'Temporary' relocation: spaces of contradiction in South African law. Issue 1 (13th April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Luke Bennett, Professor Antonia Layard, Mr; Ranslem, Duncan
• Is Part Of: International journal of law in the built environment. Volume 7:Issue 1(2015)
• Page Start: 55
• Page End: 71
• Publication Date: 2015-04-13
• Subjects: Building laws -- Periodicals; Construction industry -- Law and legislation -- Periodicals; Planning -- Law and legislation -- Periodicals; 343.078624
• DOI: 10.1108/IJLBE-12-2013-0041
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1756-1450

Abstract

<abstract> <title> <x content-type="archive" xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Purpose</title> <p> – This study aims to examine how temporary relocation areas (TRAs), urban forms that facilitate evictions and forced relocations, have been written into South African legal and governmental structures through contested urban planning and legal regimes. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Design/methodology/approach</title> <p> – Proceeding from the macro-scale of TRAs spread across the nation, to the mezzo-scale of the Delft Symphony Way TRA in Cape Town, to the micro-scale of an individual "blikkie" (housing unit) within this camp, the article looks at the form and function of the TRA in urban resettlement practices. Special attention is given to relocation areas' designation as "temporary" spaces and the consequences of this temporal designation in law and on the ground. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Findings</title> <p> – These sites have developed as technologies for negotiating competing demands on the state, and their presence foregrounds some of the deeply rooted contradictions in post-apartheid South Africa. They are places both within and apart from the city, often managed by city officials according to municipal specifications, but located proximally to key urban amenities, utilities services and employment centers. They also place contradictory demands on their residents, for whom making the TRA liveable also legitimates it as a form of housing. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Originality/value</title> <p> – This article uncovers several concerns about TRAs, including their inadequacy for long-term settlement, their problematic usage as tools of dispossession and the spatial-material-legal imbrications by which TRAs exist, persist and act back upon both individual lives and policy spheres.</p> </sec> </abstract>