More than twenty years after the repeal of the Group Areas Act

Housing, spatial planning and urban development in post-apartheid South Africa

Journal article (2013)

Authors

C.E.L. Newton University College London, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit
Nick Schuermans Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Affiliation
External organisation
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Published Date

01-11-2013

Language

English

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Affiliation

External organisation

Abstract

More than twenty years after the repeal of the Group Areas Act, South Africa is facing a number of challenges with regards to housing, spatial planning and urban development. Government institutions, scholars, NGO's and local communities have been looking for innovative ways to improve the housing conditions of all South Africans. With this special issue, we aim to demonstrate that international insights cannot only be relevant to understand and enrich South African cases, but that an in-depth analysis of the South African experiments can also be meaningful for academic analyses and political decisions in other parts of the world. In order to stimulate such a cross-fertilization, this article will briefly summarize the current situation in South Africa in the public housing sector, the private housing sector and the self-help approach. We will also introduce the eight papers of this special issue.