In the iltearture on spatial changes in post-Fordist cities, concepts like “ghetto” and “suburb” are commonplace, and they have been applied to numerous contexts. However, this study focuses on the potential limitations of relying too heavily on these historical categories, including continuing to interpret new data to the lens of those categories and/or the ideal types used to describe the quartered post-Fordist city. While, this study acknowledges the utility and relevance of those categories, as well as contextually relevant terms like “former Whites-only” and “former Blacks-only” group areas of the Apartheid-era, the analysis proceeds without relying on those categories, only to reintroduce them later to aid intepretation of the findings. Consequently, this study finds that, while some of Cape Town’s subplaces might resemble the ghetto and suburb ideal types, without an over-reliance on those categories a more nuanced and even paradoxical understanding of neighbourhood change is possible.

South Africa’s cities make for an interesting focus when studying urban inequalities and segregation. Not only is the country among the most unequal countries (based on the Gini index calculations), but the Apartheid-era of the 20th century also created a severely segregated racial hierarchy through wide-reaching legislation. Although that and its legislation was dismantled in the final decade of the last century, the impact of those years is still evident across the country, not least of which on its cities. Cape Town is known as a beautiful city, as well as a tourist hotspot, however, it has also been referred to as the most segregated city in this already unequal and segregated country. This study focuses on the demographic and labour market changes, both in terms of the occupational distribution, as well as the racial composition of the most prominent and fastest growing occupational groups. What is apparent is that Cape Town has remained an unequal and segregated city, with levels of racial segregation significantly higher that socioeconomic segregation (even when accounting for occupational class differences). Additionally, although previously disadvantaged groups (e.g. Black Africans and Coloureds) have made gains in more prominent occupations, they continue to be under-represented among high-income earners and comprise the largest proportion of the unemployed in the city.