Normalising life in Durban: Bringing people back to its streets

In the chapter, Normalising life in Durban: Bringing people back to its streets, Azad Essa and Ercüment Çelik draw from their frustrations (as local & international students) with crime and fear as ‘an obstacle towards having fun in this city.’ They write about how Durban's city centre is seen as a no go area by ‘the average middle class Durbanites,’ especially whites. While Indians may ‘man’ their businesses, there are few Indian pedestrians. Constructions of Durban city as dangerous are shared more widely at night: the city virtually shuts down. The paper raises questions about how to open up the city to everyone and reclaim the streets at night. It offers imaginative suggestions.

Reference:
Çelik, Ercüment, and Essa, Azad. 'Normalising life in Durban: Bringing people back to its streets', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), Undressing Durban (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 235-242.