Competition for the use of public open space in low-income urban areas: the economic potential of urban gardening in Khayelitsha, Cape Town

Abstract

Urban agriculture is a contested issue in the larger South African debate on urban poverty alleviation. This paper investigates the economic viability of urban agriculture and informs the debate on the optimal use of open space in Khayelitsha. It compares the economic performance of the Scaga community garden in the low-income township Khayelitsha, predicted in a 1998 study by Fermont et al., with empirical results of a similar study by Fleming in 2003. It concludes that urban agriculture in Khayelitsha is potentially economically viable, subject to certain conditions being satisfied. However, as a land use, urban agriculture competes with housing, ecological corridors, the stormwater management system and nature areas and reserves.