Living Apart Together: Networks of Practices as Infrastructure of Care in a Post-Pandemic South African Informal Settlement

The paper highlights how a relational understanding of socioeconomic livelihoods in informal settlements offers valuable insights for public polices in facing complex emergencies such as the recent COVID-19 crisis. The interactions among inhabitants and their networks of practices are deepened through the case of an informal community theatre, the Makukhanye Art Room, in Khayelitsha (Cape Town, South Africa). Within this context, these practices around the theatre emerge as a social infrastructure, highlighting the diverse yet contextually embedded elements of agency that operate at the street level. Through field research, the paper investigates practices within and surrounding the theatre, revealing the agency present within informal settlements and underscoring the potential of networks of practices as urban agents in fostering infrastructure of care. By doing so, the study advocates for a re-evaluation of urban policies to incorporate these networks into sustainable and inclusive development strategies.