Changing Cape Town

Changing Cape Town examines urban dynamics and urban policy in Cape Town during the political transition period of 1990-1994, enabling the reader to see how changes in urban policy and the emerging new urban landscape are crucially linked to the political compromises that allowed South Africa's negotiated political transition. The book examines the toleration of almost uncontrolled squatting through which sections of the poor seized well located pieces of urban land sometimes in former "white" suburbs, focusing on two short case studies and one in-depth case study. The information gathered draws extensively from interviews, newspaper articles, and the unpublished internal documents of the municipalities, planning and civic organizations that vividly trace the interactions between the informal settlements and the suburbs. In addition, the book provides an empirical analysis of desegregation in Cape Town, including the extent and location of this desegregation, while noting urban changes in other parts of the country. The role of urban planners in the process is also examined and policy suggestions for planners and policymakers involved with residential desegregation are offered.