Community as utopia: Reflections on De Waterkant
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Date
2008
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer
Abstract
This paper will reflect on research currently in progress in Cape Town's De Waterkant neighbourhood�an area also known as Cape Town's 'gay village'. This paper engages the literature of utopia as a framework of analysis for interrogating the performance of community�while at the same time problematising the terms "community" and "utopia" upon which much geographical description of the area is based. This research argues that both 'comforting' and 'unsettling' relational achievements amongst the human and non-human actors in De Waterkant function as building blocks of real or imagined community and further recognises multiple tensions that affect the formation of community and the pursuit of utopia in the South African urban context.
Description
Keywords
Cape Town, South Africa, Urban areas, Urban landscape, Community engagement, Community, Community-centred design
Citation
Rink, B.M. (2008). Community as utopia: Reflections on De Waterkant. Urban Forum, Vol. 19(2): 205-220.