Opening the Black Box of Urban Development Cultural Heritage Activism at the Amazon Megaproject in Cape Town
Abstract This article focuses on efforts by indigenous activists to oppose a mega-development in the middle of the Two Rivers Urban Park (TRUP) at the River Club site in Observatory, Cape Town. In the article we argue that, even though the mega-development ultimately went ahead, intense contestation...
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| Published in: | Theoria (Pietermaritzburg) Vol. 71; no. 178; pp. 24 - 47 |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Afrikaans English |
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01-03-2024
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| Abstract | Abstract
This article focuses on efforts by indigenous activists to oppose a mega-development in the middle of the Two Rivers Urban Park (TRUP) at the River Club site in Observatory, Cape Town. In the article we argue that, even though the mega-development ultimately went ahead, intense contestation surrounding Khoi cultural heritage contributed towards opening up the ‘black box’ of urban development in Cape Town, as well as pressuring the developers to accommodate some of the demands of indigenous activists and environmentalists. We also examine why and on what terms it was even possible for a small group of indigenous activists to temporarily halt a mega-development driven by powerful actors, including Amazon, the City of Cape Town and private developers. Drawing inspiration from Bruno Latour's notion of the black box, we show how these anti-development activists were able to interrupt the construction process and create the conditions for opening up to public and legal scrutiny opaque urban development processes. |
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| AbstractList | Abstract
This article focuses on efforts by indigenous activists to oppose a mega-development in the middle of the Two Rivers Urban Park (TRUP) at the River Club site in Observatory, Cape Town. In the article we argue that, even though the mega-development ultimately went ahead, intense contestation surrounding Khoi cultural heritage contributed towards opening up the ‘black box’ of urban development in Cape Town, as well as pressuring the developers to accommodate some of the demands of indigenous activists and environmentalists. We also examine why and on what terms it was even possible for a small group of indigenous activists to temporarily halt a mega-development driven by powerful actors, including Amazon, the City of Cape Town and private developers. Drawing inspiration from Bruno Latour's notion of the black box, we show how these anti-development activists were able to interrupt the construction process and create the conditions for opening up to public and legal scrutiny opaque urban development processes. This article focuses on efforts by indigenous activists to oppose a mega-development in the middle of the Two Rivers Urban Park (TRUP) at the River Club site in Observatory, Cape Town. In the article we argue that, even though the mega-development ultimately went ahead, intense contestation surrounding Khoi cultural heritage contributed towards opening up the ‘black box’ of urban development in Cape Town, as well as pressuring the developers to accommodate some of the demands of indigenous activists and environmentalists. We also examine why and on what terms it was even possible for a small group of indigenous activists to temporarily halt a mega-development driven by powerful actors, including Amazon, the City of Cape Town and private developers. Drawing inspiration from Bruno Latour's notion of the black box, we show how these anti-development activists were able to interrupt the construction process and create the conditions for opening up to public and legal scrutiny opaque urban development processes. |
| Author | Robins, Steven Baumgardt, Laurin |
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| ContentType | Journal Article |
| Copyright | 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License. |
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| DOI | 10.3167/th.2024.7117802 |
