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Sustainable Urban Tourism
in Sub-Saharan Africa

This book investigates urban tourism development in sub-Saharan Africa, highlight-


ing the challenges and risks involved, but also showcasing the potential benefits.
While much is written about Africa’s rural environments, it seems little has been
written about the tourism potential of the vast natural, cultural and historical resources
in the continent’s urban areas. Yet these opportunities also come with considerable
environmental, social and political challenges. This book interrogates the interactions
between urban risks, tourism and sustainable development in sub-Saharan African
urban spaces. It addresses the underlying issues of governance, power, ownership,
collaboration, justice, community empowerment and policies that influence tourism
decision-making at local, national and regional levels. Interrogating the intricate rela-
tionships between tourism stakeholders, this book ultimately reflects on how urban risk
can be mitigated, and how sustainable urban tourism can be harnessed for development.
The important insights in this book will be of interest to researchers and prac-
titioners across Tourism, Geography, Urban Development and African Studies.
Llewellyn Leonard is a Professor at the Department of Environmental Science,
School of Ecological and Human Sustainability at the University of South Africa
(UNISA). He has a Ph.D. from Kings College, University of London, and is a
human geographer and environmental sociologist. His research interests include
environmental justice, governance, democracy and human rights, civil-socie-
ty-state-industry relations, urban risks, sustainable development, risk society and
political economy/ecology.
Regis Musavengane (Ph.D.) is a political ecologist and tourism and conservation
geographer. He is a faculty member at the Midlands State University, Zimbabwe,
Department of Tourism and Hospitality, and a Research Fellow at the School of
Ecological and Human Sustainability, Department of Environmental Sciences at
the University of South Africa (UNISA). He holds a Ph.D. in Geography and
Environmental Studies from University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,
South Africa. His research interests include collaborative management of natural
resources, community-based tourism, land reform for community development
and inclusive tourism systems for both urban and rural spaces.
Pius Siakwah (Ph.D.) is a development and resources geographer and a Research
Fellow at the Institute of African Studies (IAS), University of Ghana. He holds
a Ph.D. in Geography from Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Ireland. He has keen
interest in political economy, natural resources, renewable energies ans sustain-
ability, development geographies, governance, livelihoods, network theories and
tourism and development.
Routledge Studies in Cities and Development

The series features innovative and original research on cities in the Global South,
aiming to explore urban settings through the lens of international development.
The series particularly promotes comparative and interdisciplinary research tar-
geted at a global readership.
In terms of theory and method, rather than basing itself on any one orthodoxy,
the series draws on a broad toolkit taken from across social sciences and built
environment studies, emphasizing comparison, the analysis of the structure and
processes, and the application of qualitative and quantitative methods.
The series welcomes submissions from established and junior authors on c­ utting-
edge and high-level research on key topics that feature in global news and public
debate.

The Politics of Slums in the Global South


Urban Informality in Brazil, India, South Africa and Peru
Edited by Véronique Dupont, David Jordhus-Lier, Catherine Sutherland and
Einar Braathen

Social Theories of Urban Violence in the Global South


Towards Safe and Inclusive Cities
Edited by Jennifer Erin Salahub, Markus Gottsbacher and John de Boer

Reducing Urban Violence in the Global South


Towards Safe and Inclusive Cities
Edited by Jennifer Erin Salahub, Markus Gottsbacher, John de Boer and
Mayssam D. Zaaroura

Sustainable Urban Tourism in Sub-Saharan Africa


Risk and Resilience
Edited by Llewellyn Leonard, Regis Musavengane and Pius Siakwah

Reframing the Urban Challenge in Africa


Knowledge Co-production from the South
Edited by Ntombini Marrengane and Sylvia Croese
Sustainable Urban Tourism
in Sub-Saharan Africa
Risk and Resilience

Edited by Llewellyn Leonard,


Regis Musavengane and Pius Siakwah
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2021 selection and editorial matter, Llewellyn Leonard, Regis
Musavengane and Pius Siakwah; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Llewellyn Leonard, Regis Musavengane and Pius Siakwah to
be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for
their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77
and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Leonard, Llewellyn, editor. | Musavengane, Regis, editor. |
Siakwah, Pius, editor.
Title: Sustainable urban tourism in sub-Saharan Africa : risk and
resilience / edited by Llewellyn Leonard, Regis Musavengane and Pius
Siakwah.
Description: New York : Routledge, 2021. | Series: Routledge studies in
cities and development | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020035058 (print) | LCCN 2020035059 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367904142 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003024293 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Urban ecology (Sociology)--Africa, Sub-Saharan. |
Cities and towns--Growth--Environmental aspects. | Ecotourism--Africa,
Sub-Saharan.
Classification: LCC HT243.A43 S87 2021 (print) | LCC HT243.A43
(ebook) | DDC 307.760967--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020035058
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020035059
ISBN: 978-0-367-90414-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-02429-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by SPi Global, India
Contents

List of tables viii


List of figures ix
List of contributors x
Acknowledgements xiii
Preface xiv

1 Urban risk and tourism in Africa: An overview 1


LLEWELLYN LEONARD, REGIS MUSAVENGANE, AND PIUS SIAKWAH

THEME 1
Urban tourism and environmental pollution risks 15

2 Examining ‘toxic tourism’ as a new form of alternative urban


tourism and for environmental justice: The case of the South Durban
Industrial Basin, South Africa 17
LLEWELLYN LEONARD AND ROBIN NUNKOO

3 Waste management and urban risk in Livingstone City, Zambia: The


sustainability of the hospitality sector 31
WILMA SICHOMBO NCHITO AND EUPHEMIA MWALE

4 The political economy of unplanned urban sprawl, waste and tourism


development in Ghana 47
PIUS SIAKWAH

5 Environmental risk management and township tourism development


in Alexandra, Johannesburg, South Africa 59
LLEWELLYN LEONARD AND AYANDA DLADLA
vi Contents
THEME 2
Peace tourism, battlefields and war risks 73

