Paper short abstract:

The paper discusses dynamics between relocation and government’s use of temporary relocation areas in response to housing emergencies, and community politics in Cape Town. Exploration of this politics of relocation can provide nuanced understandings of everyday experiences of urban governance

Paper long abstract:

Since 2004 the City of Cape Town has built temporary relocation areas (TRAs) in response to housing emergencies. TRAs are part of governing strategies to regulate and formalise housing development, but are also spaces of conflicts and contestation. Relocation to TRAs affects residents' movements and place in the city. It can disrupt and/or reconstruct social and political networks. Relocation has happened in cooperation with citizens, but it has also led to tensions and conflicts: between affected communities and state actors, between groups of residents within affected communities, and with residents and/or organisations in the communities where TRAs are located. As a governing strategy for urban development, relocations and the TRAs are thus deeply entangled with community politics. Exploring these processes and practices at community and city level can inform new understandings of everyday politics of urban governance in the city.

This paper discusses this politics of relocation and TRAs. One aim is to explore citizens' voice and concrete experiences in being 'governed' through the relocation process itself. This includes a focus on prospects and practices of getting access to permanent housing and/or other state-provided services. Housing is scarce and not all TRA residents are eligible for housing. Some residents thus risk being trapped in a 'permanent' temporary situation. The paper will also discuss community organising and politics within and beyond TRAs. Here I will explore the relations between TRAs and community actors in the 'host' community and how social and political networks are disrupted, continued or constructed.