Amidst the backdrop of a for years lasting electricity crisis in South Africa, the study aims to examine the impact of prolonged urban energy infrastructure disruptions on residents on the household level. This investigation will aid a deeper understanding of the interdependencies between infrastructural services, households, and their socio-economic situations in urban landscapes. The study contributes to the literature of urban infrastructural disruptions and explores individual coping mechanisms and resilience strategies of the affected people. For that, the research poses the following research question: How do urban dwellers react to, are limited by and cope with long-lasting and frequent urban electricity outages in the domestic realm in Cape Town. Drawing upon the theoretical frameworks of assemblage thinking, social practice theory and the concept of resilience, the thesis takes up a relational approach that emphasizes the complexity of the correlation between electricity networks and the life of urban residents. The researcher conducted seven qualitative in-depth interviews with residents of Cape Town regarding their individual experience with load shedding. The findings have shown that residents actively counteract power outages by assembling alternative energy appliances and the adjustment of routines. It was also visible that the respective socio-economic living situations affected the resilience of residents. Specifically, participants from less affluent backgrounds showed lower resilience in maintaining their usual daily social practices. The paper advocates for the importance of including especially the most vulnerable groups in counter initiatives in a way that would reduce the impact of power outages.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-229897 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Igel, Margret |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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