6 Mega sports events and urban risks: 2010 FIFA World Cup,
the African bid and xenophobic violence 75
BRIJ MAHARAJ

7 Election risk and urban tourism in sub-Saharan African cities:


Exploring peace through tourism in Harare, Zimbabwe 92
REGIS MUSAVENGANE

8 The role of responsible tourism in peace-building and social inclusion


in war-risk cities: Evidence from Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo 107
CLÉMENT LONGONDJO ETAMBAKONGA AND DIEUDONNÉ TRINTO MUGANGU

THEME 3
Tourism, climate change and flood risks 121

9 Factors influencing tourism accommodations’ lack of preparedness


for flooding in Lagos, Nigeria 123
EROMOSE E. EBHUOMA AND LLEWELLYN LEONARD

10 Climate change impacts and adaptation strategies for tourism


hotspots Mombasa and Cape Town 138
FRANCINI VAN STADEN

11 Risk of floods impacting tourism in the coastal cities of West Africa:


A case study of Accra, Ghana 152
RAPHAEL ANE ATANGA AND TEMBI TICHAAWA

12 The nexus of climate change and urban tourism in South Africa:


Triaging challenges and optimising opportunities 167
FELIX KWABENA DONKOR AND KEVIN MEARNS

THEME 4
Inclusive urban tourism and enclaves 183

13 Human settlements and tourism development in Kenya: Prospects


for tackling urban risks in informal settlements 185
PRUDENCE KHUMALO
Contents vii
14 Conservation tourism challenges and opportunities on the
Cape Flats, South Africa 196
MICHAEL DYSSEL

15 Resilience, inclusiveness and challenges of cosmopolitan cities’


heritage tourism: The case of the Balancing Rocks in Epworth, Harare 216
ZIBANAI ZHOU

16 Prospects and challenges of sustainable urban tourism in Windhoek:


Poverty, inequality and urban risks linkages 231
ERISHER WOYO

17 Conclusion: Navigating urban tourism amidst environmental,


political and social risks 247
REGIS MUSAVENGANE, LLEWELLYN LEONARD, AND PIUS SIAKWAH

Index 257
Tables

3.1 Accommodation Types and Available Bed Spaces, 2015 and


2017 34
3.2 Types of Waste Generated by the Hospitality Sector in
Livingstone 39
6.1 Xenophobic Attacks 1994 ̶ 2007 80
6.2 A Timeline of May 2008 Xenophobic Attacks 81
6.3 Xenophobic Threats May–June 2010 85
11.1 Schematic Analysis of the Direct and Indirect Impact
of Flood Events 158
11.2 Flood Disasters and Their Characteristics in Accra 160
14.1 Key Resilience and Risk Factors at the Four Study Sites 207
16.1 Documents Reviewed and Analysed 236
16.2 Number of Trips and Spending 239
16.3 Tourists’ Motivations for Visiting 240
16.4 Poverty Rates for Namibia and Gini Coefficients 242
16.5 Poverty Headcount Rate per Constituency in Windhoek
(2001–2011) (upper-bound poverty line) 242
Figures

2.1 Merebank residents overlooking the Mondi Paper industrial facility 21


2.2 The Engen Refinery bordering Merebank and Wentworth residents 21
3.1 Location of sampled hospitality entities in Livingstone 37
3.2 Non-salty and nonacidic food waste and stacked trays 41
9.1 Map of Lagos State 126
9.2 Flow chart of article screening and selection 128
9.3 Flood risk management by public agents in Lagos 132
11.1 Map of study area 156
12.1 The nexus of tourism and urban risks 168
12.2 Study setting and its relative position in South Africa and Africa 170
14.1 Locations of protected and conservation areas in the metropolitan
area of Cape Town 199
15.1 Chiremba Balancing Rocks image 220
15.2 Chiremba Balancing Rocks map 221
16.1 Prospects and challenges of urban tourism and the poor in Windhoek 238
Contributors

Robin Nunkoo is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law and Management


at the University of Mauritius; a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the
University of Johannesburg, South Africa; an Adjunct Professor at Griffith
Institute for Tourism, Griffith University, Australia; and a Visiting Researcher
in the Department of Marketing, Copenhagen Business School, University of
Copenhagen, Denmark. He is an Editor in a number of A-rated journals, exten-
sively published and cited. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3583-9717
Brij Maharaj is a Senior Professor of Geography at the University of KwaZulu-
Natal in Durban, South Africa. He has received widespread recognition for his
research on urban politics, mega-events, segregation, local economic devel-
opment, xenophobia and human rights, migration and diasporas, religion, phi-
lanthropy and development, and has published over 150 scholarly papers and
co-edited 5 book collections. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1266-2231
Wilma Sichombo Nchito is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography
and Environmental Studies in the School of Natural Sciences at the University
of Zambia. She is an urban geographer, specialised in planning in transition.
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7089-9777
Euphemia Mwale holds a B.A. Ed and MSc in Environment and Natural
Resources Management from the University of Zambia. Has been teaching
Geography at the secondary-school level for over 10 years.
Ayanda Dladla holds a master’s degree from the University of Johannesburg,
School of Tourism and Hospitality. He has always been interested in research-
ing on sustainable tourism with a focus on pro-poor tourism and social change.
Clément Longondjo Etambakonga is an Adjunct Professor at Rennes School
of Business, France. He holds a Ph.D. in Management from Rennes Business
School. He researches on corporate social responsibility, responsible business,
business ethics, sustainable development and waste management and recy-
cling in post-conflict context. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8688-3769
Dieudonné Trinto Mugangu is a freelance consultant for biodiversity, climate
change and land degradation covering several African countries for several
institutions, including the World Bank, the United Nations Environment
Contributors xi
Programme (UNEP), UNDP, GEF, the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the
Central Africa Regional Programme for the Environment (CARPE). He holds
a Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Maine.
Eromose E. Ebhuoma is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of
Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences,
University of South Africa. His research interest lies in climate change vul-
nerability and adaptation; climate services; local and indigenous knowledge
systems; political ecology; community development and environmental sus-
tainability. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3446-3463
Francini van Staden is a Directorate of Environmental Sustainability based at
the Department of Environmental Affairs & Development Planning, Western
Cape Government. She holds an MBA in Sustainability Management. Her
research focuses on the nexus of socioeconomic and environmental systems,
and the influences arising from this nexus on the theory and practice of envi-
ronmental management. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9457-4942
Raphael Ane Atanga is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of
Johannesburg. He holds a Ph.D. from the Faculty of Environmental Sciences
at the Technische Universität Dresden (Germany). His research interests
are in the intersection of resilience, disaster risk management, stakeholder
analysis, sustainable development and tourism in West Africa. https://orcid.
org/0000-0002-5372-6599
Tembi Tichaawa is the Academic Head of the Tourism Department and an
Associate Professor in Tourism at the School of Tourism and Hospitality,
University of Johannesburg. He holds a Ph.D. in Geography and Environmental
Management from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He conducts research
on a range of developmental issues linked to tourism, hospitality and events
management with specific focus on the developing context. https://orcid.
org/0000-0002-1913-3730
Felix Kwabena Donkor is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the College of
Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (UNISA), South Africa. His research
interests include sustainable rural livelihoods, indigenous knowledge sys-
tems, environmental governance and sustainable development. http://orcid.
org/0000-0001-8353-8313
Kevin Mearns is a Professor at the College of Agriculture and Environmental
Sciences, University of South Africa. His research interests include sustain-
able tourism, environmental management, ecology and ecotourism. http://
orcid.org/0000-0001-5874-3542
Prudence Khumalo is a Professor in the Department of Public Administration,
University of South Africa. His research interests include development
management, policy and human settlements management. http://orcid.
org/0000-0001-5316-2941
xii Contributors
Michael Dyssel lectures in the Department of Geography, Environmental Studies
and Tourism at the University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa.
His research and teaching interests include urban-ecological challenges, con-
servation, communities and resource-use challenges, environmental manage-
ment and the impacts of tourism. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2492-645X
Zibanai Zhou is a Lecturer and current Head of Tourism & Hospitality
Management Department at the Midlands State University, Zimbabwe.
His research interests include tourism management, destination market-
ing, event tourism and community-based tourism development. http://orcid.
org/0000-0002-7918-2200.
Erisher Woyo is a Senior Lecturer at Sol Plaatje University. He holds a Ph.D.
in Tourism Management from the North-West University, Potchefstroom
Campus, South Africa. His research interests include information technology,
destination branding, destination competitiveness and destination attractive-
ness; and more importantly, the intersection of ICT with higher education.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0776-6645
Acknowledgements

