Questioning governance of urban informality: A study of township economy in Alexandra, Johannesburg

Abstract

city. The M1 highway separates Alexandra from the affluent city of Sandton (a financial powerhouse of Africa) with its tall buildings and expensive housing visible mostly in leafy suburbs such as Sandhurst ‘where the cream of society lives’ – where South Africa’s most elite, that have always enjoyed full citizenship rights of liberty, autonomy and a clean environment, live (Skurie, 2013). This study argues that Johannesburg is a city that depicts both the utopia of growth and development, as well as the dystopian torture of marginal realities experienced by the urban poor