On alcohol, transport and poverty in Cape Town

Pirie, G. (2014). On alcohol, transport and poverty in Cape Town. South African Geographical Journal, 96(1), 50–59. doi:10.1080/03736245.2014.896280

Platform
Cape Town
Publication type
Scientific article (peer-reviewed)
Projects
CityLab Programme
DOI Title
On alcohol, transport and poverty in Cape Town
Journal
South African Geographical Journal
ISSN/ISBN
0373-6245 2151-2418
DOI
10.1080/03736245.2014.896280
Author(s)
Gordon Pirie
Published year
Subject
Geography, Planning and Development General Earth and Planetary Sciences

 

Abstract

Fear and fortification frame most discourse and policy on alcohol in circulatory spaces. In-vehicle spaces and boarding points command most attention in regulatory practice and in surveys. Observational fieldwork in Cape Town, and its subsequent review, suggests alternative sites and scales of interest and concern relating to mobility and alcohol (ab)use. Platform, barrier and vehicle are not the only affected spaces: neighbourhoods of embarkation and disembarkation can also be contested and conflictual. These additional sites are material as well as imaginary, symbolic and internalised. ‘Liquid spaces’ are also a dimension of lived and felt mobility disadvantage and stress among the urban poor.

Related publications