The editors of this book would like to thank all contributors from diverse back-
grounds who contributed to this volume. It was not an easy call; the complex issues
intertwining development, risk and livelihoods are always challenging to address.
Moreover, despite the unexpected 2020 coronavirus challenges, the authors thrived
to complete their chapters – some wrote their chapters in self-isolation and others in
quarantine centres. Thumbs up to you all. You raise the flag of Africa higher, you are
true heroes and heroines, and we salute you. The chapters provided by the contribu-
tors demonstrated the strong linkages between urban risk and tourism development
in the sub-Saharan African region and pointed out strategies needed to develop
inclusive and sustainable urban spaces. We also acknowledge the input made by the
3 anonymous reviewers who provided insightful comments to our book proposal.
In the same vein, we appreciate Taylor & Francis team, who guided the effort from
the start to its completion, in particular, Rosie Anderson and Elizabeth Cox.
All chapters were peer reviewed by 2 external reviewers; we would like to
thank the external review experts for their valuable comments and suggestions,
which made this volume a possibility. Reviewers at the following institutions
are acknowledged: University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa); University
of Johannesburg (South Africa); University of Cape Town (South Africa); Cen-
tral University of Technology (South Africa); Chinhoyi University of Technology
(Zimbabwe); University of South Africa; Northwest University (South Africa);
Midlands State University (Zimbabwe); University of Ghana; Namibia Univer-
sity of Science and Technology (Namibia); Sol Platje University (South Africa);
University of Coventry (United Kingdom); and the World Bank.
Finally, we thank our families and friends for their love and support. Llewellyn
would like to thank Jessica, Udhav and Tulsi Rasa Leonard for providing sus-
tenance for spiritual enlightenment to continue his work towards pursuing for a
more just society. He would also like to thank his co-authors for their dedication
and for sharing this journey with him. What began as an informal discussion on
urban risks and tourism quickly resulted in spearheading this book publication.
Regis would like to thank his wife, Rutendo Rhoda Musavengane, his son, Chris-
tian Tapiwanashe, and daughter, Chantelle Ruvimbo Musavengane, for the social
support and understanding that the work dad is doing for building a better Africa.
Pius thanks his family and the Institute of African Studies (IAS), University of
Ghana for their support during working on this project.
Preface

Africa is known for its pristine destinations, mainly associated with rich fauna
and flora. This explains the existence of vast material, written and visual on rural
environments or nature-based destinations. However, little has been written on
urban tourism within an African context except South Africa with some remark-
able work on slum tourism. The link between urban risks, urban tourism and
sustainable development has also been limitedly explored in the academia and
under-researched in the Global South, especially on the African continent. This
book provides theoretical and empirical evidence on the interactions between
urban risks, tourism and sustainable development in sub-Saharan African urban
spaces. At the backdrop of vast natural, cultural and historical resources in Afri-
can urban areas are numerous environmental, social and political challenges. The
book, therefore, provides in-depth analysis of the linkages between tourism and
urban risk in African cities, towns and townships. This book is a toolkit of the
urban tourism development on the African continent, valuable to tourism, geog-
raphy and social science students and practitioners. The discussion on tourism
and urban risk provides a platform to interrogate possible efficient development
approaches on tourism in urban spaces. This volume showcases the many fac-
ets of urban tourism through examining broad and localized empirical studies
and conceptual frameworks. It addresses the underlying issues of governance,
power, ownership, collaboration, justice, community empowerment and policies
that influence tourism decision-making at local, national and regional levels. It
further contributes to understanding the intricate relationships between tourism
stakeholders across the social, class, racial and national strands.
1 Urban risk and tourism
in Africa
An overview
Llewellyn Leonard, Regis Musavengane,
and Pius Siakwah

