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Urban Forum
Published in: Urban Forum 4/2018

04-12-2018

Conceptualizing ‘the Urban’ Through the Lens of Durban, South Africa

Authors: Catherine Sutherland, Dianne Scott, Etienne Nel, Adrian Nel

Published in: Urban Forum | Issue 4/2018

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Abstract

Contemporary urban theory raises many questions about how ‘the urban’ is being conceptualized in a fast changing world that is approaching an urban epoch. Evolving debates about what it means to be urban, including the similarities and differences between so-called northern and southern cities, the future of cities, the way to manage and sustain cities, and cities’ relationships to the new Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, reveal the need for urban theory that can explain and provide insights into contemporary urban governance, processes, and outcomes. This special issue uses Durban as a lens to provide insight into the changing nature of cities in the Global South and Africa in particular, which encapsulate and reflect both formality and informality; tradition and modernity; uneven and unequal growth and social transformation; environmental crises and ‘resilience and sustainability’. This paper reflects on the dominant processes shaping the development of the city, revealing the challenges, tensions, and opportunities that emerge as the city assembles new ways of being urban, through the rationalities, knowledge, experiences, practices and actions of the state, citizens, and the private sector.
next article Possibilities for a Hybrid Approach to Planning and Governance at the Interface of the Administrative and Traditional Authority Systems in Durban

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Footnotes
1
A widget is a mechanism or a device.
 
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Metadata
Title
Conceptualizing ‘the Urban’ Through the Lens of Durban, South Africa
Authors
Catherine Sutherland
Dianne Scott
Etienne Nel
Adrian Nel
Publication date
04-12-2018
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
Urban Forum / Issue 4/2018
Print ISSN: 1015-3802
Electronic ISSN: 1874-6330
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-018-9353-4

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