
The Interplay between Cultural Heritage and Urban Morphology: A Case Study of uMlazi Cultural Landscape
Issue: Vol.6 No.6 Article 22 pp.945 – 962
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20256622 | Published online 23rd May, 2025
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Historic urban areas are a crucial component of urban heritage, arguably embodying the collective memory of urban development and often possessing distinctive urban textures and cultural attributes. This study analyses the relationship between intangible cultural heritage and urban morphology in uMlazi, a township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A dual theoretical framework informs the study. Through the dual lenses of the cultural landscape model and space syntax theory focused on a dynamic township environment, the study examined how intangible cultural heritage in open spaces and public amenities intersects with urban morphology to potentially shape community identity, social dynamics, and the built environment. The study explored how cultural heritage is crucial in defining uMlazi’s cultural landscape and influencing urban form and structure. It further examined the influence of key factors that impact the interplay between intangible cultural heritage and urban morphology, including historical context and urban planning policies. The study’s findings suggest that cultural heritage and indigenous knowledge systems play an integral role in urban planning and development initiatives to preserve community identity. The findings contribute to the growing research on cultural heritage and urban morphology, offering insights into township contexts’ unique challenges and opportunities.
Keywords: Intangible Cultural Heritage, Urban Morphology, Public Amenities, Cultural Landscape.
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Leonard Chitongo (PhD) is a hardworking and self-motivated individual who is always excited to face new challenges in his academic and professional career. He is a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Social Sciences, College of Humanities at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. He is strongly interested in researching issues that affect human and social development. He has published several articles on rural and urban resilience, housing, livelihoods, and public policy. He can be contacted on vachitongo@gmail.com and his author profile can be found on https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0106-8264
Maheshvari Naidu is Full Professor in Anthropology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She is currently the academic liaison and coordinator for international partnerships and global engagements in the School of Social Sciences. She was appointed as six-month visiting professor at the Forum Internationale Wissenscaft at the University of Bonn in 2022/2023 where she was engaged in a project on Internationalisation in Higher Education. She has supervised a large cohort of Postgraduate students and Post-Doctoral Fellows and has graduated 15 Masters and 27 Doctoral students. She can be reached on naiduu@ukzn.ac.za and publications viewed at https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0398-3834.
Chitongo, Leonard and Maheshvari Naidu. “The Interplay between Cultural Heritage and Urban Morphology: A Case Study of uMlazi Cultural Landscape,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 6, no.6 (2025): 945 – 962. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20256622
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).