1 Introduction
African cities, and particularly urban spaces in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), are
pivots of socioeconomic development with ever-increasing potential for tourism
development, despite the plethora of challenges these urban spaces experience.
Urbanisation is a multifaceted concept (Musavengane et al., 2020); it is not only
about population growth in towns and cities, but also the extent to which this
growth is accompanied by structural shifts in the economic, employment, social,
environmental and political spheres (UN-Habitat, 2016; Awumbila, 2014).
Urban areas are settlements with large and high population densities and built
infrastructures (Satterthwaite, 2017). They have been experiencing significant
population and structural changes. According to the United Nations Develop-
ment Program (UNDP) (2015), the global population in urban areas is expected
to double, with an estimated 1 in 3 persons residing in cities and over 3 billion
persons living in slums by 2050. In 2014, 880 million urban residents were esti-
mated to live in slums, an increase of 11% since 2000 (UNDP, 2015). Regionally,
SSA urban areas currently contain approximately 472 million people, with the
global share of African urban residents projected to grow from 11% in 2010 to
20% by 2050 (Saghir & Santoro, 2018). Similarly, in SSA, nearly 60% of people
live in slums (UN-Habitat, 2016). Although urbanisation levels in many large
mainland countries have reduced since the 1970s due to Structural Adjustment
Programmes (SAPs) impacting urban economies and livelihoods, some coun-
tries continued to urbanise fairly rapidly due to the global commodity boom
around 2003–2014 (Potts, 2013, 2017). A sharp rise in urban population over the
next 30 years is expected in Asia and Africa (Neiderud, 2015).
With this urban transition in mind, the poor and the vulnerable travelling to
these urban areas generally settle in lower-income and hazardous areas, as healthy
environments are beyond their reach economically and socially. As Agyeman
et al. (2003) note, customarily low-income areas become targets for social and
environmental injustices. As the poor move into those spaces with little or no pro-
vision of social services, it also exposes and increases their vulnerability. Poverty
is becoming increasingly urbanised, and the urban poor are susceptible to various
urban risks, such as societal and health risks (UN Habitat, 2016). Unplanned
urban growth can contribute to urban social, political and environmental risks
2 Llewellyn Leonard, Regis Musavengane, and Pius Siakwah
(Asian Development Bank, 2013), and there is a need for effective planning to
mitigate (and alleviate) risks that affect tourism development (Fraser et al., 2017),
as the sector is not immune to urbanisation challenges.

