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Publications

CUBES academics and researchers make strong contributions in practice and theory oriented planning journals as well as in international journals in the social sciences, including urban studies, sociology, geography and politics. Below is a list of selected publications by year published (authors in alphabetical order per year).

2017

Meth, P and Charlton, S (2017) Men’s experiences of state-sponsored housing in South Africa: Emerging issues and key questions. Housing Studies Vol. 32 , Iss. 4, 

Charlton, S., & Meth, P. J. (2017). Lived experiences of state housing in South Africa's cities: Johannesburg and Durban. Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa, 93, 91-115. 

Lemanski, C., Charlton, S., & Meth, P. (2017). Living in state housing: expectations, contradictions and consequences. Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa, 93(1), 1-12. 

Charlton (forthcoming 2017) Poverty, subsidized housing and Lufhereng as a prototype megaproject in Gauteng Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa 

Huchzermeyer, M. (2017) Dangers of ‘housing at the centre’. Cityscope, 20 February. http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=c394e6afe032fed4c1dba2752&id=05252511c8&e=42bb66fa74 

Haferburg, M. and Huchzermeyer, M. (2017). Redlining or renewal? The space-based construction of decay and its contestation through local agency in Brixton, South Africa. Kirkness, P. and Tijé-Dra, A. (eds) Negative Neighbourhood Reputation and Place Attachment: The Production and Contestation of Territorial Stigma. Routledge, London. 

Huchzermeyer, M., 2017. A single ‘developer’ seeks to make a farce of spatial justice in Johannesburg. Mail and Guardian, 18 April (online) https://mg.co.za/article/2017-04-18-corridors-of-freedom

Bénit-Gbaffou C (2017) "Governing Street Trading in Contemporary Cities: Anatomy of the Policy Instruments Used by the City of Johannesburg in the Post-Apartheid Era" Urban Research & Practice.

Bénit-Gbaffou C (forthcoming) "Beyond the Policy-Implementation Gap: How the City of Johannesburg Manufactured the Ungovernability of Street Trading" Journal of Development Studies.

Kornienko K (2017) "Waiting, Hope, Democracy, and Space: How Expectations and Socio-economic Rights Shape Two South African Urban Informal Communities" Journal of Asian and African Studies 52(1) pp. 34–49.

2016

Benit-Gbaffou C (2016) "Do street traders have the ‘right to the city’? The politics of street trader organisations in inner city Johannesburg, post-Operation Clean Sweep" Third World Quarterly 37(6) pp. 1102-1129. 

Huchzermeyer M and Karam A (2016) "South African housing policy over two decades: 1994-2014". In Kepe T, Levin M and von Lieres B. (eds) Domains of Freedom: Justice, citizenship and social change in South Africa. UCT Press, Cape Town.

Malavolti C (2016) "Towards Resilience: Informality and Affordable Housing in the Inner City of Johannesburg". In Urban Solutions: Metropolitan Approaches, Innovation in Urban Water and Sanitation, and Inclusive Smart Cities. Wilson Center and USAID, pp. 72-89.

Malavolti C and Bouyat J (2016) "#NoToXenophobia takes to the streets of Johannesburg: From Government Repression of the Movement to the Rallying for a Legitimate Cause" Journal des Anthropologues 1(144-145) pp. 241-260.

Meth P J and Charlton S (2016) "Men's experiences of state sponsored housing in South Africa: Emerging issues and key questions" Housing Studies pp. 1-21. Discussion piece on the Society Matters blog: 'I feel like I'm a real man': Men and state housing in South Africa

2015

In 2015 two edited volumes about South African cities were published, one by Marie Huchzermeyer (with Christoph Haferburg) on urban governance, and the other by Claire Bénit-Gbaffou on community participation and popular politics.

Adegun O B (2015) "State-led versus community initiated: stormwater drainage and informal settlement intervention in Johannesburg, South Africa" Environment & Urbanization 27(2) 1–14.

Bénit-Gbaffou C (ed) (2015) Popular Politics in South African Cities: Unpacking Community Participation. Pretoria: HSRC Press. Download the book online here.

