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Ibuyambo: reconnecting rural Xhosa people with the natural environment in the contemporary time

In the history of rural Xhosa people lies a rich connection between the people and the natural environment. Access to the natural environment provided a sense of wellbeing, a link to ancestral spirits, a location for religious rituals and a wealth of culturally inspired uses within the landscape. Th...

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Main Author: Sihlahla, Athenkosi
Other Authors: Hindes, Clinton
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics 2021
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access_status_str Open Access
author Sihlahla, Athenkosi
author2 Hindes, Clinton
author_browse Hindes, Clinton
Sihlahla, Athenkosi
author_facet Hindes, Clinton
Sihlahla, Athenkosi
author_sort Sihlahla, Athenkosi
collection Thesis
description In the history of rural Xhosa people lies a rich connection between the people and the natural environment. Access to the natural environment provided a sense of wellbeing, a link to ancestral spirits, a location for religious rituals and a wealth of culturally inspired uses within the landscape. This connection underlies certain cultural activities and functions such as religious and traditional rituals, fuel wood collection, water collection, and farming. However, this incredible connection is under threat due to urbanization, environmental conservation strategies, Betterment planning and the introduction of new developments. Betterment planning appears to be the major cause of the isolation of rural Xhosa people from the natural environment. This study investigates how Betterment planning (a conservation scheme that was implemented in the 1930's, aiming at improving rural black people's lives), impacted the rural Xhosa people's social and cultural relationship with the natural environment. The study draws attention to how people lived before Betterment planning, in relation to how people are living now. The aim of the project is to generate a design that will improve contemporary rural Xhosa people's lives, while reconnecting them with the natural environment. The design focuses on interventions that may facilitate the strengthening of rural Xhosa peoples social and cultural ties to the natural environment as well as to revive land production, land use and appreciation of cultural ecosystem services. The overall concept of the design derives from a historically familiar Xhosa homestead layout and the relationship of its domestic spaces. The case study of this project is Shixini village, Willowvale.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:28.055Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2021
publishDateRange 2021
publishDateSort 2021
publisher School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics
publisherStr School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/35446 Ibuyambo: reconnecting rural Xhosa people with the natural environment in the contemporary time Sihlahla, Athenkosi Hindes, Clinton Landscape Architecture In the history of rural Xhosa people lies a rich connection between the people and the natural environment. Access to the natural environment provided a sense of wellbeing, a link to ancestral spirits, a location for religious rituals and a wealth of culturally inspired uses within the landscape. This connection underlies certain cultural activities and functions such as religious and traditional rituals, fuel wood collection, water collection, and farming. However, this incredible connection is under threat due to urbanization, environmental conservation strategies, Betterment planning and the introduction of new developments. Betterment planning appears to be the major cause of the isolation of rural Xhosa people from the natural environment. This study investigates how Betterment planning (a conservation scheme that was implemented in the 1930's, aiming at improving rural black people's lives), impacted the rural Xhosa people's social and cultural relationship with the natural environment. The study draws attention to how people lived before Betterment planning, in relation to how people are living now. The aim of the project is to generate a design that will improve contemporary rural Xhosa people's lives, while reconnecting them with the natural environment. The design focuses on interventions that may facilitate the strengthening of rural Xhosa peoples social and cultural ties to the natural environment as well as to revive land production, land use and appreciation of cultural ecosystem services. The overall concept of the design derives from a historically familiar Xhosa homestead layout and the relationship of its domestic spaces. The case study of this project is Shixini village, Willowvale. 2021-12-10T08:40:57Z 2021-12-10T08:40:57Z 2020 2021-12-09T10:50:21Z Master Thesis Masters MLA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35446 eng application/pdf School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment
spellingShingle Landscape Architecture
Sihlahla, Athenkosi
Ibuyambo: reconnecting rural Xhosa people with the natural environment in the contemporary time
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Ibuyambo: reconnecting rural Xhosa people with the natural environment in the contemporary time
title_full Ibuyambo: reconnecting rural Xhosa people with the natural environment in the contemporary time
title_fullStr Ibuyambo: reconnecting rural Xhosa people with the natural environment in the contemporary time
title_full_unstemmed Ibuyambo: reconnecting rural Xhosa people with the natural environment in the contemporary time
title_short Ibuyambo: reconnecting rural Xhosa people with the natural environment in the contemporary time
title_sort ibuyambo reconnecting rural xhosa people with the natural environment in the contemporary time
topic Landscape Architecture
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/35446
work_keys_str_mv AT sihlahlaathenkosi ibuyamboreconnectingruralxhosapeoplewiththenaturalenvironmentinthecontemporarytime