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| References | Donovan, K. (bib8) 2014; 45 Períc, A. (bib34) 2022; 130 de Boeck, F. (bib7) 2011; 26 Hall, P. (bib12) 2014; 6 Mosse, D. (bib29) 2013 Maharawal, M. M. (bib26) 2021; 55 van Noorloos, F. (bib45) 2017; 55 Broughten, T. (bib4) 2022 Reuther, S. (bib36) 2021 Star, S. L. (bib41) 1999; 43 Howe, C. (bib16) 2016; 41 Shatkin, G. (bib40) 2017 Chakrabarty, D. (bib5) 2021 (bib30) 2018 Star, S. L. (bib42) 1996; 7 Yaneva, A. (bib48) 2022 Horber, J. (bib14) 2022 Robins, S. (bib38) 2008 Mellet, P. (bib27) 2022 Robins, S. (bib37) 2014; 40 Horber, J. (bib13) 2021 Ahmann, C. (bib1) 2018; 33 Olver, C. (bib31) 2019 Edwards, P. N. (bib9) 2009 Latour, B. (bib24) 2017 Kennedy, L. (bib17) 2014 Watson, V. (bib47) 2013; 26 Latour, B. (bib20) 1999 Shandu, M. (bib39) 2021; 11 Pavi, B. (bib33) 2023 (bib25) 2006 Rahl-Botha, F. (bib35) 2023 Horber, J. (bib15) 2023 Latour, B. (bib21) 2000; 5 Parnell, S. (bib32) 2010; 34 Latour, B. (bib22) 2005 Aufrichtig, J. (bib2) 2020 Grant, R. (bib11) 2015; 59 Latour, B. (bib19) 1996 Mosse, D. (bib28) 2004; 35 Tannenberger, J. (bib44) 2021 Bowker, G. C. (bib3) 1999 Von Schnitzler, A. (bib46) 2013; 28 Latour, B. (bib18) 1987 Latour, B. (bib23) 1986 Sturman, S. (bib43) 2006; 20 Chu, J. (bib6) 2014; 41 Furlong, K. (bib10) 2010; 35 |
| References_xml | – year: 2021 ident: bib5 contributor: fullname: Chakrabarty, D. – volume: 5 issue: 1 year: 2000 ident: bib21 article-title: When things strike back: A possible contribution of science studies contributor: fullname: Latour, B. – volume: 33 start-page: 142 issue: 1 year: 2018 ident: bib1 article-title: “It's Exhausting to Create an Event out of Nothing”: Slow Violence and the Manipulation of Time contributor: fullname: Ahmann, C. – volume: 35 start-page: 460 issue: 4 year: 2010 ident: bib10 article-title: Small Technologies, Big Change: Rethinking Infrastructure through STS and Geography contributor: fullname: Furlong, K. – year: 2023 ident: bib35 contributor: fullname: Rahl-Botha, F. – year: 2020 ident: bib2 article-title: River Club Redevelopment is a Triumph for the Future of First Nations’ Heritage contributor: fullname: Aufrichtig, J. – volume: 41 start-page: 547 issue: 3 year: 2016 ident: bib16 article-title: Paradoxical Infrastructures: Ruins, Retrofit, and Risk contributor: fullname: Howe, C. – year: 2021 ident: bib13 article-title: Before the Flood: What's Really Going on at the River Club, and Why it's in the Wrong Place contributor: fullname: Horber, J. – year: 1987 ident: bib18 contributor: fullname: Latour, B. – year: 1986 ident: bib23 contributor: fullname: Latour, B. – year: 2022 ident: bib4 article-title: Court Stops R4.5-billion River Club Development, including New Amazon headquarters contributor: fullname: Broughten, T. – year: 2006 ident: bib25 – volume: 40 start-page: 91 issue: 1 year: 2014 ident: bib37 article-title: Slow Activism in Fast Times: Reflections on the Mass Media after Apartheid contributor: fullname: Robins, S. – volume: 11 start-page: 39 year: 2021 ident: bib39 article-title: Rethinking Property: Towards a Values-Based Approach to Property Relations in South Africa contributor: fullname: Shandu, M. – volume: 41 start-page: 351 issue: 2 year: 2014 ident: bib6 article-title: When Infrastructures Attack: The Workings of Disrepair in China contributor: fullname: Chu, J. – volume: 7 start-page: 111 issue: 1 year: 1996 ident: bib42 article-title: Steps Toward an Ecology of Infrastructure: Design and Access for Large Information Spaces contributor: fullname: Star, S. L. – year: 2013 ident: bib29 article-title: Introduction: The Anthropology of Expertise and Professionals in International Development contributor: fullname: Mosse, D. – year: 2022 ident: bib48 contributor: fullname: Yaneva, A. – start-page: 364 year: 2009 ident: bib9 article-title: Introduction: An Agenda for Infrastructure Studies contributor: fullname: Edwards, P. N. – year: 2018 ident: bib30 article-title: Inclusionary Housing: Inclusionary Housing Should Mitigate Spatial Apartheid Working Notes – volume: 26 start-page: 263 issue: 2 year: 2011 ident: bib7 article-title: Inhabiting Ocular Ground: Kinshasa's Future in the Light of Congo's Spectral Urban Politics contributor: fullname: de Boeck, F. – year: 2023 ident: bib15 article-title: Power, Money and PR: The River Club Development's Public Costs and Private Benefits contributor: fullname: Horber, J. – year: 1999 ident: bib20 contributor: fullname: Latour, B. – volume: 55 