2 Contextualising urbanisation, urban risk and tourism


Despite the obvious interlocks between urban risks and tourism development,
academic research in this arena has been limited (Siakwah et al., 2020), with
urban tourism in many southern African cities seeming largely invisible to the
scholarly gaze (Visser, 2019). An understanding of current and future trends
in sustainable tourism is thus critical, and it has to be complemented with an
appraisal of urban risks (Musavengane et al., 2020). Some of the urban risks that
pose challenges to urban tourism development (and as understood in this book)
include population pressures, inadequate social services, (in)security, xeno-
phobia, limited economic opportunities and inequalities, crime, environmen-
tal challenges, governance and strained resources (Dodman et al., 2017; Falt,
2016; Smith, 2001). The United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goal
(SDG) 11, “making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and
sustainable,” partly informs this book to interrogate the relationship between
urban risk and tourism development in SSA. The manner in which a region or
space is perceived is of major importance to its success or failure as a tourist
destination (Becken et al., 2017). Therefore, this book aims to assess challenges
pertaining to sustainable urban tourism in SSA and how its urban spaces could
potentially become more resilient in the face of urban risk; this includes build-
ing resilient, inclusive cities. Although understandings about urban resilience
are ambiguous, they are generally viewed as a means to increase the ability of
urban systems to prevent varied range of shocks and stressors (Nop & Thorn-
ton, 2019), and thereby withstand and recover from unexpected urban risks
through proper urban planning and management (Asian Development Bank,
2013). The foundations of tourism resilience lie in the acknowledgement that
the social and environmental issues are an intertwined, social-ecological entity
and that tourism resilience complements sustainability, with the urban tourism
environment continually experiencing change (Cheer & Lew, 2017). In SSA,
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present some form of an integrated
development approach (albeit challenged) to risk management, vulnerability
reduction and poverty eradication (Fraser et al., 2017) and thereby aim to pro-
mote urban resilience. Sustainable urban tourism has the potential to mitigate
urban poverty and urbanisation-related risks (Musavengane et al., 2020; Rog-
erson, 2002; Rogerson & Visser, 2007; Robinson, 2006). Fraser et al. (2017)
highlight the multiple ways in which risk and urban development coevolve in
Africa by broadening the understanding of the nature, scale and distribution
of urban risks, and examine relationships between daily activities and disaster
risks across scales. Nevertheless, little seems to be known about the relation-
ship between urban risk, tourism and resilience, and it is not clear what fac-
tors contribute to, or hinder inclusive and sustainable tourism in African cities.
Understanding the link between urban risk and tourism can help mitigate the
Urban risk and tourism in Africa 3
negative effects of urban risks pertaining to tourism operations through good
governance practices (Musavengane et al., 2020).
There are various ways that urban risks can negatively impact urban tourism
development. For example, urban risks can manifest in the form of exclusionary
development practices, where the poor are ejected from urban spaces, with no
provision of basic social services for the development of hotels and facilities
for tourism promotion (Siakwah et al., 2020). Satterthwaite (2017) noted how
urbanisation in SSA is underpinned by rapid population growth without the nec-
essary governance structures to meet responsibilities and manage change. These
challenges in urban settings negatively affect tourism development (UN-Habitat,
2016) through unjustified displacement or limited investments in spaces, which
the poor previously occupied. Falt (2016) posited that the displacement of the
urban poor through forced eviction is underpinned by multiple rationalities such
as neoliberal market-oriented policies and the social desire for clean and beauti-
ful surroundings. Urban revanchism elucidates how urban politics are driven by
market-logics and anti-poor attitudes, and aesthetics construct and reconstruct
(new) patterns of socio-spatial segregation globally (Falt, 2016, p. 466; Smith,
2001). Leonard (2018) observed that neoliberalism has not necessarily been eco-
nomically successful but has actually increased inequality. Thus, market-driven
and social desires that are not developmentally sensitive to diverse interests and
groups can lead to exclusionary outcomes.
Linked to governance, some urban areas in Africa are facing infrastructural
crises with negative implications, where a substantial proportion of the popu-
lace live in those areas (Satterthwaite, 2017). Simiyu et al. (2019) highlight the
importance of social services provisions in reducing urban risks in informal set-
tlements in Kenya. Urban infrastructure deficit, partly driven by exclusionary
neoliberal policies, poses risk to sustainable tourism development (Musavengane
et al., 2020). In Zimbabwe, infrastructure such as roads, drainage and hospitals
are dilapidated and pose a threat to sustainable tourism development (Man-
jengwa et al., 2016). Thus, following Goldman (2011) and Watson (2014), Falt
(2016) postulates that a spatial rationality based on land speculation is rife in the
urban spaces. Spatial rationality highlights socially produced knowledge bases
that emphasise (1) the benefits of spatial order; (2) the links between the phys-
ical environment, human well-being and morality; and (3) different strategies
for development of the ‘social whole’ (Falt, 2016:483). These points, driven by
neoliberal policies, can lead to artificial increases in land prizes and exclusion of
the poor from urban spaces for tourism promotion. Land speculation and dispos-
session drive speculative urbanism, and this captures shifts in urban governance,
where it has become a core government business to create world-tourism cities
(Goldman, 2011, Watson, 2009). In Bangalore, India, Goldman (2011) reported
shifts in urban governance where speculation in land values have forced the poor
from those lands that are later developed into hotels and other uses for tourism
promotion (Falt, 2016).
Urban inequalities and unemployment are urban risks that pose challenges to
urban tourism development. Excluding the poor in tourism development poses
a risk to tourism itself, as local residents do not gain from the economic benefits
4 Llewellyn Leonard, Regis Musavengane, and Pius Siakwah
derived from tourism or participate in tourism activities to increase its profitabil-
ity. Poverty can be a driver of crime, and crime, in whatever form, is a risk to tour-
ism development (Allen, 1999; Boakye, 2012; Holcomb & Pizam, 2006; Levantis
& Gani, 2000), with security an imperative determinant of a destination’s attrac-
tiveness (Sonmez & Graefe, 1998). Neoliberal tourism development in the urban
space exhibits exclusionary tendencies that drive the urban poor into poverty and
social vices. Neoliberal economic policy has led to a speedy growth of tourism
activities in its numerous magnitudes, and these activities are often in opposition
to the interests of the wider social benefits (Pavlovic & Knezevic, 2017). These
types of neoliberal tourism strategies often perceive the urban poor and their infor-
mal activities as incompatible with neoliberal goals of increasing profit.
These strategies were implemented for the African Cup of Nations in Ghana in
2008 and the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, when some poor spaces were
cleared to improve the areas for tourists. These urban tourism development strat-
egies resulted in evictions, restrictions and the relocation of poorer urban groups
that did not economically benefit from the events in favour of powerful actors
(Lindell et al., 2010). In South Africa, transitioning to democracy has therefore
not assisted in addressing many of the urban risks’ challenges experienced by
vulnerable citizens who are exposed to inequalities and unemployment due to the
state’s neoliberal policy agenda (Leonard, 2017). Instead, the neoliberal states’
engagement in macroeconomic policies has increased urban risks for vulnerable
citizens, excluded from decision-making (thus, resulting in poor housing, unem-
ployment, crime, xenophobia and a lack of water, waste and sanitation facilities)
(McKinley & Veriava, 2004).
Similarly, Manjengwa et al. (2016) stated that economic crisis, unemployment
and urban poverty is prevalent in African countries such as Zimbabwe due to
economic turmoil, which is driven by structural adjustment and propelled by
political sanctions. Poverty manifests in the form of urban slums, limited access
to productive assets, poor health, poor education and poor social capital capac-
ity (Chronic Poverty Research Centre [CPRC], 2005). Urban unemployment and
poverty are risks to tourism promotion as the poor, especially the youth, can be
lured into crimes that can also make the tourism destinations unattractive. The
poor also have no resources to spend on domestic tourism promotion. Thus, tour-
ism development can be a product of the neoliberal phase of the development of
modern capitalism (Lindell et al., 2010). Nonetheless, unbridled neoliberalism,
that is not inclusive will also undo tourism promotion.
Environmental challenges (for example, climate change causing extreme heat
or flooding, waste and air pollution, and industrial risks such as explosions) influ-
ence a destination image and risk perceptions, and thus, shape tourism develop-
ment. Depietri and McPhearson (2019) observe how climate change, in terms of
heatwaves and flooding, are affecting urban spaces and increasing urban risks.
Ecological challenges such as flooding and the destruction of historical sites are
risks to urban tourism development. For instance, Accra, Ghana, which had a
population of 4.3 million people in 2016, is faced with challenges, including
flooding (Atanga, 2016; Songsore et al., 2009). The expansion of cities and the
population implies that wetlands and watercourses are converted into residential
Urban risk and tourism in Africa 5
land use, while open drains are filled with waste that disrupts the flow of water
and thus causes waterborne diseases (Atanga, 2016).
Urban centres can be incubators for new epidemics, and zoonotic diseases can
spread rapidly and become global threats (Neiderud, 2015), as witnessed with the
spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the central city of Wuhan, China, which
has had implications for local, national and global tourism (Lee, 2020). Environ-
mental and societal changes also tend to increase urban risks, such as the loss of
shorelines and heritage sites (Addo et al., 2008), and these have negative implica-
tions for tourism development, for example, in coastal urban cities (Becken et al.,
2017). This is evident in the instance of the Castles (Cape Coast and Elmina) and
Forts along the coast of Ghana, which are under threat from climate change and
human activities (Siakwah, 2018). Urban industrial emissions and transport pol-
lution can also have implications for urban tourism due to the air pollution they
create. For example, Becken et al. (2017) observed that inbound tourist arrivals,
especially from the West into China, have been declining in recent years, possibly
in response to increasing levels of urban air pollution. Cognitive and affective
destination image and cognitive and affective risk perceptions influence tourists’
intentions to visit a specific destination. While China’s cognitive image attributes
are generally perceived as positive, potential travellers express negative views
about travel risks in China, with a specific emphasis on air quality.
In order to understand the link between urban risk, tourism and resilience, it
is important to explore how the tourism field has developed. Tourism is naively
regarded as a ‘new’ phenomena by some tourist researchers and readers (Leigh,
2013). This can be attributed to a lack of historical analysis of tourism devel-
opment by researchers within this field (Butler, 2015). Walton (2005: 6) noted
that “a problem in tourism studies has been a prevailing present-mindedness and
superficiality, refusing deep, grounded or sustained historical analysis”. Early
tourism research was more aligned with development and planning issues (Saari-
nen et al., 2017) and geography. It can be traced to the 17th century, where it
was more prevalent in Europe and North America (Carlson, 1980; Wolfe, 1964).
Being aligned to development and planning issues, the tourism research topics
that dominated included land use, destination or location issues and the tourism
economy (Duffield, 1984; Joerg, 1935; Jones, 1933). A focus on urban tourism
was necessitated by the need to have seaside health resorts. Most notable are
the Romans, some two millennia ago, as they developed an interest in pleasure
resorts, including spas and seaside communities (Patmore, 1968; Graburn, 1995).

