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Competing urban agendas in South Africa

Competing urban agendas in South Africa RICHARD TOMLINSON A common perception of the South African economy is that it is relatively prosperous and that now, with democracy pending, the country will enjoy a bright future. This is not the reality. Reflective of an economy which has been declining in per capita terms for over a decade, South Africa was recently reclassified by the World Bank from an upper middle-income to a lower middle-income country. Symptomatic of the decline is that formal black un- employment now exceeds 40 per cent. About a half the black population, three-quarters of the country's total, live in poverty. This poverty, moreover, is rendered all the more bitter by the fact that South Africa is distinguished by an exceptionally high level of inequality. Increasingly, these problems are urban problems. The level of urbanisation of the country's races are: Asian - 91 per cent, black - 50 per cent, 'coloured' 81 per cent, and white - 89 per cent. South Africa is experiencing the urbani- sation of a low-income population, the majority of whom can afford to pay neither for formal housing nor for urban services as the reader might conceive of them. However, the issues are not solely one of economic http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Urban Forum Springer Journals

Competing urban agendas in South Africa

Urban Forum , Volume 3 (1) – Apr 3, 2009

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Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright
Subject
Social Sciences; Human Geography; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; Population Economics; Political Science; Sociology, general
ISSN
1015-3802
eISSN
1874-6330
DOI
10.1007/BF03036542
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

RICHARD TOMLINSON A common perception of the South African economy is that it is relatively prosperous and that now, with democracy pending, the country will enjoy a bright future. This is not the reality. Reflective of an economy which has been declining in per capita terms for over a decade, South Africa was recently reclassified by the World Bank from an upper middle-income to a lower middle-income country. Symptomatic of the decline is that formal black un- employment now exceeds 40 per cent. About a half the black population, three-quarters of the country's total, live in poverty. This poverty, moreover, is rendered all the more bitter by the fact that South Africa is distinguished by an exceptionally high level of inequality. Increasingly, these problems are urban problems. The level of urbanisation of the country's races are: Asian - 91 per cent, black - 50 per cent, 'coloured' 81 per cent, and white - 89 per cent. South Africa is experiencing the urbani- sation of a low-income population, the majority of whom can afford to pay neither for formal housing nor for urban services as the reader might conceive of them. However, the issues are not solely one of economic

Journal

Urban ForumSpringer Journals

Published: Apr 3, 2009

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