A collection of essays looking at possibilities of urban development in Cape Town and their potential to counter societal imbalances. Refs, notes, figs, 188pp, GERMANY. LIT VERLAG, 3825866998

An analytical perspective on the problems of fragmentation in South Africa as new forms of segregation emerge in the context of globalisation and neo-liberal policy, looking in particular at housing and urban development. Index, refs, xvii, 300pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN PRESS, 1919713735

Documents and assesses the formulation, evolution and implementation of urban policy in South African during the first ten years of democracy. The contributors describe the creation of democratic local governments from the time of the 1976 Soweto uprising and the intense township struggles of the 1980s, the construction of 'developmental' planning and financial frameworks, and the delivery of housing and services by the new democratic order. 344pp, SOUTH AFRICA. HUMAN SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL.

This ground breaking new work draws together a cross-section of South African scholars to provide a lively and comprehensive review of the under-researched area of heritage practice following the introduction of the National Heritage Resources Act. In a unique multi-disciplinary approach, contributions are featured from a broad spectrum of fields, including the built environment and public culture and education. Showcasing work from tour operators and museum curators alongside that of university-based scholars, this book is a comprehensive and singularly authoritative volume that charts the development of new and emergent public cultures in post-apartheid South Africa through the making and unmaking of its urban spaces. 328pp, UK. ROUTLEDGE.

Following on the huge success of "DOWN SOUTH: Homes and Interiors in South Africa," writer Paul Duncan and photographer Fritz von der Schulenburg have teamed up to produce a second book exploring a diverse and fascinating selection of South African homes all around the country, from high-flyer city homes on the Highveld to enviable Plettenberg Bay beach houses and Cape Dutch homesteads in Cape Town and the Winelands. Inspiration and an ideal gift for anyone interested in 21st-century South African design and lifestyles. Colour photographs throughout, 182pp, SOUTH AFRICA, JONATHAN BALL.

South African cities have strong traditions of forceful planning from above with considerable capacity to finance change. They witness de-industrialisation and decentring as do so many Western cities, but they are also the site of massive squatter settlements and populations that fall outside the functioning of the 'formal' economy. This book highlights the role of networks and the co-operation for survival by Durban's newer citizens as they make space for themselves. Index, notes, refs, maps, x, 345pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNIVERSITY OF NATAL PRESS, 1869140133

A study of Johannesburg as a microcosm of urban South African life. The essays look into the socio-political issues which feed into the poverty and local politics of the city. Index, notes, refs, maps, tables, xv, 305pp, UK. ROUTLEDGE.

A critical study of South Africa's housing programme asking whether the housing backlog can be meet without sacrificing a sustainable housing future and real fiscal constraints. Other issues addressed include urban restructuring, alternative tenure forms, housing finance and low income housing. Refs, notes, xxxix, 486pp, SOUTH AFRICA. HEINEMANN SOUTH AFRICA, 0796207860

Cities are not only made of buildings and roads, they are also constructed through popular imagination and spaces of representation. This book explores the apartheid legacies of the city and demonstrates that cultural life flourished through people's resilience in spite of adversity. Authors move beyond apartheid descriptions to analyse the reflexive ways in which people are coming to terms with that history through memory work, performance and memorialisation. Other chapters provide contemporary views of local interactions such as moments of urban violence or people negotiating the challenges of a globalised world. Whatever the context, this book traces social and cultural interactions over time and across city spaces that speak directly to the senses, memories and imagining of Cape Town. Index, b/w photos, 240pp, SOUTH AFRICA. HUMAN SCIENCES RESEARCH COUNCIL.

Brings together available material from 1886 to 2003 to reveal the unfolding geography of the city from its days as a mining camp through to its present position as premier metropolis of the African continent. Explores urban geography in the central area of the city, the character of the white suburbs at different periods of time and the nature and variety of predominantly black occupied slums, and areas of Johannesburg where non white people were forced to reside in extreme poverty. Index, bib, maps, diagrams, b/w photos, 392pp, SOUTH AFRICA. UNISA PRESS.