Huchzermeyer M and Haferburg C (eds) (2015) Urban Governance in Post-apartheid Cities: Modes of Engagement in South Africa’s Metropoles. Durban: UKZN Press.

Katsaura O (2015) "Ritualistic Spaces? Re-examining Invited Spaces of Participation". Chapter 4 in Bénit-Gbaffou (ed) Popular Politics in South African Cities: Unpacking Community ParticipationPretoria: HSRC Press.

Matlala B and Bénit-Gbaffou C (2015) “Against Ourselves: Local Activists and the Management of Contradictory Political Loyalties: The Case of Phiri, Johannesburg”. Chapter 2 in Bénit-Gbaffou (ed) Popular Politics in South African Cities: Unpacking Community Participation. Pretoria: HSRC Press.

Mkwanazi E and Bénit-Gbaffou C (2015) "Constructing Communities in Public Meetings: Local Leaders and The Management of Xenophobic Discourses in Yeoville". Chapter 5 in Bénit-Gbaffou (ed) Popular Politics in South African Cities: Unpacking Community Participation. Pretoria: HSRC Press.

Popular Politics in SA Cities      Urban Governance in Post-Apartheid Cities

2014

In 2014 a number of CUBES members published chapters in a number of edited volumes: Changing Space, Changing City: Johannesburg After Apartheid, The Routledge Handbook on Cities of the Global South and La justice spatiale et la ville: regards du Sud.

The Routledge Handbook of Cities of the Global SouthBénit-Gbaffou C, with Gervais-Lambony P, Musset A, Piermay JL and Planel S (eds) La justice spatiale et la ville, regards du Sud (2014) Paris: Editions Karthala.

Bénit-Gbaffou C (2014) "Are Johannesburg’s peri-central neighbourhoods irremediably ‘fluid’? Local leadership and community building in Yeoville and Bertrams". In Todes A, Wray C, Gotz G and Harrison P (eds) Changing Space, Changing City: Johannesburg after Apartheid. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.

Bénit-Gbaffou C and Katsaura O (2014) “Community leaders and the construction of political legitimacy. Unpacking Bourdieu’s political capital in post-apartheid JohannesburgInternational Journal of Urban and Regional Studies 38(5) pp. 1807-1832.

Bénit-Gbaffou C and Oldfield S (2014) "Claiming ‘rights’ in the African City: Popular Mobilisation and the Politics of Informality in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Nairobi, Casablanca". In Parnell S and Oldfield S. (eds) The Routledge Handbook on Cities of the Global South. London: Routledge, pp. 281-295.

Changing Space Changing CityBénit-Gbaffou C, with Gervais-Lambony P, Ginisty K and Owuor S (2014) “Résistances quotidiennes à l’injustice en ville. Controle social local, opportunités politiques et modes d’expression du sentiment d’injustice dans l’espace public urbain". In Gervais-Lambony P et al. (eds) La justice spatiale et la ville: regards du Sud. Paris: Editions Karthala, pp. 207-226.

Bénit-Gbaffou C and Oldfield S, with Belarbi W, Iraki A, Owuor S (2014) “Mouvement sociaux urbains et injustice spatiale. La difficile mobilisation des droits". In Gervais-Lambony P et al. (eds) La justice spatiale et la ville: regards du Sud. Paris: Editions Karthala, pp. 227-244. 

Charlton S, Gardner D and Rubin M (2014) "Post-intervention analysis: the evolution of housing projects into sustainable human settlements". Chapter in the South African Cities Network report From Housing to Human Settlements: Evolving Perspectives.

Charlton S (2014) "Housing dreams and lived realities: the RDP programme in practice" SLUM Lab #9 Made in Africa. ETH Zurich (non-peer reviewed), pp. 100-102.

Book coverCharlton S (2014) "Public housing in Johannesburg". In Todes A, Wray C, Gotz G and Harrison P (eds) Changing Space, Changing City: Johannesburg after Apartheid. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.

Huchzermeyer M (2014) "Inaugural Lecture: Humanism, creativity and rights: invoking Henri Lefebvre’s right to the city in the tension presented by informal settlements in South Africa today" Transformation 85 pp. 64-89.

