RESIDENTIAL RESPONSES TO FEAR (OF CRIME PLUS) IN TWO CAPE TOWN SUBURBS: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE POST-APARTHEID CITY

摘要

This article addresses citizens' physical and emotional responses to fear (of crime plus) in post-apartheid urban South Africa. Using primary research undertaken in two Cape Town residential suburbs, the impact of fear on citizens' lifestyle choices is demonstrated. In the first suburb the response to fear manifests in the immense physical security of a gated community, while residents of the second suburb have created an 'Improvement District' in order to 'upgrade' their residential area. Although markedly different responses to crime (and its associated fear), citizen responses in both suburbs focus on displacing both crime and individuals elsewhere, predominately into socio-economically weaker areas. Both gated communities and improvement districts also create exclusionary spaces that thwart the post-apartheid drive for integration and desegregation.