PARALLEL SESSION A: MELTING POTS: SOCIAL DIVERSITY,
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CAPITAL AND COLLECTIVE ACTION IN URBAN AREAS
RESIDENTIAL RESPONSES TO FEAR (OF CRIME, PLUS) IN TWO
CAPE TOWN SUBURBS:
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE POST-APARTHEID CITY. CHARLOTTE LEMANSKI, UNIVERSITY
OF OXFORD
This paper addresses citizens' physical and emotional responses to fear
of crime (plus) in post-apartheid urban South Africa. Using primary research
undertaken in two Cape Town residential suburbs in 2004 the impact of
fear on citizen's lifestyle choices is demonstrated. In the first suburb
the response to fear manifests in the immense physical security of a gated
community, with residents choosing to live in a protective enclave in
order to protect themselves and their family from the uncontrolled (and
hence feared) 'outside' world. This citizen response is largely a reaction
to general feelings of insecurity based on the changing nature of South
Africa’s urban social dynamics rather than specific events or perpetrators.
In contrast, residents of the second suburb are reacting strongly to the
direct presence of assumed perpetrators in their residential midst; that
is, the mass of refugees from elsewhere in Africa that globalisation and
the end of apartheid have brought to South Africa. In this area, residents
have created an ‘Improvement District’ in order to 'upgrade'
the area and thus remove crime and its (real or imagined) perpetrators,
and hence lessen their immense and immediate fears. Fear in this suburb
is very strong and is directed at a specific target rather than a general
feeling. In particular, a strong feeling of helplessness amongst residents
that is linked to racial dynamics was identified. Although markedly different
responses to crime (and its associated fear), citizen responses in both
suburbs focus on displacing both crime and individuals (whether real or
imagined perpetrators) elsewhere - predominately into socio-economically
weaker areas. Thus, the fear of crime (plus) is being used to exaggerate
racial and class divisions in Cape Town, which has strong implications
for urban and social dynamics and subsequent urban policy in the post-apartheid
city.
THE GLUE THAT HOLDS IT TOGETHER: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS
IN INFORMAL LAND ACCESS PROCESSES IN KAMPALA, UGANDA.
Emmanual Nkurunziza, International Development Department, School of Public
Policy, University of Birmingham
Recent research on urban land in Africa and most other developing countries
seems to point to two important issues. First, there is indisputable evidence
that the majority of the households in these urban areas access land through
mechanisms that violate state institutions, leading to informal settlements
of varying degrees of illegality. Second, there is emerging consensus
that the manner in which these settlements evolve and develop is not anarchic
but is rather structured and regulated by social institutions whose relative
success in delivering large quantities of land for urban development can
be attributed to their social legitimacy. This, in turn, is an outcome
of trust, defined as faith in the integrity or honesty of the parties
to a transaction. Based on recent empirical work undertaken in Kampala,
this paper argues that social networks, based on ties of identity, affinity
and affiliation, are key to engendering trust in, and increasing the efficacy
of, informal institutions. Through the lens of contemporary land access
processes in the city’s informal settlements, the paper highlights
the critical role played by social networks, both horizontal and vertical,
in buttressing the social institutions that underpin and regulate such
processes.
SURVIVAL ON THE EDGE OF EXCLUSION: THE STATE, SQUATTERS
AND URBAN SPACE IN ERITREA
Petros B. Ogbazghi, Ph.D Student, University of Tilburg
A common inheritance of many colonial cities in sub-Saharan Africa was
the process of social exclusion, involving a racial divide between ‘whites’
and ‘indigeni’. Ever since, the city of Asmara, the capital
of Eritrea – a north-African country, remained a dual city inhabited
by both the mainstream with a relative access to basic services and the
relegated shantytowns with a complete lack of services. Has this legacy
been carried on and perhaps aggravated in contemporary Eritrea? If yes,
how? And why?