A portrait of a complex city in flux using the words of ordinary people, politicians, architects and urban planners to highlight its diversity and unity. Text in English, French and German. 157pp, SOUTH AFRICA. STE PUBLISHERS, 1919855289

A first of its kind, Johannesburg Portraits tells the story of Johannesburg through the lives of its most prominent residents - from the Randlords to the current inhabitants - both living and dead. Through personality sketches that merge into politics, social history, urban geography, economics and the arts, the author tracks the city's growth and development, reflecting the stimulating, often turbulent atmosphere along the way. Bib, b/w illustrations, 131pp, SOUTH AFRICA. JACANA EDUCATION, 1919931333

Explores the origin and history of the second largest township complex in Gauteng. Uses dozens of personal life stories to plot the changing patterns of township life among youth, women, migrants and community leaders. Includes foreword from Nelson Mandela. Maps, b/w illus, bib, vii, 149pp, . MASKEW MILLER LONGMAN.

Fully updated, corrected and re-set, this second edition documents those buildings that have disappeared since 1971 and the prospects for those that remain. It also gives short accounts of the people - Boers and British South Africans - who designed the city, as well as some who visited and wrote about it. With lavish black-and-white photographs and illustrations by Hannes Meiring. Index, gloss, 258pp, SOUTH AFRICA. PROTEA BOOK HOUSE.

Comprehensive study of the physical history of the older towns of the former 'Cape Colony'. It contains over seven hundred illustrations, including hundreds of previously unpublished pioneer photographs and early watercolours. Many detailed aerial photographs, few of them ever seen in print, some dating back to the 1930s, allow the reader to step back in time and view the original towns before modern developments brought about irrevocable changes in the town-scape. SOUTH AFRICA. JONATHAN BALL.

Public Culture is a journal reporting and reflecting on globalisation and the cultural transformations associated with cities, media and consumption. Issue 3, volume 16 is entitled JOHANNESBURG: The Elusive Metropolis and contributors include John Matshikiza, Nsizwa Dlamini, Grace Khunou, Mark Gevisser, Lindsay Bremner and Rodney Place. Topics addressed include the Constitution Hill Project, the Kliptown Project and modern Soweto. B/w illus, xi, 200pp, USA. DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 082236610X

Contains 52 articles grouped into 16 sections, written by 54 contributors from 12 countries. Investigates how the city is experienced by very different and unequally divided groups of people living there, highlighting the vast material inequalities between various groups in Durban, and also investigates the cultures and identities they construct in their everyday lives. Topics covered include: street children and street traders and the problems they experience and the cultures they produce, unequal service provision in housing and transport, deteriorating residential spaces in the city centre; the living conditions and policing of shack dwellers; moral panics and race; student identities in the newly merged University and in mixed schools; mixed-race couples; entertainment, sport, beaches, nightlife and the cultural meanings attached to all of these; crime and paranoia about crime; Indian culture, Indian cinema and Indian heterogeneity; black African identities and culture in Durban; and, the vulnerabilities and agency of women sex workers. 501pp, SOUTH AFRICA. MADIBA PUBLISHERS.

Based on empirical data and analysis, this interdisciplinary work looks at social changes and urban governance in Johannesburg since 1994. Index, notes, refs, maps, tables, xv, 237pp, UK. EARTHSCAN, 1853839167

A comparative analysis of informal settlement intervention in South Africa and Brazil, exploring both countries' informal settlements from a socio political and international perspective. Index, refs, maps, b/w illus, xiii, 274pp, USA. AFRICA WORLD PRESS, 1592212115

An examination of the economic, social and political forces which have shaped the lives of white workers in Johannesburg between 1890 and 1922. BNS, 196pp, UK. ASHGATE PUBLISHERS, 0754609154