Planning Urban Regeneration through Heritage Tourism: The Case of Kliptown, South Africa

Abstract

Literature on heritage tourism planning in sub-Saharan Africa is underdeveloped. The aim in this paper is to investigate one highly significant heritage site, which is located in metropolitan Johannesburg, South Africa’s leading urban tourism destination. The specific focus is on Kliptown, a township of modern Soweto, situated 25 km south-west of Johannesburg city centre. In South African history, Kliptown is important in the anti-apartheid struggle for hosting the 1955 Congress of the People and the signing of the Freedom Charter. The planning of Kliptown as a destination for heritage tourism and its local impacts for physical area regeneration are analysed. It is demonstrated that at Kliptown, as has been the case with several other heritage tourism projects implemented during the post-apartheid period, the promised developmental effects for local communities have not materialised.