Restructuring inner cities in the post-apartheid era : a case study of Grey street, Durban.

Abstract

Apartheid measures shaped, to a large extent, the cities that we live in today. The fall of the apartheid regime allowed city planners to work on plans, strategies and policies for restructuring the city. Post-apartheid urban restructuring has been a challenging process. This dissertation investigates the restructuring of inner cities in the post-apartheid era. A case study of Grey Street, Durban was chosen. The objectives of this study were to: review the historical development of the Grey Street area and its changing fortunes, identify the social, physical and economic changes in Grey Street since 1994, explain the influence of these changes, and assess the influence of government policies on restructuring in Grey Street since 1994. Critical urban theory and regulation theory were used to build the conceptual framework of this study. This study employed a qualitative research approach. Both primary and secondary data were used as part of this study. The purposive sampling was used to select the respondents for this study. In-depth interviews were used to collect primary data. The Grey Street complex has undergone significant changes since the end of the apartheid era. The area has attracted and continues to attract foreign business people, while less and less of the original Indian traders remain in the area. Changes of the post-apartheid urban restructuring have borne positive and negative influences in the area, which the business owners are widely aware of. The town planning department acknowledges the challenges that the Grey Street complex poses on the greater vision of urban restructuring but they also continuously devise plans to overcome such challenges.