As slum tourism takes off in inner city Johannesburg, Fabian Frenzel asks whether it is enough to break the cycle of advanced urban marginality.This post is part of our joint series with the Africa at LSE blog on Social Development Challenges for Africa

Frenzel, Fabian

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Communicating bottom-up social developmentPonte Tower apartments was oncepart of the most valuable realestate in Johannesburg. Photo:Fabian FrenzelCan slum tourism reverse the plight of Johannesburg’smarginalised communities?As slum tourism takes off in inner city Johannesburg, Fabian Frenzel asks whether it is enough tobreak the cycle of advanced urban marginality.This post is part of our joint series with the Africa atLSE blog on Social Development Challenges for Africa.The view from the 56th floor of Nicolas Bauer’s Ponte Towerapartments is breathtaking. On a good day, one can spotthe Voortrekker Monument on the outskirts of Pretoria fromhere, Bauer claims. Ponte Tower is a landmark building inthe city of Johannesburg and a somewhat unusual startingpoint of a tour through an area that many consider a slum.Right below us lies Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville, threeneighbourhoods just north of the Johannesburg’s CentralBusiness District (CBD). In 1975, when Ponte Tower wasbuilt, these neighbourhoods had some of the most valuablereal estate in the whole of the country. By law they werereserved for white residents only.When apartheid crumbled in the 1980s under increasingresistance, the authorities rezoned Hillbrow, Brea andYeoville as grey areas in an amendment to the Groups AreasAct, leading to the immediate redlining of the three neighbourhoods by banks and the spurring ofwhite flight. While the whites settled in the newly developing suburban sprawl of Johannesburg,urban policy entered a period of neglect and divestment from the inner city. An informal rentalreal estate market developed in often abandoned and hijacked dwellings, catering for rural tourban migrants from within South Africa and increasingly for migrants from other Africancountries.Ponte Tower, like many surrounding high rises became a vertical slum. Today there are still somehijacked buildings in Hillbrow and policy neglect and inaction remains a central problem. But this iscompounded by a prevailing negative perception:  considered a no-go area since the late 1980s,few better-off South Africans, whether white or black, dare to set foot here.In the words of the French sociologist Loic Wacquant, these areas suffer from advanced urbanmarginality. Its central component is territorial stigma which leads to low esteem amongresidents, further neglect from the policy and private sectors and a high level of mutual distrustamong residents that undermines political organisation and collective claims making. Materialdeprivation leads to symbolic exclusion which effects further material deprivation, a downwardsspiral.Home About Book Links News and Events Resources This site is supported byBookUndergroundSociabilities waspublished byUNESCO in 2013.Click on theimage for freedownload .Social media Can slum tourism reverse the plight of Johannesburg’s marginalised communities? | Favelas at LSE1 of 4One aspect largely overlooked by Wacquant is the fact that territorial stigma creates curiosity.Nicolas Bauer moved to Hillbrow in 2013. With a partner he set up the children’s charity Dlala Njeand while looking for funding they turned to tourism. Bauer told me that he felt it was a duty toshow others that being in Hillbrow was ok.“For far too long Hillbrow was just forgotten. People said: never ever go there, justleave it, leave it, let it go to the dogs. Nobody cares. And that – I think – ischanging”.In the meantime hundreds of South Africans and foreign visitors have been on tours with Djala Njein Hillbrow and Yeoville and the tour is now ranked the fifth most popular activity onJohannesburg’s trip advisor page. Comments and reviews seem to confirm the tours’ impact onperceptions.