SEGREGATION LEVELS IN THE LATE-APARTHEID CITY 1985-1991

In the course of the 1980s a number of changes took place in the organ ization of South African cities, leading to the concept of 'modernizin g' apartheid. Relaxation of laws and the publicized responses to racia l integration in a few localities encouraged the concept of a breakdow n of residential barriers. However, an examination of the 1998 census suggests not only that segregation levels are remarkably high, but als o that they rose in the period between 1985 and 1991. The White popula tion in particular remains highly segregated from the remainder. There is nevertheless a number of significant regional differences, indicat ing that urban restructuring was not uniform. The late-apartheid city thus appears little changed from its predecessor.