Rural gated developments as a contributor to post-productivism in the Western Cape

Abstract

Gated developments are not only found in urban areas, but have also increasingly become a part of the rural locale in South Africa. While rural gated developments offer features of security, community and exclusivity in an idyllic rural setting, their proliferation can be linked to a wider process of post-productivist change in the rural locale. Counterurbanisation, the creation of a consumptionist countryside and the extraction of amenity value from the rural landscape are facets of post-productivism. This study explores the spread of rural gated developments in the Western Cape. The degree of amenity and leisure activities, second-home ownership and features of land use change allied to rural gated developments point to a post-productive rurality that is underway. The spread of rural gated developments could have a profound effect on the way that social, physical and economic relations are produced and reproduced in the rural locale.

Keywords::

• post-productivism
• gated developments
• rural
• land use
• social change
• Western Cape

Acknowledgements

This research was financially supported by the South Africa–Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development and by the CSIR. Suggestions and comments by two anonymous reviewers are acknowledged.

Notes

^1. ‘It is envisaged that great emphasis will be placed on security and in this regard it is the intention to erect security fencing (with access control) around all the “residential nodes”. Provision will be made for openings in the security fence to allow freedom of movement of wild animals across the property …’.