This paper considers the impact of urban South Africa's new spatial order on its already fragile social dynamics. Analysis considers the relationships between residents of a gated community and their neighbouring (non-gated) area, addressing both the attitudes and perceptions that exist amongst residents of each area towards the 'other' neighbourhood, as well as the nature of any direct contact between residents. The case study for this paper is located in a master plan private development, constructed in 1999 in the heart of Cape Town's wealthy (and predominantly White) 'southern suburbs'. The development hosts two vastly different residential areas that despite spatial proximity are socially and functionally isolated.
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