start-page: 1454 issue: 5 year: 2021 ident: bib26 article-title: Infrastructural Activism: Google Bus Blockades, Affective Politics, and Environmental Gentrification in San Francisco contributor: fullname: Maharawal, M. M. – volume: 35 start-page: 639 issue: 4 year: 2004 ident: bib28 article-title: Is Good Policy Unimplementable? Reflections on the Ethnography of Aid Policy and Practice contributor: fullname: Mosse, D. – year: 2014 ident: bib17 article-title: Megaprojects and Urban Development in Cities of the South contributor: fullname: Kennedy, L. – year: 2021 ident: bib36 contributor: fullname: Reuther, S. – volume: 26 start-page: 215 issue: 1 year: 2013 ident: bib47 article-title: African Urban Fantasies: Dreams or Nightmares? contributor: fullname: Watson, V. – year: 1999 ident: bib3 contributor: fullname: Bowker, G. C. – volume: 6 start-page: 153 issue: 2 year: 2014 ident: bib12 article-title: When Objects Fail: Unconcealing Things in Design Writing and Criticism contributor: fullname: Hall, P. – volume: 45 start-page: 869 issue: 5 year: 2014 ident: bib8 article-title: “Development” as if We Have Never Been Modern: Fragments of a Latourian Development Studies contributor: fullname: Donovan, K. – year: 2008 ident: bib38 contributor: fullname: Robins, S. – year: 2017 ident: bib40 contributor: fullname: Shatkin, G. – year: 2023 ident: bib33 article-title: Fresh River Club Allegations contributor: fullname: Pavi, B. – start-page: 14 year: 2005 ident: bib22 article-title: From Realpolitik to Dingpolitik, or How to Make Things Public contributor: fullname: Latour, B. – volume: 59 start-page: 294 issue: 3 year: 2015 ident: bib11 article-title: Sustainable African Urban Futures: Stocktaking and Critical Reflection on Proposed Urban Projects contributor: fullname: Grant, R. – volume: 34 start-page: 146 issue: 1 year: 2010 ident: bib32 article-title: The “Right to the City”: Institutional Imperatives of a Developmental State contributor: fullname: Parnell, S. – year: 2022 ident: bib27 article-title: The Liesbeek Old River Club Site as a “Heritage Site of Significance” contributor: fullname: Mellet, P. – year: 2019 ident: bib31 contributor: fullname: Olver, C. – volume: 20 start-page: 181 issue: 2 year: 2006 ident: bib43 article-title: On Black boxing Gender: Some Social Questions for Bruno Latour contributor: fullname: Sturman, S. – year: 2017 ident: bib24 article-title: Give Me a Gun and I Will Make All Buildings Move: An ANT's View of Architecture contributor: fullname: Latour, B. – volume: 55 start-page: 1 issue: 6 year: 2017 ident: bib45 article-title: Africa's New Cities: The Contested Future of Urbanisation contributor: fullname: van Noorloos, F. – year: 2022 ident: bib14 article-title: The River Club: Flawed Processes and a Dirty Fight Over Development and Heritage contributor: fullname: Horber, J. – year: 2021 ident: bib44 article-title: River Club Redevelopment in CT Will Serve as a Boost for Jobs contributor: fullname: Tannenberger, J. – volume: 28 start-page: 670 issue: 4 year: 2013 ident: bib46 article-title: Travelling Technologies: Infrastructure, Ethical Regimes and the Materiality of Politics in South Africa contributor: fullname: Von Schnitzler, A. – year: 1996 ident: bib19 contributor: fullname: Latour, B. – volume: 130 year: 2022 ident: bib34 article-title: Post-Socialist Discourse of Urban Megaproject Development: From City on the Water to Belgrade Waterfront contributor: fullname: Períc, A. – volume: 43 start-page: 377 year: 1999 ident: bib41 article-title: The Ethnography of Infrastructure contributor: fullname: Star, S. 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This article focuses on efforts by indigenous activists to oppose a mega-development in the middle of the Two Rivers Urban Park (TRUP) at the River... This article focuses on efforts by indigenous activists to oppose a mega-development in the middle of the Two Rivers Urban Park (TRUP) at the River Club site... |
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| SubjectTerms | Activism Activists Cultural heritage Environmentalism Indigenous peoples Rivers Scrutiny Towns Urban areas Urban development |
| Subtitle | Cultural Heritage Activism at the Amazon Megaproject in Cape Town |
| Title | Opening the Black Box of Urban Development |
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