Inequality and Life Fulfilment

A social, cultural and spatial exploration of the Greater Gaborone Region

Master thesis (2023)

Authors

D.J. Watchorn Architecture and the Built Environment

Contributors

R.C. Rocco de Campos Pereira Spatial Planning and Strategy - Architecture and the Built Environment (supervisor 1)
Maurice Harteveld Urban Design - Architecture and the Built Environment (supervisor 2)
Faculty
Architecture and the Built Environment
Copyright: © 2023 Dan Watchorn
Capabilities Approach Spatial Inequality Life Fulfilment Economic Inequality Cultural Philosophy
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Published Date

26-06-2023

Language

English

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Faculty

Architecture and the Built Environment

Abstract

The story of modern Botswana is that of dualities. At the time of independence in 1966, it was the second poorest country in the world in terms of GDP. Since then, it has seen explosive economic growth and accompanying improvements in human development. It is now ranks third in sub-saharan Africa in both GDP per capita and HDI. This impressive record, however, does not tell the full story. Botswana is the 10th most economically unequal country in the world and is ranked 132nd out of 137 surveyed countries in the World Happiness Report.
This project seeks to explore the relationships between the urban system, inequality and life fulfilment by analyzing the spatial and societal systems active both in the present day and in the traditional/pre-colonial era. An anthropological and philosophical lens is used throughout the analysis in order to distill the value systems that have underpinned life in these different historical eras. These value systems, in turn, reveal the perspective through which people have been experiencing their environments, which helps to explain why this concept of life fulfilment inequality is present here. There is a clear disconnect between the cultural and historical makeup of society in Botswana and the modern systems, spaces and institutions which govern everyday life.
Thirteen principles for a new urban system are then proposed, which when taken together, attempt to define a system which prioritizes economic/socio-spatial equity and the maximization of life fulfilment. Design demonstrations are created to imagine how these principles could be translated into space.