... commerce andtrade,andadvertisingwith a distinctmultinationalslant. In a trendsimilarto that in NorthAmerica, the outlyingaffluentareashaveincreasinglyattractedcommerce,retail and ... canafforditspendanestimatedR50billion[$4.8billion] a yearonprivatesecurity,suchasperimeterbarricades,armedguardsandalarmsystems, a figure‘overandabove the highinsurancecosts’andwhatvariousstateagenciesalreadyspendon‘maintainingwhatpassesforlawandorder in the country’. The fear of crimehasdrivenresidents of middle-classneighbourhoodstoturntheirhomesintobunker-likefortresses,anexpense that hasdrainedmanyhouseholds of discretionaryspending.Almost a fifth of ... cities that aspireto world- class’status.1 In the main,much of thisscholarlywritingabouturbanrivalrieshascrystallisedaround a researchagenda that hascometobeknownas the ‘global...