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DOES SOUTH AFRICA HAVE GHETTOS?
Author(s) -
CHRISTOPHER ANTHONY J.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.766
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1467-9663
pISSN - 0040-747X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9663.2005.00456.x
Subject(s) - ethnic group , metropolitan area , census , government (linguistics) , geography , economic growth , development economics , sociology , demography , anthropology , population , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , economics
The literature on ghettos has expanded rapidly in the last decade, reflecting the wider availability of census data monitoring ethnic groups. It is an accepted truism that there are ghettos in South Africa. Government planning, particularly in the era of apartheid between 1948 and 1991 was directed towards the creation of such entities. Yet the concept requires some qualification even in South Africa. Ghettos may be defined as places of ethnic or racial group segregation, isolation and concentration and they should exhibit relative longevity. An examination of the six South African metropolitan areas reveals high levels of these indicators. However, they are now generally declining, although in diverse ways that are place and group specific, suggesting the long‐term survival of the African ghettos.