SEEKING CLOSURE: CONFLICT RESOLUTION, LAND RESTITUTION, AND INNER CITY REDEVELOPMENTS IN ‘DISTRICT SIX’ CAPE TOWN

ABSTRACT

District Six, an early inner city electoral ward of Cape Town is an exemplar of the history of planning theory and praxis in South Africa. It reflects changes in social and political relations, public and private values, planning policies and the role of the state. It epitomises how social and physical planning impacted fundamentally upon the lives and experiences of a disempowered community and it has come to symbolize the struggle of formerly disenfranchised populations to establish themselves within the social fabric of the city. It is also an exemplar of the problem of inner city renewal in the context of nationwide decentralization of commercial and office functions. The history of District Six is traced and changing approaches to planning are identified. The primary focus is upon the social engineering of ‘Grand Apartheid’, resettlement of a ‘coloured’ community with its attendant social consequences and upon developments following the accession to power of South Africa's first democratically elected government. A decision to restore the land to its original occupants under the Land Restitution Act provided the opportunity for a comprehensive low-income and inner city renewal planning exercise, a statutory requirement of which was extensive public participation. This has generated intense social conflict which has yet to be resolved. These issues and their implications for the structure and functioning of the city are discussed.