3 Urban risk and tourism in sub-Saharan


Africa: The state of knowledge
In SSA, researchers have focused much on rural-based tourism due to the high
concentration of natural resources in the rural spaces in the region. A perusal of
top tourism journals, including the Annals of Tourism, Tourism Management,
Tourism Management Perspectives, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Geog-
raphies and Current Issues in Tourism and Tourism Analysis reveals an overem-
phasis on nature-based tourism in SSA since the years 1990-2020. Journals with
6 Llewellyn Leonard, Regis Musavengane, and Pius Siakwah
a focus on Africa, such as the African Journal of Hospitality and T ­ ourism Lei-
sure also shows the domination of nature-based tourism. In essence, an overem-
phasis on rural-based tourism resulted in the neglect of African cities as possible
tourism spaces. This is evident as only a handful of books, reports and articles
have been published on urban tourism in SSA. African cities have seemingly
been thought of as business and political hubs. The UN-Habitat’s ‘State of the
world’s cities 2010-2011 – Cities for all: Bridging the urban divide’ pointed out
that cities play a significant role in reducing poverty, particularly where pro-
poor policies are well-formulated and implemented (UN-Habitat, 2010). They
can also reduce transaction costs such as infrastructure and services, and well-­
knitted hubs that promote social networking. The proximity of cities makes tour-
ism an important element for urban development. Tourism brings vitality and
dynamism to cities; however, it also brings new patterns and changes to their
urban landscape. Therefore, the tourism industry has to be innovative so as to
provide significant revenue and benefit to its residents, whilst reducing urban
risks that may affect tourists and the host populace (United Nations World Tour-
ism Organisation [UNWTO], 2012). It is also important to discuss the challenges
that cities in the SSA region may encounter. These may include: issues related to
the sustainable and responsible management of he increasing number of tourists
arriving in cities; the role of urban tourism in poverty alleviation; managing
host-tourist relations; practical steps taken to reduce the impact on the environ-
ment; and the promotion of benefits related to greener tourism.
In October 2019, Scopus TITLE-ABS-KEY (urban AND tourism) revealed
a total of 6223 documents, and TITLE-ABS-KEY (urban AND risk AND tour-
ism), revealed 350 documents. Not all 350 documents related directly to tour-
ism; only handful did. A further scan of these documents showed that urban risk
tourism-­related articles focused on themes such as the nexus between climate
change and cities (Pandy & Rogerson, 2019); the linkages between cities, tourism
and diseases (Fang et al., 2019); eco-friendly tourism (Zhang & Zhang, 2019),
tourism and sustainability (Mata, 2018); and disaster risk reduction and tour-
ism (Agustan & Kausar; 2019). From papers identified in the Scopus database,
themes dominating the urban tourism discourse in sub-Saharan Africa include
economic development (Rogerson, 2016), inclusive tourism, sustainable tourism,
pro-poor tourism (Musavengane et al., 2019; Ashley & Roe, 2002), responsible
tourism (Musavengane, 2019), green tourism and township (slum) tourism. The
increasing population living in slums outlined earlier explains the growing inter-
est in slum tourism research in the SSA region (Fenzel, 2018; Hoogendoorn &
Giddy, 2017; Rogerson & Booyens, 2019), especially in South Africa. However,
most of these studies tend to be on the neoliberal trajectory, where the emphasis
is placed on economic gains whilst neglecting the relations between urban risk,
tourism and resilience.
A perusal of the articles pertaining to the above-mentioned themes shows that
there is a greater need for building strong resilience in African urban spaces in
light of the urban shocks and stressors involved. What is evident is that rapid and
unplanned urbanisation is the leading driver of urban risk. Lew (2014) noted that
major disasters and crises have been the areas researchers in resilience tourism
Urban risk and tourism in Africa 7
have concentrated on. This denotes the narrow application of resilience think-
ing in tourism (Hall et al., 2018). Studies that have applied resilience thinking
in tourism focused more on climate change (Becken, 2013; Prayag, 2018), nat-
ural resources management (Musavengane, 2019), terrorism, floods and eco-
nomic instability (Luthe & Wyss, 2014). The resilience of the urban poor heavily
depends on the quality of governance systems and institutions (Asian Develop-
ment Bank, 2013; Siakwah et al., 2020). Regardless of the fragmented pieces of
literature on resilience in tourism, there is a need to discuss the types of resilience
that matter in urban tourism in light of urban risks associated with African cities.
In doing so, this book further adds to the growing body of knowledge on positive
tourism in Africa (Filep et al., 2016). Positive tourism is a way of understanding
the total and specific value of tourism to host communities, economies and other
elements of the tourism system (Mkono, 2019). There is however an increasing
amount of tourism research on Africa being conducted by Western researchers
or temporary residents in the West for education purposes (Mkono, 2019). The
fact that different tourism scholars originate mainly from Western Europe, North
America, Australia and New Zealand has led to the general perception that tour-
ism research is Eurocentric (Dangi & Jamal, 2016). Thus, this book highlights the
voices of African scholars contributing to African discourse and knowledge on
urban risk, tourism and resilience.

