Transforming excluded communities into inclusive cities

Abstract

Across the country we face painful dilemmas of social transformation that threaten to draw communities into a downward spiral. The predicament is worsened in the current period of economic uncertainty and austerity. Ivan Turok reflects on recent events in an ordinary suburb of Msunduzi (Pietermaritzburg) to illustrate the need for stronger local cohesion and development in order to accommodate and manage urban growth more successfully.