A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 2014. / This dissertation tracks the political response by middle class residents to attempts by the city of Johannesburg to develop a public golf course and wetland called Huddle Park. It seeks to better understand the role of politics in Johannesburg’s suburban areas. The study explores three aspects of this issue. It first looks at the reasons why the issue of Huddle Park became important for residents. It then examines mobilisation tactics used by residents’ groups to pursue their political agenda on the issue. Lastly it follows how these middle class formations interact with city governance structures informed by deliberative democratic theories. It argues that understandings of these of these groups are too narrow and that by using a spatial paradigm greater nuance can be added to understandings of their actions. It shows that long term political action is possible by these groups and explores the limits of its effectiveness.