ABSTRACT
It would be tempting to conclude on an optimistic note, echoing the euphoria which accompanied the beginning of negotiations between the Nationalist government and the ANC in 1990 and subsequent indications of progress including the repeal of the Separate Amenities and Group Areas Acts. The days of apartheid, as generally understood, are clearly numbered. But what will really be the consequences for the South African city? It is proposed to round off this collection with a brief elaboration of what might, at first sight appear to be a rather rash if not unduly pessimistic proposition: that the post-apartheid city is already here, revealed by implication if not always directly in the contents of this book, if not in all its detail then at least in broad outlines. And this transition from the city of classical apartheid has arisen more from the internal dynamics and contradictions of the apartheid system itself than from any planned or negotiated process of reform.
