Socio-economic indicators of enclosed neighbourhoods in South Africa: the case of Johannesburg

Abstract

Enclosed neighbourhoods are increasingly becoming popular in South Africa especially with the collapse of Apartheid in 1994. Urban affluent continuously withdraw from the perceived ‘dangerous' city centre and downtowns to the northern suburbs. They further withdraw into enclosed enclaves by privatising public access through boom, barrier, palisade gates and other forms of electronic and human barriers. Access restriction phenomena in urban neighbourhoods are issues of published and anecdotal research concerns, especially as these have both positive and negative consequences on the liveability and functionality of urban systems. The paper identifies urban residents' socio-economic parameters associated with enclosed neighbourhoods in the city of Johannesburg. It observed that enclosure is significantly related to percentage high-income households and percentage white population, percentage age 41-46 populations and percentage property crime. It evaluates the future impact of enclosures on the city and advanced some recommendations.

African Journal for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Vol. 9(1) 2006: 81-95