4 The knowledge gap on urban risk and urban tourism


Despite some of the above-mentioned urban risks and implications for urban
tourism development, including a growing interest in urban tourism research,
there is a paucity of literature on the relationship between urban risk, tourism
and resilience (Agustan & Kausar, Ritchie, 2008; Musavengane et al., 2020).
Although there are some studies on risks associated with tourism, most studies
do not explicitly discuss the relation between urban risk and tourism (Boakye,
2012; Booyens, 2010). Urban risk, including resilience, is mainly discussed in
development and disaster management studies, and is often not linked to tourism.
Literature that seems to point to the relation between risks (not urban risk, per se)
and tourism is fragmented. This can be attributed to the shortage of experts and
researchers in this specialised area of urban tourism. Generally, tourism research
also appears to lack the respect it should command (Butler, 2015). It is often
regarded as a discipline that is not independent, but rather a field of interest to
researchers from various disciplines, which includes geography, political science,
sociology, anthropology, history, business, urban planning, architecture and engi-
neering (Tribe, 1997).
Hence, there is a need for this volume to start a conversation about the link-
ages between urban risk and tourism. This can be achieved by hearing from
experts from different disciplines who have diverse knowledge pertaining to
urban risk, tourism and resilience. The contributors to this book hail from var-
ious disciplines such as tourism geography, environmental sociology, urban
development, chemical engineering, planning and development, waste manage-
ment, climatology, sports management and peace-building. Whilst most African
8 Llewellyn Leonard, Regis Musavengane, and Pius Siakwah
tourism literature emanates from South Africa (Rogerson & Visser, 2014), this
book gives voice to a diversity of African scholars who aim to better contextu-
alise challenges relating to sustainable urban tourism across sub-Saharan Africa.
Furthermore, whilst global tourism literature is dominated largely by Western
scholars (Kirilenko & Stepchenkova, 2018), Rogerson and Visser highlight that
African urban tourism research provides unique features and highlights chal-
lenges regarding Northern concepts about urban tourism (including urban risks,
tourism and resilience). This book provides invaluable discussions about urban
risk and resilience in the tourism discourse sphere, largely from practitioners
from the continent.

5 Structure of the book


This book explores four main themes. Theme 1, “Urban tourism and environ-
mental pollution risks”, examines the link between urban tourism and pollution
and its implications for sustainability. It inspects how tourism may contribute to
urban pollution, and how vulnerable communities affected by urban pollution
use tourism to address the environmental and socioeconomic impacts created by
capitalist political economies. It further interrogates how urban challenges such
as environmental degradation and waste impact tourism development. In Chap-
ter 2, Llewellyn Leonard and Robin Nunkoo examine ‘toxic tourism’ as a new
form of alternative urban tourism and environmental justice in the South Dur-
ban Industrial Basin, South Africa. In Chapter 3, Wilma Sichombo Nchito and
Euphemia Mwale evaluate the linkages between waste management in the hos-
pitality industry and urban risk in Livingstone City, Zambia. In Chapter 4, Pius
Siakwah analyses the political economy of unplanned urban sprawl, waste and
tourism development in Ghana. In Chapter 5, Llewellyn Leonard and Ayanda
Dladla examine an assessment of environmental risk management and town-
ship tourism development based in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, South
Africa.
Theme 2, “Peace tourism, battlefields and war risks”, acknowledges the
unequal and unsustainable tourism development, which can create conflict
and divisions within sub-Saharan African urban cities at the same time con-
tribute to building peace amongst social actors. This theme explores the com-
plexity of (peace) tourism and building amity in African cities. In Chapter 6,
Brij Maharaj explores mega sport events and urban risks, specifically examining
the relations between FIFA 2010, the African bid and xenophobic violence. In
Chapter 7, using the case of Zimbabwe, Regis Musavengane evaluates the inter-
section between election risks and urban tourism in SSA cities with the aim to
explore peace through tourism. In Chapter 8, Clément Longondjo Etambakonga
and Dieudonné Trinto Mugangu evaluate the role of responsible tourism in
peace-building and social inclusion in war-risk cities in Goma, Democratic
Republic of Congo.
Theme 3, “Tourism, climate change and flood risks”, examines how climate
change impacts African tourism businesses, and how tourism businesses could
Urban risk and tourism in Africa 9
adapt to a changing environment. Climate change is altering the nature of envi-
ronments globally, and the operation and sustainability of tourism depends on
the nature and scale of climate change. This theme, thus explores the nexus
between African cities, climate change and urban tourism risk. The theme
begins with Chapter 9, where Eromose Ebhuoma and Llewellyn Leonard, using
the case of Nigeria, discuss factors influencing tourism accommodations’ lack
of preparedness for flooding. In Chapter 10, Francini van Staden’s dual case
study in Mombasa and Cape Town examines climate change impacts and adap-
tation strategies for tourism hotspots. In Chapter 11, Raphael Ane Atanga and
Tembi Tichaawa examine the risk of flood impacts on tourism in coastal cities
of West Africa, using a case study of Accra, Ghana. In Chapter 12, Felix Donkor
and Kevin Mearns explore the nexus of climate change and urban tourism in
South Africa.
Lastly, Theme 4, “Inclusive urban tourism and enclaves”, explores inclusive
sustainable urban tourism and ways to enhance local sustainable tourism devel-
opment for all, within a cosmopolitan African urban tourism space. Although
tourism is a fast-growing sector that contributes to livelihoods, it can be exclu-
sionary for certain sectors of the population such as vulnerable groups and
informal settlers in urban spaces, as highlighted earlier. This theme delves into
the exclusionary tendencies of the tourism sector in the urban space and offers
ways to overcome these. The theme starts with Chapter 13, where Prudence
Khumalo examines human settlements and tourism development in Kenya,
with emphasis on prospects for tackling urban risks in informal settlements.
In Chapter 14, Michael Dyssel examines conservation tourism challenges and
opportunities on the Cape Flats in South Africa. In Chapter 15, Zibanai Zhou
focuses on resilience, inclusiveness and challenges of cosmopolitan cities’
heritage tourism in Harare, Zimbabwe. In Chapter 16, Erisher Woyo delves
into prospects and challenges of sustainable urban tourism in Windhoek, par-
ticularly linkages between poverty, inequality and urban risks. The concluding
Chapter 17 navigates the future of urban tourism amidst environmental, polit-
ical and social risks.
This book builds upon previous books on urban tourism (see Page & Hall
2003; and Rogerson & Visser, 2007). However, they seem to lack details from
a sub-Saharan African perspective, and do not uniquely converge and analyse
urban risk and tourism issues. This book will be of importance in the tourism
political economy and ecology fields, and specifically add value to the urban
tourism content. The chapters will be of interest to a global scholarly audience
of tourism geographers, students and lecturers, tourism managers and policy-
makers, professional tourism and urban risk practitioners and city planners. This
volume can also be used as a main course textbook or a supplementary book,
and includes a variety of rich cases from sub-Saharan Africa. This volume raises
important insights in dealing with a range of developmental policy and plan-
ning issues in sub-Saharan Africa relating to urban risks, tourism and resilience.
It outlines the implications of urban risks on sustainable tourism and suggests
future research directions.
10 Llewellyn Leonard, Regis Musavengane, and Pius Siakwah
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CHAPTER VII.
A STRANGE FANCY.