Huchzermeyer M (2014) "Invoking Lefebvre’s ‘Right to the City’ in South Africa today: a response to Walsh" City: Analysis of Urban Trends, Culture, Theory, Policy, Action 18(1) pp. 32-40.

Huchzermeyer M (2014) "Changing housing policy in South Africa". In Bredenoord J, van Lindert P and Smets P (eds) Affordable Housing in the Urban Global South: Seeking Sustainable Solutions. London: Earthscan (in press).

Huchzermeyer M (2014) "Troubling continuities: use and utilities of the term ‘Slum’". In Parnell S and Oldfield S (eds) The Routledge Handbook on Cities of the Global South. London: Routledge.

Huchzermeyer M, Karam A and Maina M (2014) "Informal settlements". In Todes A, Wray C, Gotz G and Harrison P (eds) Changing Space, Changing City: Johannesburg after Apartheid. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.

Malaza N (2014) "Black urban, black research: Why understanding space and identity in South Africa still matters". In Todes A, Wray C, Gotz G and Harrison P (eds) Changing Space, Changing City: Johannesburg after Apartheid. Johannesburg: Wits University Press.

Mc Michael C B (2016) "Police wars and state repression in South Africa" Journal of Asian and African Studies 51(1) pp. 3-16.

Rubin M (2014) "Exclusion and exceptionalism: the site of the courts in urban governance" Géocarrefour 88(3) pp. 207-216.

2013

CUBES researchers contributed to the edited volume "Governing Cities in Africa" as well as to the special issue of the international Journal of Housing and the Built Environment focused on South Africa. 

Bénit-Gbaffou C (2013) "Spatial Justice and the Poor’s Access to Urban Resources in Post-Apartheid Johannesburg: Redistributive Policies, Participatory Democracy and Clientelist Practices in Urban Governance” In Dufaux Frédéric et Philifert Pascale (eds) Justice spatiale et politiques territoriales, Collection Espace et Justice, Nanterre: Presses Universitaires de Paris Ouest, pp. 187-202.

Governing Cities in AfricaBénit-Gbaffou C, with Dubresson A, Fourchard L, Ginisty K, Jaglin S, Olukoju A, Owuor S, and Vivet J (2013) “Exploring the role of political parties in the governance of African Cities”. In Fourchard L and Bekker S (eds) Governing Cities in Africa: Politics and Policies. Cape Town: HSRC Press, pp. 17-41.

Bénit-Gbaffou C (ed) "Community activists tell their stories: Driving change in Johannesburg and Ekhuruleni". Research report with Masters in Urban Studies students. Johannesburg: Wits University.

Charlton S, with Shapurjee Y (2013) "Transforming South Africa's low-income housing projects through backyard dwellings: intersections with households and the state in Alexandra, Johannesburg" Journal of Housing and the Built Environment 28(4) pp. 653-666.

Huchzermeyer M (2013) "'Slum' Upgrading or 'Slum' Eradication? The Mixed Message of the MDGs". In Langford M, Sumner A and Yamin A (eds) The Millennium Development Goals and Human Rights Past, Present and Future. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 295-315.

Huchzermeyer M, Kornienko K and Rubin M, with Groenewald L, Tredoux M and Raposo I (2013) "Breaking down the binary: Meanings of informal settlement in southern African cities". In Bekker S and Fouchard L (eds) Governing Cities in Africa: Politics and Policies. Cape Town: HSRC Press, pp. 93-116.

Rubin M and Karam A (2013) "The World Cup in Johannesburg: changing spaces in the Greater Ellis Park Precinct". In Todes A, Gotz G, Everatt D and Wray C (eds) Gauteng City Region within the Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.

Rubin M, with Didier S, Morange M and Steck J-F (2013) "Informality, public space and urban governance: An approach through street trading (Abidjan, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lomé and Nairobi)". In Bekker S and Fouchard L (eds) Governing Cities in Africa: Politics and Policies. Cape Town: HSRC Press, pp. 145-168.

Todes A, Rubin M and Klug N (2013) "The North Western area of Johannesburg: conflicts and contestations"  Gauteng City Region within the Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality". In Todes A, Gotz G, Everatt D and Wray C (eds) Gauteng City Region within the Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality.

