Global Cities in the South: Deepening social and spatial polarisation in Cape Town

Abstract

Global Cities are characterised by their dominance in world affairs, linked to population size and political, economic, social and cultural infrastructure. As urban centres expand, particularly in the developing regions of the South, a new generation of Global Cities seems likely to emerge. Indeed, non-Western Global Cities have already emerged in some Asian (e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore) and Latin American (e.g. Mexico City, São Paulo) contexts. However, Global Cities remain rare in Africa, although Johannesburg has emerged as the region’s dominant metropolis, followed by Cape Town, Lagos and Nairobi. This paper considers firstly, the development of Global Cities in the South, and secondly, the implications of this drive for global competitiveness on social and spatial division in cities of the South, with a particular emphasis on Cape Town. Given arguments that Global Cities demonstrate increased social and spatial polarisation, aspirations for global competitiveness are problematic for cities in the developing world, where poverty is widespread and resources are limited. This is particularly the case in South Africa where apartheid legacies already provide a strong infrastructure of inequality. This paper uses the case study of Cape Town to consider whether it is possible for a city to be both globally competitive and address domestic socio-economic redistribution. Given evidence elsewhere that the former can inhibit, or at least dilute, the latter, the wider question of whether cities in South Africa (and more broadly, cities of the South) should perhaps be avoiding the drive for globalised status is considered. But if so, what other choice exists in the global milieu?