DOI: 10.5176/2425-0112_UPPD18.138
Authors: Jade K. Hoods and Amanda Breytenbach
Abstract:Over the past two decades, the inner city of Johannesburg has reclaimed economic activity and stimulated inner-city renewal through regeneration efforts led by the private sector. These entrepreneurial projects introduced communitycentered activities that commenced with small- and medium-scale projects and developed into vibrant creative cultural nodes in Johannesburg. In this paper, the Maboneng Precinct, one of the largest urban regeneration projects in the southern hemisphere, is discussed as a successful urban acupuncture point that has influenced or had a ripple effect on the surrounding urban context. The research therefore aims to understand how the urban node as a targeted acupuncture point has expanded over time from the original node and possibly also beyond its defined boundaries. This paper will explore and identify how the growth of the Maboneng Precinct has influenced the immediate and adjacent areas through focusing on the development of retail stores within and beyond the boundaries of the original acupuncture node. The research is conducted through the lens of interior design and focuses on retail interiors as a transformative instrument in the inner-city regeneration process of the Maboneng Precinct. Through incorporating a critical analysis of current literature and using theoretical paradigms such as urban acupuncture, placemaking and interiority in conjunction with interior design, the research proposes to present the interior design discipline as a contributor and role player in city planning and the inner-city regeneration process.
Keywords: Urban; Urban acupuncture; Interior Design; Placemaking; Interiority
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