“I have lived in Johannesburg for my whole life and had never ventured intoHillbrow until I heard about Dlala Nje. There was a group of 15 of us and whilewalking through the streets of Hillbrow the locals were very friendly and we didn’texperience anything bad at all. (…)I would say that all South Africans need toexperience this tour to understand what the people of the area have had tosurvive. Thank you for changing my perceptions Dlala Nje :)”But is the curiosity of better-off tourists enough to break the downward spiral of territorial stigma,policy neglect and material deprivation? Can tourism be an answer to advanced urbanmarginality?This view over Hillbrow is a compelling one for slum tourists.Photo: Fabian FrenzelThere is little doubt that tourism in slums, townships and favelas is a growing trend in internationaltourism, predominantly occurring in some cities of the global south. An estimated one millionpeople went on a slum tour globally in 2013, mainly in South Africa and Brazil.We may add to this headcount a growing number of tourists who spent anything from a few daysto several months volunteering in marginalised communities, slums and ghettos across the world.What difference do these visitors make? There is no easy answer to this question. Economicallyslum tourism predominantly benefits the operating tour companies. Some are charities, othersshare some of their profits with charities, or create local employment but the overall directeconomic effects of slum tourism to address poverty are small.It is the symbolic domain that is more interesting. Territorial stigma leads to invisibility.Expressions like “no one lives in the centre of Johannesburg” frequently heard in the suburbs allowpolicy and society to turn a blind eye. Slum tourism, particular if taken up by local elites, mayprovide increased visibility to neglected areas, scandalise the neglect and give voice to residents.Beyond this direct political role of tourism, there is the curious interest and value tourists see inLSE Latam is a joint effort of @lseargentinasoc @LSEsuColombia @LSESUMexicanSoc @CASAUK_org  Chile. Inviting Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and all!Retweeted by Favelas atLSELSE SU Latam @latamlseExpandThere is need for subsidised or free #healthcare for the growing population of older people living in #slums ow.ly/FUTrNFavelas at LSE @FavelasatLSE2h11hTweets FollowTweet to @FavelasatLSELike us on FacebookFavelas at LSE: Adialogue betweenthe UK and Brazil904 people like Favelas at LSE: Adialogue between the UK and Brazil.Facebook social pluginLikeArchiveSubscribe to Favelas at LSEvia EmailEnter your email address tosubscribe to this blog andreceive notifications of newposts by email.Can slum tourism reverse the plight of Johannesburg’s marginalised communities? | Favelas at LSE2 of 4December 8th, 2014 | Africa, English, Urbanism | 0 Comments Previous postLeave A Commentdifference. Behind territorial stigma looms urban life, diverse and complex. In Hillbrow streets arebusy, markets, street vendors and bars make a vibrant urban culture, in Yeoville restaurants fromthe whole continent cater for the diverse population. Such life is largely absent from the fortifiedenclaves of suburban Johannesburg.In Rio de Janeiro tourism has triggered gentrification processes in some favelas andJohannesburg’s inner city neighbourhoods may follow a similar path. To residents this might turnout to be a mixed blessing. The economics of gentrification are well rehearsed: rarely do theyfavour the poor.For an academic article elaborating on the issues discussed in this post, see Frenzel, F. (2014). SlumTourism and Urban Regeneration: Touring Inner Johannesburg. Urban Forum, 25 (4), 431-447. About the AuthorDr Fabian Frenzel is lecturer in the political economy of organisation at the School of Management,University of Leicester, UK. He has just finished a two year comparative research project on slumtourism in Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg and Mumbai. More information can be found on theproject website www.qualpot.eu. Follow him on Twitter @fabnomad.Featured image credit: Joburg PhotoWalker at Old Joburg General Hospital, by Axel Bührmann  (CCBY 2.0).The views expressed on this post belong solely to the author and should not be taken as theopinion of the Favelas@LSE Blog nor of the LSE. Please read our comments policy before commenting.Share this:Next post What clean sewers tell usabout development inAfrican slumsHealthcare needs of olderslum dwellers deserve moreattentionThe psychosocial impact ofvolunteer tourism in thefavelas of Rio de JaneiroCan slum tourism reverse the plight of Johannesburg’s marginalised communities? | Favelas at LSE3 of 4 Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.CONTACTfavelas@lse.ac.ukCopyright © 2014 LSECan slum tourism reverse the plight of Johannesburg’s marginalised communities? | Favelas at LSE4 of 4

Can slum tourism reverse the plight of Johannesburg’s marginalised communities?

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