ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book demonstrates that urban infrastructure is a socio-technical process that reflects and perpetuates the inequalities of citizenship, while the relationship between citizens and the state (i.e. citizenship) is primarily mediated through infrastructure. It comprises a short collection of scholars’ reflections on the implications of their research on infrastructure for debates on citizenship, as an opportunity to highlight the ways in which infrastructure and citizenship are already intertwined in the city, and would benefit from greater connection within scholarly debates. The book demonstrates the physical infrastructural inequalities of the metering system whereby pre-paid electricity meters have been installed in low-income parts of Johannesburg, while wealthy suburban areas are billed monthly in arrears. It presents examples of structural inequality in jointly determining experiences and practices of infrastructure and citizenship.
