MIXED HOUSING DEVELOPMENT, INCLUSIVITY, AND URBAN SUSTAINABILITY NEXUS IN THE CITIES OF THE GLOBAL SOUTH: A SYSTEMATIC BIBLIOMETRIC REVIEW

Abstract

Faced with significant challenges, the creation of urban environments in the Global South that foster socio-economic development and upward mobility, access to economic opportunities, efficient use of scarce resources, and social cohesion is fundamental in achieving global and regional sustainability objectives. The South African urban context, in need of significant spatial transformation, mixed housing development, and the elements inherent to its inclusivity, has been identified as an instrument to stimulate social, economic, and environmental sustainability in a divided and fragmented environment. These developments are characterised by heterogeneous housing typologies, medium- to high-density residential layouts, provision of public amenities, and unique neighbourhood designs. In addition to potential challenges related to mixed use development, there is also uncertainty regarding the ability of said developments to foster broad urban sustainability. Accordingly, this research investigates the interface between mixed housing development, inclusivity, and urban sustainability, with the objective to determine their relationship and the extent to this has been studied in the developing country context. The method used to achieve the objectives of the research is a systematic bibliometric review of existing publications on mixed housing development. Findings indicate that there is limited research on the direct link between mixed housing development, urban sustainability, and inclusivity, especially in the context of the Global South. In addition, existing mixed housing development research has a transdisciplinary character with various research clusters, and that research on related themes have gained prominence in recent years. The findings motivate further study of the relationship between the mentioned themes in the South African, and by extension, developing country context, and that broad policy perspectives ought to be considered in future research initiatives.