A grounded theory approach to community-based facilities management : the context of Cape Town, South Africa

Michell, KA

Abstract

This thesis examines the role that Facilities Management (FM) can play in assisting
local government to achieve optimal and sustainable land uses. The focus of the
study is on South African local government, and in particular Cape Town. Local
government in South Africa is required in terms of legislation to promote, inter alia,
social and local economic development and to encourage community participation.
Particular emphasis is to be placed on communities that were disenfranchised under
the apartheid system. The central premise is that a social constructivist perspective
of FM is necessary in order to assist local government in the attainment of
sustainable human settlements. FM literature lacks a coherent theoretical framework
that guides the practice of FM in the public sector. In addition, a scrutiny of local
government policy within South Africa points to a limited understanding of the role
that facilities, particularly community facilities, can play in leveraging the social and
economic outcomes that are required of local government. A grounded theory
approach was adopted within a social constructivist paradigm. Field data were
collected using unstructured interviews with 60 respondents from within government
(local, provincial and quasi-); the private sector; non-government organisations; and
the community. The data show that, while a socially-constructed view of FM has the
potential to act as a mechanism for local government to achieve its constitutional
mandate, it is constrained by the structure of local government and an inability to
harness community resources. A key implication of the findings is that a social and
community perspective of FM is necessary in the management of community facilities
in the local government context in South Africa. The contribution of this socially-
constructed theory to FM is twofold. Firstly, it introduces a change in the scale of the
application of FM theory from a micro-level focus on the building, to a macro-level
focus at an urban precinct scale. Secondly, it proposes a theory to the relationship
between space, place and people within the context of public sector FM.

Citation

Michell, K. A grounded theory approach to community-based facilities management : the context of Cape Town, South Africa. (Thesis). Salford : University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Oct 3, 2012
• Award Date: Jan 1, 2010