Continuity, change and conflict in South African cities

Abstract

Twenty years after domocracy, there is evidence of both continuity and change in the way South African cities have developed. The bold mandate of the metros was to promote socio-economic and spatial transformation, but circumstances have been difficult following the country's re-entry into a more competitive global economy, its skewed income distribution, the complexity of institutional consolidation and transformation, and vested interests in land, property and the economy. There have been notable achievements in some respects, but progress has stalled in others.