By using the social exclusion approach, the article aims to understand
the shelter crisis of the squatters, in a dynamic way by analyzing the
neighborhoods concerned, the socio-political and institutional contexts,
and the processes of these relationships, both in historical and contemporary
terms. Among the main analytical findings of the article include that
the squatters are the socially excluded segments of society who, as consumers
lack access to public services; as citizens, political rights; and as
producers from economic activities, as a result of both structural and
contingent factors. The article concludes that when states expand the
ideals of political-will to prioritize social concerns over insular political
goals by treating local authorities as partners, and allowing urban residents
a voice in the way they manage their socio-economic life that the shelter
crisis can be holistically addressed.
PARALLEL SESSION B: PEOPLE, PLACES AND PARTNERSHIPS:
LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCES AND PROSPECTS IN URBAN AND RURAL
AREAS
INTRA-CITY DIFFERENCES AMONG STREET TRADERS - NETWORKS,
PLACE AND POLITICS.R. Bhuvanewari, London School of Economics
This paper is about the factors influencing where street traders (i.e.
hawkers) choose to trade in a city. It explores the question, ‘why
differences arise amongst hawkers in finding a place for their trading
and in holding on to it’? Drawing on case studies from several wards
in Bangalore, this paper explores the concepts of ‘identity’,
‘place’ and ‘networks’
Urban studies and anthropological and sociological literature on hawkers
suggest the following:
There is very little information about hawkers trading places in different
cities. Cross (1998) found hawkers traded from a variety of places in
Mexico city. Their trading places had provided them with different economic
opportunities.
Urban hawkers are heterogeneous in terms of their ethnicity, religion,
caste and gender (Lessinger, 2001; Alexandra and Alexandra, 2001). Their
scale of hawking is not uniform (DasGupta, 1998)
Identity’ affects individual’s opportunities to claim
resources, including places in a city (Jacob and Fincher, 1998; Watson,
2000). Baab (2001) found that hawkers from inferior race, and gender
traded on locations with fewer business opportunities and security of
tenure (Baab, 2001).
Hawkers engage in political process to access a location and to defend
it when faced with a threat of eviction. Studies on women in hawking
note that there is a gap in understanding about hawkers political networks
(Seglimann, 2001).
Hawkers depend on their social networks for entering the market and
for sourcing financial and material resources (Baab, 2001; Seglimann,
2001). However, there is a disagreement about whether hawkers rely on
their social networks for finding a place for their trading. (Singerman,
1996 and Bayat, 1997; 2001). Similarly, the extent to which hawkers
draw on their social networks for defending their trading places is
unclear.
In addition, the concept of identity is complex (Jacob, 1998). Whilst
individuals try to draw on their identity flexibly, they also have to
negotiate with the identity imposed on them by society. Hence, the influence
of identity on hawkers opportunities for access to, and ability to remain
in, various locations in a city, may not be straightforward.
This paper discusses the following seven key related findings from the
Bangalore study.
Hawkers perceived location as an important resource for their trading.
That said, they also defined ‘location’ in different ways.
Networks influenced hawkers’ opportunities to secure places
with a relatively higher level of business opportunities. However, hawkers
drew on different type of networks including but not exclusively social.
The other types of networks that hawkers drew on, included economic,
political and spatial networks. Such networks spanned across ethnic,
caste and gender relations.
The dominant types of networks influencing hawkers opportunities
varied across the wards.
The density of their networks, as well as its diversity (in terms
of horizontal and vertical ties) was not uniform across localities.
This affected their ability to remain in their location.
Hawkers networks were embedded in different places. In a majority
of instances, they drew upon networks embedded in the localities that
they traded. That said, there were also cases where they had to depend
on networks outside their locality.
Characteristics of a locality including its history, and politics
affected their networks and their ability to tap them for finding a
place and for defending it. In other words, Locality characteristics
influenced how hawkers negotiate with their identity.
ALSO:
JUNIOR DAVIS, NATURAL RESOURCES INSTITUTE, “LOCAL
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA AND BANGLADESH”
ALISON BROWN, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY, “CONTESTED SPACE:
URBAN PUBLIC SPACE AND SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS”