2012

Bénit-Gbaffou C, Didier S and Peyroux E (2012) "Circulation of security models in Southern African cities: between neoliberal encroachment and local power dynamics" International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 36(5) pp. 877-889.

Bénit-Gbaffou C, Fourchard F and Wafer A (2012) "Local Politics and the Circulation of Community Security Initiatives in Johannesburg" International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 36(5) pp. 936-957.

Bénit-Gbaffou C and Mkwanazi E (2012) "Expressions de la xénophobie en réunion publique et construction d’une identité de quartier: le cas de Yeoville, Johannesburg" Politique Africaine 127 (Oct. 2012) pp. 109-134.

Buire C (2012) "Les arts-de-faire du terrain" Annales de géographie 687-688 pp. 600-620.

Huchzermeyer M (2012) "World Bank". In Carswell A (ed) The Encyclopedia of Housing. Thousand Oaks: Sage, pp. 783-787. (Note: This Encyclopedia was selected by the Reference Users and Services Association committee as an Outstanding Reference Source in January 2013).

Matlala B and Bénit-Gbaffou C (2012) "Against ourselves – local activists and the management of contradictory political loyalties: The case of Phiri, Johannesburg" Geoforum 43(2) pp. 207-218.

Rubin M (2012) "'Insiders' versus 'outsiders': What difference does it really make?" Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 33(3) pp. 303-307.

Todes A, Rubin M and Klug N (2012) "Inclusionary Housing Policy In Johannesburg: A Tool for Re-shaping South Africa’s Spatial Legacy?" Journal of Housing and Built Environment, Special Issue: South African Housing.

2011

In 2011 two books were published by Marie Huchzermeyer and a special edition of the Journal of Asian and African Studies on Accessing the State in Cities of the South was edited by Claire Bénit-Gbaffou with Sophie Oldfield.

Bénit-Gbaffou C (2011) "'Up, close and personal’: how does local democracy help the poor access the state? Stories of accountability and clientelism in Johannesburg, Journal of Asian and African Studies 46(5) pp. 453-464.

Haferburg C (2011) "South Africa Under FIFA’s Reign: The World Cup Contribution to Urban Development" Development South Africa 28(3) pp. 333-348.

Huchzermeyer M (2011) Tenement Cities: From 19th Century Berlin to 21st Century. Nairobi: Africa World Press.

Huchzermeyer M (2011) Cities with 'Slums': From Informal Settlement Eradication to a Right to the City in Africa. Cape Town: UCT Press.

Mabin A (2011) "A Reflection on the Land Question, Country and City" Transformation 75, pp. 53-72.

Rubin M (2011) "The Utility of Corruption: Another look at the South African Housing Process" Journal of African and Asian Studies 46(5).

Cities with 'Slums'      Tenement Cities

2010

In 2010 a special issue of Urban Forum on Inclusive Cities was edited by Claire Bénit-Gbaffou with Caroline Kihato and Loren Landau, and included several CUBES members’ papers.

Charlton S (2010) "Inclusion through Housing: Limitations and Alternatives in Johannesburg" Urban Forum 21 pp. 1-19.

Huchzermeyer M (2010) "Pounding the Tip of the Iceberg: The Dominant Politics of Informal Settlement Eradication in South Africa" Politikon 37(1) pp. 129-148.

Poulsen L (2010) "A Room in the City: Strategies for Accessing Affordable Accommodation" Urban Forum 21 pp. 21-36.

Sihlongonyane M (2010) "The Nelson Mandela Museum and the Tyranny of Political Symbols". In Dawson M and Beinart W (eds.) Popular Politics and Resistance Movements in South Africa. Johannesburg: Wits University Press, pp. 189-206.

Todes A, Karam A, Klug N and Malaza N (2010) "Beyond Master Planning? New Approaches to Spatial Planning in Ekurhuleni, South Africa" Habitat International 34 pp. 414-420.

2009

In 2009 a special issue of Town and Regional Planning on housing policy was edited by Marie Huchzermeyer and included two CUBES members’ papers.

Charlton A "Housing for the Nation, the City, and the Household: Competing Rationalities as a Constraint to Reform?,"Development Southern Africa 26(1) pp. 301-316.

