuzzy overlay, and Random Forest classification models to integrate post-mining landscape characteristics derived from the literature. It assesses the results using an accuracy assessment, area statistics, and correlation analysis. The findings from this study indicate that both Fuzzy overlay and Random Forest classification are applicable for integrating multiple landscape characteristics at varying degrees. The resultant maps show some similarity in highlighting mine waste cutting across the province. However, the Fuzzy overlay map has higher accuracy and extends over a larger footprint owing to the model’s use of a range of 0 to 1. This shows both areas of low and high memberships, as well as partial membership as intermediate values. This model also demonstrates strong relationships with regions characterised by landscape transformation and waste and weak relationships with areas of economic decline and inaccessibility. In contrast, the Random Forrest classification model, though also useful for classification purposes, presents a lower accuracy score and smaller footprint. Moreover, it uses discrete values and does not highlight some areas of interaction between landscape characteristics. The Fuzzy overlay model was found to be more favourable for integrating post-mining landscape characteristics in this study as it captures the nuances in the composition of this landscape. These findings highlight the importance of mapping methods such as Fuzzy overlay for an integrated representation and shaping the perception and understanding of the locality and extent of complex landscapes such as post-mining landscapes. Methods such as Fuzzy overlay can support research, planning, and decision-making by providing a nuanced representation of how multiple landscape characteristics are integrated and interact in space and how this influences public perception and policy outcomes.