Economies and employment in growing and declining urban peripheries in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 391-410
Author(s):  
Alison Todes ◽  
Jennifer Houghton
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Economic Change ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Urban Edge ◽  
Industrial Decline ◽  
Urban Periphery ◽  
The City ◽  
Eastern Edge

Urban peripheral growth takes diverse forms, including the development of new economic centralities, raising questions about access to employment for residents, especially in contexts where unemployment is high and economies are shifting towards more skilled and service-related employment. This article explores two case studies of residents’ experience of access to employment close to economic centralities on the urban edge in South Africa: the growing northern eThekwini area (Durban), which has developed major retail and office complexes since the 1990s and more recently a new airport and industrial spaces, and a declining industrial decentralisation point established in the 1980s on the eastern edge of the City of Tshwane (Pretoria). It shows the severe impact of industrial decline in the Tshwane case, but while unemployment is less in northern eThekwini, access to employment for low-income residents in these areas is still very limited and constrained. Experiences are however differentiated, suggesting a complexity of outcomes. The cases point to the vulnerability of these economic centralities to economic change and the limits of new developments on the urban periphery to addressing unemployment. These findings have implications for the current advocacy of ‘new cities’ in economic contexts such as South Africa.

scholarly journals Fig. 7. Maps of census tracts in the City of Johannesburg district municipality. Census tracts are colored by relative street greenness (A, D), income (B) and race (C, E). The height of census tracts in D and E represents income. Empty space within the city represents non-residential areas that were not accounted for in the 2011 census.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zander S Venter ◽  
Charlie M. Shackleton ◽  
Francini Van Staden ◽  
Odirile Sebogoe ◽  
Vanessa A Masterson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Empty Space ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Census Tracts ◽  
Urban South ◽  
The City

<p>Urban green infrastructure provides ecosystem services that are essential to human wellbeing. A dearth of national-scale assessments in the Global South has precluded the ability to explore how political regimes, such as the forced racial segregation in South Africa during and after Apartheid, have influenced the extent of and access to green infrastructure over time. We investigate whether there are disparities in green infrastructure distributions across race and income geographies in urban South Africa. Using open-source satellite imagery and geographic information, along with national census statistics, we find that public and private green infrastructure is more abundant, accessible, greener and more treed in high-income relative to low-income areas, and in areas where previously advantaged racial groups (i.e. White citizens) reside.</p><br>

scholarly journals Modeling Emissions Sources and Characterization in a Dense Low-Income Township Near Industrial Zones and Mine Dumps (Case of Tsakane, South Africa).

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shonisani Singo ◽  
Jean Mulopo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sulfur Dioxide ◽  
Nitrogen Dioxide ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Clustering Algorithm ◽  
Algorithm Analysis ◽  
Atmospheric Concentration ◽  
Sources Of Pollution ◽  
Hourly Data ◽  
The City

Abstract The sources of pollution in Tsakane township, which is situated within the City of Ekurhuleni in the province of Gauteng, South Africa, are investigated in this paper. The City of Ekurhuleni has the most industrial activities reported on South Africa's National Atmospheric Emission Inventory System (NAEIS), accounting for 40% of all listed activities in the country. The problem of suburban air pollution in South Africa is mainly associated with dense low-income areas like townships. The aim of this paper was to investigate atmospheric concentration correlation parameters, emissions roses, and probability modelling functions in order to analyse and classify significant emission sources affecting the township. Sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and PM10 were the focus of the investigation. The probability functions for identifying and characterizing unknown or hidden sources of pollution were developed using hourly data. Furthermore, K-clustering algorithm analysis technique was used to provide graphical context for sources. PM10, ozone, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide have all been identified as having directional pollution sources that are problematic and the results provide baseline data for a detailed understanding of current emission levels and possible sources.

scholarly journals Fig. 6. Maps of census tracts in the City of Cape Town district municipality. Census tracts are coloured by relative street greenness (A, D), income (B) and race (C, E). The height of census tracts in D and E represents income. Empty space within the city represents non-residential areas that were not accounted for in the 2011 census.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zander S Venter ◽  
Charlie M. Shackleton ◽  
Francini Van Staden ◽  
Odirile Sebogoe ◽  
Vanessa A Masterson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Empty Space ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Census Tracts ◽  
Urban South ◽  
The City

<p>Urban green infrastructure provides ecosystem services that are essential to human wellbeing. A dearth of national-scale assessments in the Global South has precluded the ability to explore how political regimes, such as the forced racial segregation in South Africa during and after Apartheid, have influenced the extent of and access to green infrastructure over time. We investigate whether there are disparities in green infrastructure distributions across race and income geographies in urban South Africa. Using open-source satellite imagery and geographic information, along with national census statistics, we find that public and private green infrastructure is more abundant, accessible, greener and more treed in high-income relative to low-income areas, and in areas where previously advantaged racial groups (i.e. White citizens) reside.</p>

scholarly journals Fig. 7. Maps of census tracts in the City of Johannesburg district municipality. Census tracts are colored by relative street greenness (A, D), income (B) and race (C, E). The height of census tracts in D and E represents income. Empty space within the city represents non-residential areas that were not accounted for in the 2011 census.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zander S Venter ◽  
Charlie M. Shackleton ◽  
Francini Van Staden ◽  
Odirile Sebogoe ◽  
Vanessa A Masterson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Empty Space ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Census Tracts ◽  
Urban South ◽  
The City

