Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

‘Temporary’ relocation: spaces of contradiction in South African law

‘Temporary’ relocation: spaces of contradiction in South African law Purpose – This study aims to examine how temporary relocation areas (TRAs), urban forms that facilitate evictions and forced relocations, have been written into South African legal and governmental structures through contested urban planning and legal regimes. Design/methodology/approach – Proceeding from the macro-scale of TRAs spread across the nation, to the mezzo-scale of the Delft Symphony Way TRA in Cape Town, to the micro-scale of an individual “blikkie” (housing unit) within this camp, the article looks at the form and function of the TRA in urban resettlement practices. Special attention is given to relocation areas’ designation as “temporary” spaces and the consequences of this temporal designation in law and on the ground. Findings – These sites have developed as technologies for negotiating competing demands on the state, and their presence foregrounds some of the deeply rooted contradictions in post-apartheid South Africa. They are places both within and apart from the city, often managed by city officials according to municipal specifications, but located proximally to key urban amenities, utilities services and employment centers. They also place contradictory demands on their residents, for whom making the TRA liveable also legitimates it as a form of housing. Originality/value – This article uncovers several concerns about TRAs, including their inadequacy for long-term settlement, their problematic usage as tools of dispossession and the spatial-material-legal imbrications by which TRAs exist, persist and act back upon both individual lives and policy spheres. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Law in the Built Environment Emerald Publishing

‘Temporary’ relocation: spaces of contradiction in South African law

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/temporary-relocation-spaces-of-contradiction-in-south-african-law-E0ytmgVr7d

References (23)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN
1756-1450
DOI
10.1108/IJLBE-12-2013-0041
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to examine how temporary relocation areas (TRAs), urban forms that facilitate evictions and forced relocations, have been written into South African legal and governmental structures through contested urban planning and legal regimes. Design/methodology/approach – Proceeding from the macro-scale of TRAs spread across the nation, to the mezzo-scale of the Delft Symphony Way TRA in Cape Town, to the micro-scale of an individual “blikkie” (housing unit) within this camp, the article looks at the form and function of the TRA in urban resettlement practices. Special attention is given to relocation areas’ designation as “temporary” spaces and the consequences of this temporal designation in law and on the ground. Findings – These sites have developed as technologies for negotiating competing demands on the state, and their presence foregrounds some of the deeply rooted contradictions in post-apartheid South Africa. They are places both within and apart from the city, often managed by city officials according to municipal specifications, but located proximally to key urban amenities, utilities services and employment centers. They also place contradictory demands on their residents, for whom making the TRA liveable also legitimates it as a form of housing. Originality/value – This article uncovers several concerns about TRAs, including their inadequacy for long-term settlement, their problematic usage as tools of dispossession and the spatial-material-legal imbrications by which TRAs exist, persist and act back upon both individual lives and policy spheres.

Journal

International Journal of Law in the Built EnvironmentEmerald Publishing

Published: Apr 13, 2015

There are no references for this article.