Aidan Africa
Aidan Africa is a 23-year-old student at the University of Cape Town where he is currently completing a Master of Philosophy degree in geography, specialising in urban geography.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (summa cum laude) and a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in geography (magna cum laude) from the University of the Western Cape.
Aidan’s research interests lie in postcolonial cities of the Global South and how new forms of inequality and uneven development manifest spatially and how this affects the lives and place experiences of vulnerable residents.
His honours research titled “Sense of Place: Gentrification experiences of Bo-Kaap’s long-term residents” explores the impact of gentrification on longstanding Bo-Kaap residents’ sense of place.
In 2022 he was awarded the Society of South African Geographers Outstanding Honours Research award for his research on the Bo-Kaap.
The impact of Bo-Kaap gentrification: an interview with Aidan Africa
2022-07-11"Heritage protection can at best protect the symptom of gentrification (eg by preserving the unique design of the Bo-Kaap’s homes), but it is much less able to protect the very life of the neighbourhood …" Menán van Heerden chats to UCT masters student Aidan Africa about his honours research, "Sense of place: Gentrification experiences of Bo-Kaap’s long-term residents".