Huchzermeyer M (2009) "The Struggle for In Situ Upgrading of Informal Settlements: A Reflection on the Case of Gauteng" Development Southern Africa 26(1) pp. 301-316.

Klug N and Vawda M (2009) "Upgrading of Informal Settlements: An Assessment with Reference to the Application of 'Breaking New Ground' in Cape Town and Johannesburg" Town and Regional Planning 54 pp. 37-49.

Sihlongonyane M (2009) "Community Development as a Buzzword" Development in Practice 19(2) pp. 136-147.

Winkler T (2009) "Believing in Market Forces in Johannesburg" In Porter L and Shaw K (eds) Whose Urban Renaissance? An International Comparison of Urban Regeneration Strategies. UK: Routledge, pp. 25-33.

2008

In 2008 a special issue of Transformation on local government in South African cities was edited by Claire Bénit-Gbaffou.

Bénit-Gbaffou C (2008) "Are practices of local participation sidelining the institutional participatory channels? Reflections from Johannesburg" Transformation 66-67 pp. 1-33.

Harrison P, Todes A and Watson V (2008) Planning and Transformation: Learning from the Post-Apartheid Experience. New York: Routledge.

Huchzermeyer M (2008) "Slum upgrading in Nairobi within the housing and basic services market: A housing rights concern" Journal of Asian and African Studies 43(1) pp. 19-39.

Karam A (2008) Some observations on informal subsidized housing market in Cape Town" Town and Regional Planning 52 pp. 38-44.

Rubin M (2008) "The Off-Side Rule: Women’s Bodies in Masculinised Spaces". In Pillay U, Tomlinson R and Bass O (eds) Development and Dreams: The Urban Legacy of the 2010 Football World Cup. Pretoria: HSRC Press, pp. 266-280.

Winkler T (2008) "When God and Poverty Collide: Exploring the Myth of Faith-Sponsored Community Development" Urban Studies 45(10) pp. 2099-2116.

2007

Charlton S (2007) "Mobilising Knowledge Resources in the Global South: Learning by Doing and Learning by Thinking" Planning Theory and Practice 8(3) pp. 383-387.

Huchzermeyer M (2007) "Tenement City: The Emergence of Multi-Storey Districts Through Large Scale Private Landlordism in Nairobi" International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 31(4) pp. 714-732.

Samson M (2007) "When Public Works Programmes Create ‘Second Economy’ Conditions" Africanus 37(2) pp. 244-256.

Sihlongonyane M (2007) "Debunking SDIs in South Africa" South African Geographical Journal 88(2) pp. 138-149.

2006

In 2006 Marie Huchzermeyer and Aly Karam published an edited volume on informal settlements.

Bénit-Gbaffou C (2006) "In the Shadow of 2010: Democracy and Displacement in the Greater Ellis Park Development Project". In Tomlinson R and Pillay U (eds) Development and Dreams: The Urban Legacy of the 2010 Football World Cup. Cape Town: HSRC Press, pp. 200-224.

Informal Settlements - A Perpetual ChallengeCharlton S and Kihato C (2006) “Reaching the poor? An analysis of the influences on the evolution of South Africa’s housing programme". In Pillay U, Tomlison R and Du Toit J (eds) Democracy and Delivery: Urban Policy in South Africa. Cape Town: HSRC Press, pp. 252-282.

Harrison P and Mabin A (2006) "Security and Space: Managing the Contradictions of Access Restriction in Johannesburg" Environment and Planning B 33 pp. 3-20.

Huchzermeryer M and Karam A (eds) (2006) Informal Settlements: A Perpetual Challenge? Cape Town: UCT Press.

Mabin A (2006) "Local Government in South Africa’s Larger Cities". In Pillay U, Tomlison R and Du Toit J (eds) Democracy and Delivery: Urban Policy in South Africa. Cape Town: HSRC Press, pp. 135-156.

Winkler R (2006) "Reimagining Inner City Regeneration in Hillbrow, Johannesburg: Identifying a Role for Faith-Based Community Development" Planning Theory and Practice 7(1) pp. 80-92.

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