Blikkiesdorp (Symphony Way Temporary Relocation Area)

“Blikkiesdorp” was built by the city council of Cape Town at a cost of over 30 million rand (approx. 8-900 million forints), to re-house people who had been living in areas that had been earmarked for development ahead of the 2010 Football World Cup. This bleak settlement, whose name translates as “tin-can village” is made up of 1600 identical, 18 square metre boxes made of corrugated metal sheeting. The houses have no thermal insulation and four housing units each share one sanitation block.

The crime rate in the settlement is extremely high, even by slum standards. This is due in large part to the nature of the housing –the inhabitants do not feel a sense of ownership these identical boxes as they did with homemade shacks, and as a result they are also alienated from their neighbours. To make matters worse, most of the population of Blikkiesdorp was forcibly moved here against its will.