<p>Urban green infrastructure provides ecosystem services that are essential to human wellbeing. A dearth of national-scale assessments in the Global South has precluded the ability to explore how political regimes, such as the forced racial segregation in South Africa during and after Apartheid, have influenced the extent of and access to green infrastructure over time. We investigate whether there are disparities in green infrastructure distributions across race and income geographies in urban South Africa. Using open-source satellite imagery and geographic information, along with national census statistics, we find that public and private green infrastructure is more abundant, accessible, greener and more treed in high-income relative to low-income areas, and in areas where previously advantaged racial groups (i.e. White citizens) reside.</p><br>

scholarly journals Fig. 6. Maps of census tracts in the City of Cape Town district municipality. Census tracts are coloured by relative street greenness (A, D), income (B) and race (C, E). The height of census tracts in D and E represents income. Empty space within the city represents non-residential areas that were not accounted for in the 2011 census.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zander S Venter ◽  
Charlie M. Shackleton ◽  
Francini Van Staden ◽  
Odirile Sebogoe ◽  
Vanessa A Masterson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Empty Space ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Census Tracts ◽  
Urban South ◽  
The City

<p>Urban green infrastructure provides ecosystem services that are essential to human wellbeing. A dearth of national-scale assessments in the Global South has precluded the ability to explore how political regimes, such as the forced racial segregation in South Africa during and after Apartheid, have influenced the extent of and access to green infrastructure over time. We investigate whether there are disparities in green infrastructure distributions across race and income geographies in urban South Africa. Using open-source satellite imagery and geographic information, along with national census statistics, we find that public and private green infrastructure is more abundant, accessible, greener and more treed in high-income relative to low-income areas, and in areas where previously advantaged racial groups (i.e. White citizens) reside.</p>

The Living Community Challenge for Environmental and Urban Sustainability

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Krinos
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Urban Sustainability ◽  
Certification Program ◽  
Certification Programs ◽  
Living Building Challenge ◽  
Green Certification

The Living Community Challenge (LCC) is a green certification program that, unlike most certification programs, is geared toward whole neighborhoods as opposed to singular buildings. Unfortunately, no existing communities have achieved Living Community Challenge certification. Still, there are many neighborhoods utilizing the ideals – known as petals – of the LCC in attempts to become more sustainable. The Living Building Challenge (LBC), the parent certification for the LCC, has seen more success than the LCC and will provide further research on the implications of its criterion. This paper will look at the hypothetical variables of the LCC, the communities trying to achieve these variables, and how elements of it could be used in relation to impoverished communities. Through case studies on groups and individuals attempting LCC and LBC certification, specifically Bend, Oregon and the BLOCK Project, the potential of the research becomes evident. This paper seeks to demonstrate how the LCC could be applied specifically in low-income areas in Gainesville, FL without achieving all the requirements of each petal.

Transnational Habitus and Sociability in the City: Zimbabwean Migrants’ Experiences in Johannesburg, South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khangelani Moyo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Field Research ◽  
The South ◽  
Economic Networks ◽  
Social Field ◽  
Transnational Migrants ◽  
Telephone Calls ◽  
The City

Drawing on field research and a survey of 150 Zimbabwean migrants in Johannesburg, this paper explores the dimensions of migrants’ transnational experiences in the urban space. I discuss the use of communication platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook as well as other means such as telephone calls in fostering the embedding of transnational migrants within both the Johannesburg and the Zimbabwean socio-economic environments. I engage this migrant-embedding using Bourdieusian concepts of “transnational habitus” and “transnational social field,” which are migration specific variations of Bourdieu’s original concepts of “habitus” and “social field.” In deploying these Bourdieusian conceptual tools, I observe that the dynamics of South–South migration as observed in the Zimbabwean migrants are different to those in the South–North migration streams and it is important to move away from using the same lens in interpreting different realities. For Johannesburg-based migrants to operate within the socio-economic networks produced in South Africa and in Zimbabwe, they need to actively acquire a transnational habitus. I argue that migrants’ cultivation of networks in Johannesburg is instrumental, purposive, and geared towards achieving specific and immediate goals, and latently leads to the development and sustenance of flexible forms of permanency in the transnational urban space.

Developing Country Applications of Molecular Farming: Case Studies in South Africa and Argentina

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (31) ◽  
pp. 5612-5621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Rybicki ◽  
Inga Hitzeroth ◽  
Ann Meyers ◽  
Maria Santos ◽  
Andres Wigdorovitz
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Molecular Farming

How a Lingua Franca Spreads

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Mc Laughlin
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Atlantic Coast ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Everyday Language ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Speakers Of Other Languages ◽  
Realistic View ◽  
Atlantic Language ◽  
The City

This chapter considers how Wolof, an Atlantic language spoken in Senegal, has become an important lingua franca, and how French has contributed to the ascent of Wolof. The nature of social relations between Africans and French in cities along the Atlantic coast in the 18th and 19th centuries were such that a prestigious urban way of speaking Wolof that made liberal use of French borrowings became the language of the city. As an index of urban belonging, opportunity, and modernity, Wolof was viewed as a useful language, a trend that has continued up to the present. Four case studies illustrate how the use of Wolof facilitates mobility for speakers of other languages in Senegal. By drawing a distinction between the formal and informal language sectors, this chapter offers a more realistic view of everyday language practices in Senegal, where Wolof is the dominant language.

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