4.2. Promotion of a Just City
Based on the findings of my fieldwork, this section aims to
examine whether or not the way FMs are treated in the inner city may
help Johannesburg to become a just city; that is, according to
Fainstein, a city which promotes democracy, equality, diversity,
growth, and sustainability for the benefit of all its residents. Apart
from sustainability, this section will
review all the other three elements of Fainstein's
conceptualisation of the just city.
Democracy
The democratic value that Fainstein talks about in her
conceptualisation of the just city is based on the participation
of ordinary people, including FMs, in the decision-making processes
in cities. According to her, every resident should be given the
opportunity to participate (in different ways) in the planning process of the
city in which he/she lives. As I previously said, in the inner city of
Johannesburg, opportunities are often given only to South Africans; FMs are
usually neglected. As a result, there is no cohesion between the residents;
in the sense that each person seeks to limit his/her
relationships within the boundaries of people from his/her own
culture, or of the country to which he/she belongs. Thus,
Johannesburg theoretically gives the impression of being a multicultural city
because of the cultural diversity of its residents, but in reality it is a
segmented city as there is no cohesion between its residents.
In cities where participative democracy is non-existent,
Fainstein relies on the reformative and transformative power of the CSOs
(see Chapter Two), as the most important social agent capable of
challenging the state institutions. In the case of the inner city of
Johannesburg, it is about questioning the LG on its exclusionary
governance practices, and negotiating with it about the `right to a
voice' for FMs living in the inner cit y. The outcomes of my fieldwork showed
that the Johannesburg's CSOs accomplished this role, but more needs to be done
to help FMs to enjoy fully their democratic value as residents.
Equality
Fainstein regards equality as a rational approach to
organising a `well-ordered' city and as a «necessary pre-condition to
human fulfilment and condemns the dehumanising effects of
capitalism» (Fainstein, 1997). The outcomes of my fieldwork proved that
many things should
be done to promote equality of opportunities between South
Africans and FMs. In terms of job opportunities, for instance, from the side of
both the civil society as well as from that of
the FMs, there is evidence showing that many companies do not
want to hire FMs, even those who are educated and possess qualifications,
because of their status as FMs. With regards to
the disabled FMs, the national government had excluded
them from the social grants. But, because of the CSOs efforts, this year,
it decided to start giving them social grants. There is a
hope that, in the near future, the quality of life of FMs will
significantly improve.
Diversity
During my fieldwork, some of my informants stated that the
majority of South Africans are hostile and sensitive to the cultural
differences of FMs, instead of approaching these cultures and seeing if they
could learn something from them. Their attitudes prevent Johannesburg
from becoming an intercultural city, where residents may exchange some
components of their cultures, without compromising their own cultures, as
Sandercock (2006) stated (see Chapter Two).
The local government's failure to promote intercultural
values in the city impacts on the relationships between the residents
of the inner city, preventing them from forming real communities of
people sharing common interests. And yet, Healey, Sandercock, and Young
stressed that differences among groups are what characterise cities,
while acceptance of differences provides the moral basis of urban life. For
this reason, diversity should be adopted
as a guiding value in cities, and should be celebrated
(Healey, 1996; Sandercock cited by
Watson, 2002: 32; and Young, 1990).
Growth
Talking about growth, Fainstein refers to the just
distribution of economic benefits among those who live in the city,
insisting on what she calls «an ethics of political solidarity built
across different places» (Fainstein, 1997). She also raises the issue of
fair distribution, basing her arguments on the necessity of targeting
redistributional policies to attain social benefit for
the most disadvantaged. In the inner city of Johannesburg, as in
any other city of the world, it
is through job opportunities that people may share
equally the economic benefits of their society. The outcomes of my
fieldwork showed that the majority of FMs are jobless, and those
running their own businesses to survive, are sometimes discriminated against in
favour
of South African citizens (see interview with Mungoma, Chapter
Three). To facilitate greater social justice for FMs, the Johannesburg CSOs
attempt to encourage companies to hire FMs,
by providing them with letters of recommendation and challenging
the national government
(NG) to show strict respect for this basic right.
An overview of those four elements of the just city
(democracy, equalit y, diversity, and growth) showed that the city of
Johannesburg needs to double its efforts in order to create a
just city which would be more inclusive of all its residents,
including FMs, who constitute one
of the most important communities, in terms of their impact on
the cit y. The next section will focus particularly on efforts that are being
made by the city's CSOs to create a just city and facilitate a greater social
justice for FMs living in the inner city.
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