| Abstrakt: |
COVID 19 has exposed the vulnerability of rural communities. The South African legacy of apartheid planning and infrastructural investment is more evident in the disparate and inequitable built environment. Schools form the communal core of rural communities, inherently serving as quasi-civic and communal places. However, spatial planning norms do not acknowledge the contextual nuances and specific challenges facing rural communities. This paper argues that a critical review and proposition for adaptive re-use of rural schools can assist in responding to the COVID 19 pandemic through redefined spatial functioning. Possible adaptable functions include places of awareness, counselling, accommodation of temporary health facilities, including testing, treatment, and quarantine. The paper asserts that rural schools can become beacons of access to Wi-Fi and online learning resources so that rural children and youth are not further prejudiced. Furthermore, the revitalisation of schools during the lockdown period may significantly mitigate the scourge of vandalisation of temporarily abandoned schools during the lockdown. The theory of the Right to Development, coupled with the theory of Social Justice, will form the conceptual basis of a proposal for flexible infrastructural development now and beyond COVID-19. The research will adopt a literature-based methodology, qualitatively analysing various concepts, models, and principles. This study can contribute significantly to a current lacuna in rural infrastructure development to cope and respond to social and economic challenges in the short and long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
