The effects of gentrification and sustainable cultural tourism development in the Bo-Kaap, Cape Town

Abstract

The study site is the Bo-Kaap area in Cape Town. Negative and positive changes within interrelated physical, social and economic spheres have resulted from gentrification, an urban development phenomenon. These changes need to be managed responsibly. This study problem sought to establish whether the traditional inhabitants of the Bo-Kaap are being replaced by a ‘new generation’ of inhabitants because of gentrification, and how negative and positive changes in the Bo-Kaap could be minimised and maximised respectively, through gentrification, by adopting a sustainable cultural tourism approach. A historical background of the Bo-Kaap reveals the history, culture and religion of this area, and highlights the special customs and traditions within the Bo-Kaap as potential areas of sustainable cultural tourism development to mitigate gentrification. A comprehensive literature review on gentrification and tourism as separate and interrelated development processes is presented. The literature review investigates gentrification and its effects as a phenomenon; the relative forms of gentrification across an international, national and local setting, refined to the Bo-Kaap; tourism and the nature of the industry and its development; and finally, tourism gentrification as an interconnected system.