New community in a new space: artificial, natural, created, contested. An idea from a golf estate in Johannesburg

Abstract

Attention is constantly devoted to the question of living together and sharing spaces, which is often translated as a matter of social and spatial segregation and belonging to a community. New spatial, social and institutional geographies have emerged as a potential cornerstone of separateness and togetherness in South Africa with the emergence of the gated community. This article tackles the concept of “community” within the space of a golf estate (a type of gated community) located in the West Rand, Johannesburg. It aims to understand new geographies of the city through an analysis of the organisation and social life inside and outside the estate. The notion of community is explored by looking at the system engendered by the main legal actor within the estate, the Homeowners Association (HOA). It will be argued that some of these new spaces are made neutral through the action of the HOA, an agent that institutionally constructs a communitarian lifestyle, accepted and contested simultaneously by the residents. Through the formalisation of a system in which holiday-style living is promoted, life is represented as real to the residents but lived in a virtual way when linked to broader societal and urban changes, thus reframing the notion of segregation.

Keywords:

• gated communities
• community
• homeowners association
• segregation
• Johannesburg

Notes

1. The trend is widespread and it would be inaccurate to limit it to the metropolis. The spreading of townhouse complexes and gated communities is a phenomenon that is taking place in different settings, including new areas that are not necessarily part of the metropolis.

2. Talking about disengagement means pointing out the nature and the consequences of the system put in place inside big estates in which complex systems administer the everyday. It should be noted that disengagement is not synonymous with retreat, of which the gated community is said to be the manifestation.

3. The question of security is absolutely central to the study of gated communities, as it is often the main reason for which people decide to move into them. For the purposes of this paper, I don’t address this issue because it would limit the analysis to just one factor.

4. The relationship between the estates and the city council is far more complex and articulated than has been described here. This point, however, goes beyond the interest of this paper. In order to better understand this relationship, a thorough analysis of the interaction between these two institutions in terms of mutual requests, expectations and concessions is required.

5. Throughout the paper, I talk about the memory of a sort of village. Many of the residents come from the suburb, but when they talk about their past life, they usually describe their suburban experience as that of a village when compared to the contemporary suburb.

6. Obviously the system engendered does not only include residents and managers. Other actors play important roles; the local government and the workers are only two examples of it. The workers – gardeners, domestic workers, waiters, security guards – are absolutely central to the building of community as they, in the eye of the governing body of the estates, are the ones who facilitate the well-being of the residents.

7. Sonia Roitman and Katja Rohrbach (2011) address this point.

8. For a detailed typology of gated communities in South Africa, see Lemanski, Landman, and Durington (2008).

9. For a detailed description and spatial implications of gated communities in the Greater Johannesburg area, see Landman and Badenhorst (2012).

10. For an insightful account of the Roodeport area, see Chipkin (2012).

11. It should be noted that the estate had undergone some major changes in the previous month, including the appointment of a new general manager and a rebranding (new logo design). The HOA went back to managing the clubhouse.

12. For further insights into the relationship between the suburb, and the estates and the townhouse complexes, see Chipkin (2012).

13. The racial breakdown might be inaccurate, because it was compiled by looking at the surnames of the residents.