Resisting to spatial exclusion and fighting for economic inclusion: African immigrant traders in the public commercial spaces of the City of Cape Town, South Africa

Around South Africa, the major cities are being narrated around entrepreneurialism, which emphasises competitiveness, innovation and partnership between local government and private corporates in the marketing of the city within and beyond the national borders. A large fraction of the population liv...

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Autor principal: Gabriel Tati
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
FR
Publicado: Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/f6b5edbe6244482f84353cf621b1ad5e
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:f6b5edbe6244482f84353cf621b1ad5e2021-12-02T10:51:13ZResisting to spatial exclusion and fighting for economic inclusion: African immigrant traders in the public commercial spaces of the City of Cape Town, South Africa0755-78092104-375210.4000/eps.12019https://doaj.org/article/f6b5edbe6244482f84353cf621b1ad5e2021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttp://journals.openedition.org/eps/12019https://doaj.org/toc/0755-7809https://doaj.org/toc/2104-3752Around South Africa, the major cities are being narrated around entrepreneurialism, which emphasises competitiveness, innovation and partnership between local government and private corporates in the marketing of the city within and beyond the national borders. A large fraction of the population living in those cities is made up of immigrants from other African countries, who are frequently subjected to economic-driven xenophobic violent attacks by local citizens. African immigrants mostly operate in the informal sector and largely remain on the fringes of the city mainstream economy and social fabric. This article interrogates the extent to which the interventions implemented in the City of Cape Town in South Africa by the authorities, within the framework of reimagining the city as a world city, contribute either to the spatial inclusion or the exclusion of African immigrants’ petty trade activities in the design of urban development. The central argument to the article is that, in the pursuit of the entrepreneurial strategy advocated by the City of Cape Town, there are strong indications that some of these interventions are constraining and repressive, exacerbating the economic and social exclusion of African immigrants. Besides, these interventions have tended to increase the social hostility toward immigrants. Against the repressive law enforcement measures for regulating the urban space, there has been, however, a somewhat progressive public shift toward more accommodating efforts that have benefitted African immigrant business owners. The article is informed by the theoretical perspective on entrepreneurial urban governance and data from empirical sources are used in support of the arguments. The results reported show that in the city of Cape Town, the occupancy of any space for trading purpose is restrained by a bundle of by-laws. In responses to the variety of interventions, business owners have displayed different reactions ranging from compliance to subversive acts including resistance or negotiated arrangements have been at time used to influence the direction of other interventions.Gabriel TatiUniversité des Sciences et Technologies de LillearticleimmigrantSouth AfricaCape TownGeography. Anthropology. RecreationGSocial sciences (General)H1-99ENFREspace populations sociétés, Vol 2021 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
FR
topic immigrant
South Africa
Cape Town
Geography. Anthropology. Recreation
G
Social sciences (General)
H1-99
spellingShingle immigrant
South Africa
Cape Town
Geography. Anthropology. Recreation
G
Social sciences (General)
H1-99
Gabriel Tati
Resisting to spatial exclusion and fighting for economic inclusion: African immigrant traders in the public commercial spaces of the City of Cape Town, South Africa
description Around South Africa, the major cities are being narrated around entrepreneurialism, which emphasises competitiveness, innovation and partnership between local government and private corporates in the marketing of the city within and beyond the national borders. A large fraction of the population living in those cities is made up of immigrants from other African countries, who are frequently subjected to economic-driven xenophobic violent attacks by local citizens. African immigrants mostly operate in the informal sector and largely remain on the fringes of the city mainstream economy and social fabric. This article interrogates the extent to which the interventions implemented in the City of Cape Town in South Africa by the authorities, within the framework of reimagining the city as a world city, contribute either to the spatial inclusion or the exclusion of African immigrants’ petty trade activities in the design of urban development. The central argument to the article is that, in the pursuit of the entrepreneurial strategy advocated by the City of Cape Town, there are strong indications that some of these interventions are constraining and repressive, exacerbating the economic and social exclusion of African immigrants. Besides, these interventions have tended to increase the social hostility toward immigrants. Against the repressive law enforcement measures for regulating the urban space, there has been, however, a somewhat progressive public shift toward more accommodating efforts that have benefitted African immigrant business owners. The article is informed by the theoretical perspective on entrepreneurial urban governance and data from empirical sources are used in support of the arguments. The results reported show that in the city of Cape Town, the occupancy of any space for trading purpose is restrained by a bundle of by-laws. In responses to the variety of interventions, business owners have displayed different reactions ranging from compliance to subversive acts including resistance or negotiated arrangements have been at time used to influence the direction of other interventions.
format article
author Gabriel Tati
author_facet Gabriel Tati
author_sort Gabriel Tati
title Resisting to spatial exclusion and fighting for economic inclusion: African immigrant traders in the public commercial spaces of the City of Cape Town, South Africa
title_short Resisting to spatial exclusion and fighting for economic inclusion: African immigrant traders in the public commercial spaces of the City of Cape Town, South Africa
title_full Resisting to spatial exclusion and fighting for economic inclusion: African immigrant traders in the public commercial spaces of the City of Cape Town, South Africa
title_fullStr Resisting to spatial exclusion and fighting for economic inclusion: African immigrant traders in the public commercial spaces of the City of Cape Town, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Resisting to spatial exclusion and fighting for economic inclusion: African immigrant traders in the public commercial spaces of the City of Cape Town, South Africa
title_sort resisting to spatial exclusion and fighting for economic inclusion: african immigrant traders in the public commercial spaces of the city of cape town, south africa
publisher Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/f6b5edbe6244482f84353cf621b1ad5e
work_keys_str_mv AT gabrieltati resistingtospatialexclusionandfightingforeconomicinclusionafricanimmigranttradersinthepubliccommercialspacesofthecityofcapetownsouthafrica
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