Inequality In The Global City

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employment sector have played a huge role in how the workplace is set up and also has aided in keeping up the inequality that is seen in these global cities. Global cities tend to be in competition with one another, even though they work on a system of interconnectedness. Cape Town and Johannesburg are two cities in South Africa that subtly compete over which one is the better city. Cape Town works hard to increase its capital as a city by being a city that greatly appeals to tourists. The city of Cape Town is also one that is very big on entrepreneurship, this city is known for local restaurants and small local businesses opening up every few months. This adds a feeling of authenticity to the city, however, many locals become displaced in…show more content…
This is evident in Johannesburg as well, the factories are in the outlying cities, and they are not in the central business district. That space is now reserved for financial and service providers. However, they also have to operate and exist within their set boundaries. Like the global city of Los Angeles, there seems to be an increase with the obsession of having physical security systems neighbourhoods that belong to rich people (Davis, 1992). There is also an obsession with how the social boundaries are put to keep certain people out of certain neighbourhoods. Life in the city has become very militarized (Davis, 1992). The police are actively involved in the act of criminalizing the poor. There is a tendency of merging police and security equipment into the designs of the houses in these upper class neighbourhoods. For example, the inclusion of security cameras and alarm systems in the designs of houses. This is done to make the people that live in these neighbourhoods feel safer from the perceived danger (Davis,…show more content…
Having security and feeling secure is seen as something that one only gains if they can afford to pay for it, it is a luxury that not many can afford (Davis, 1992). And things are no different in South Africa. In Johannesburg and Cape Town, security is restricted to the suburbs, and one gets the impression that it is a tool that is used to divide the rich from the rest of the city. The idea of having security has more to do with wanting to be isolated from people you do not want to interact with than it does with personal safety. The way in which people perceive the idea of the “other” to be a threat plays a huge role in the need to get security. The middle class tends to magnify threats of danger even though they do not really have first-hand experience and this aids in demonizing a group of people (Davis, 1992). This method of demonizing a group of people plays a huge role in people feeling the need to isolate themselves from

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