The Apartheid City and Beyond: Urbanization and Social Change in South Africa / Edition 1

by David M. Smith

Overview

Apartheid as legislated racial separation substantially changed the South African urban scene. Race group areas' remodelled the cities, while the creation of homelands', mini-states and the pass laws' controlling population migration constrained urbanization itself. In the mid-1980s the old system - having proved economically inefficient and politically divisive - was replaced by a new policy of orderly urbanization'. This sought to accelerate industrialization and cultural change by relaxing the constraints on urbanization imposed by state planning. The result was further political instability and a quarter of the black (or African) population housed in shanty towns. Negotiations between the Nationalist government and the African National Congress are working towards the end of the old apartheid system. Yet the negation of apartheid is only the beginning of the creation of a new society. The vested interests and entrenched ideologies behind the existing pattern of property ownership survive the abolition of apartheid laws. Beyond race, class and ethnicity will continue to divide urban life. If the cities of South Africa are to serve all the people, the accelerating process of urbanization must be brought under control and harnessed to a new purpose. The contributors to this volume draw on a broad range of experience and disciplines to present a variety of perspectives on urban South Africa.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415076012
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/02/1992
Pages:	326
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

Introduction PART ONE Background 1 Dispossession, exploitation and struggle: an historical overview of South African urbanization 2 Local and regional government: from rigidity to crisis to flux PART TWO Housing and community under apartheid 3 The apartheid state and Black housing struggles 4 State intervention in housing provision in the 1980s 5 Class struggle over the built environment in Johannesburg’s coloured areas 6 The ‘spatial impress’ of the central and local states: the Group Areas Act in Durban 7 The destruction of Clairwood: a case study on the transformation of communal living space 8 Urban (mis)management? A case study of the effects of orderly urbanization on Duncan Village PART THREE Informal settlement 9 Winterveld: an urban interface settlement on the Pretoria metropolitan fringe 10 Khayelitsha: new settlement forms in the Cape Peninsula 11 The road to ‘Egoli’: urbanization histories from a Johannesburg squatter settlement 12 Informal settlement: theory versus practice in KwaZulu/Natal PART FOUR Servicing the cities 13 The absorptive capacity of the informal sector in the South African city 14 Travelling under apartheid 15 Changing state policy and the Black taxi industry in Soweto 16 The Regional Services Council debacle in Durban 17 Tourism and development needs in the Durban Region 18 Urbanization and health: evidence from Cape Town PART FIVE Towards a post-apartheid city 19 The post-apartheid city: hopes, possibilities, and harsh realities 20 Urbanization and the South African city: a manifesto for change 21 Post-apartheid housing policy 22 Contradictions in the transition from urban apartheid: barriers to gentrification in Johannesburg 23 ‘Turning grey’: how Westville was won 24 Power, space and the city: historical reflections on apartheid and post-apartheid urban orders 25 Lessons from the Harare, Zimbabwe, experience

Editorial Reviews

‘An enlightening book: essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in South Africa - not just its urbanisation process.' - Geography

‘The book represents an important addition to the internationally available literature on South Africa ... and a useful resource for undergraduate and postgraduate courses. It should be widely read.' - Geographical Journal

‘This book is a fine scholarly contribution to the literature on South Africa and excellent value in paperback; with the academic pedigree of its authors and editor it can hardly fail to be otherwise.' - Regional Studies

‘The book is a valuable addition ... It includes some excellent pieces which should be widely read ... The eclecticism of the contributions is a fair representation both of the ‘state of the art' and, indirectly, of some of the dilemmas which will confront post-apartheid planners.' - Urban Studies

From the Publisher