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The Conversation
Philip Harrison, Professor School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand

South Africa doesn't need new cities: it needs to focus on fixing what it's got

Shenzhen, in China's southern Guangdong province. A village until 1980, it's a rare new city success story. Photo by Jade Gao / AFP via Getty Images

South Africa is a dominantly urban country, with almost 70% of the population living in cities and towns. But urban services and infrastructures are coming under increasing strain from the collapse of infrastructure in many smaller and medium sized towns and deteriorating levels in the large cities.

A common response to a gathering urban crisis is to imagine starting afresh with new cities. The impulse crosses the political spectrum.

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