THE FRAGMENTED CITY - DURBAN, SOUTH-AFRICA

South Africa's second largest metropolitan area, Durban, forms the foc us of this paper. Durban's residents live in an urban environment of f ragmentation, violence, and class and racial stratification which has not disappeared with the removal of apartheid, and which now guides em erging struggles. Apartheid policies such as forced removals, and gerr ymandering of borders, have resulted in a divided city of five compone nts: the city of death, the city of survival, the city of hope, the ci ty of entitlement, and the city of superfluity. Although not necessari ly spatially separate, people within each of these cities see the othe rs as a threat, and the cities operate in parallel with each other. Th ere is no co-ordinated city system, no coherent development plan, and no sense of unity of purpose or interdependence. Uniting the city invo lves both subjective and objective dimensions. The vote, constitution and emerging democracy are important in developing conditions under wh ich the unification of the city might occur. Creating the objective co nditions for a non-racial and democratic city provides important chall enges. To unite our city we need to develop a new way of thinking abou t it, and to develop principles based on non-racialism, democracy, non -sexism and unity.