“What was that?” asked Mabin with a shiver.


She and Rudolph had both turned instinctively toward the spot
from which the rustling noise had come.
“A cat, most likely,” answered Rudolph.
But Mabin shook her head.
“I saw something,” whispered she. “It was not a cat, it was not an
animal at all; it was a man.”
Perhaps Rudolph had his suspicions, for he expressed no
surprise. Before he could answer her they heard the crackling and
rustling again, but at a little distance. The intruder was making his
way through the shrubbery.
“Won’t you find out who it is?” whispered the girl again.
Rudolph hesitated.
“Perhaps I know,” said he shortly. “But if you wish, of course I can
make sure.”
Then, with evident reluctance, and taking no pains to go
noiselessly, he followed the intruder through the bushes, and was in
time to catch a glimpse of him as he disappeared over a part of the
fence that was in a broken-down condition. Rudolph did not attempt
to continue his pursuit, but contented himself with waiting until he
heard the side gate in the garden wall of “Stone House” swing back
into its place with a loud creaking noise. Then he went back to
Mabin. She was standing where he had left her, on the broad gravel
path under the faded laburnum. The shadows were very deep under
the trees by this time, and in the half-light her young face, with its
small, delicate features, its dreamy, thoughtful eyes, full of the
wonder at the world of the very young, looked so pretty that for the
moment Rudolph forgot the errand on which he had been sent, and
approached her with no thought of anything but the beauty and the
sweetness of her face.
She, all unconscious of this, woke him into recollection with one
abrupt word: “Well?”
“Oh!” almost stammered he, “it was as I thought, the same person
that I saw watching before.”
“And he went into our garden. I heard the gate,” said Mabin with
excitement. “It must be this Mr. Banks. Oh, who do you think he is?
What do you think he has come for?”
Rudolph was silent. Even to the least curious mind the
circumstances surrounding both him and Mrs. Dale could not seem
other than mysterious. If he were a detective, and he certainly did
not look like one, surely he would not go to work in this extravagant
manner, by renting a large and expensive house merely for the
purpose of watching his next-door neighbor. Neither, it might be
supposed, would he set to work in such a clumsy fashion as to be
caught making his investigations at the very outset. Rudolph felt that
the whole affair was a mystery to which he could not pretend to have
the shadow of a clew. He confessed this to Mabin.
“I wish,” he went on, in a gentle tone, “that I had known something
of this before your father went away.”
“Why?” asked Mabin in surprise, and with something like revolt in
her tone.
“Because I should have told him something, just enough at any
rate to have made him take you away with him.”
Mabin was for a moment dumb with surprise.
“What,” she stammered at last, “after all your talk about my being
right to stand by my friend?”
“Even after all that,” assented Rudolph with decision. “The matter
is getting too serious,” he went on gravely. “I am afraid myself of
what may be going to happen.”
“Then,” retorted the girl, “for all your talk about meanness being
excusable in a girl, I can be a better friend than you.”
Rudolph smiled.
“Ah,” said he, “you forget that with you it is only a question of your
friendship for Mrs. Dale. Now I have to think of both of you.”
“You need not trouble yourself about me, I assure you.”
“But that is just what I must do, madam, even at the risk of your
eternal displeasure,” said Rudolph, with a mock-heroic air which
concealed real anxiety. “You are not only daring enough, you are too
daring where your heart is concerned, and it is the business of your
friends to see that you do not suffer for your generosity.” He spoke
with so much quiet decision that Mabin was impressed and rather
frightened, and it was with a sudden drop from haughtiness to
meekness that she then asked:
“What are you going to do, then?”
Rudolph hesitated.
“What I should like to do,” said he, “is to take you to my mother’s
——”
Mabin almost screamed.
“You won’t do that,” she said quietly, with her lips very tightly
closed.
“She would be very kind to you,” suggested Rudolph gently,
pleadingly.
He knew the prospect was not an enticing one, but he was not so
quick as the girl to see all its disadvantages.
“And don’t you see that it would set them all saying the most
dreadful things about poor Mrs. Dale, if I were to leave her suddenly
like that? I shouldn’t think of such a thing. It would be cruel as well as
cowardly. She would never be able to stay in Stone after that.”
“I don’t think she will be able to stay in any case,” said Rudolph
gloomily. “If she is persecuted by this spy on the one hand, and by
the old woman on the other, it isn’t likely that she will be able to stay
here long.”
A new idea flashed suddenly into Mabin’s mind and then quickly
found expression:
“Do you suppose,” she asked, “that this man, this Mr. Banks, is
paid by the old lady to spy upon Mrs. Dale? The old lady must be
very rich, I think, and she is eccentric evidently.”
But Rudolph was inclined to think this idea far-fetched. From what
he had seen of the mysterious spy he had come to quite another
conclusion, one that at present he did not care to communicate to
Mabin, for fear of alarming her unnecessarily.
“Of course it is possible that the man may be a paid detective,”
admitted he doubtfully, “but there was nothing of the cut of the ex-
detective about your Mr. Banks. And now,” went on Rudolph, who
found Mabin herself a more interesting mystery than the unknown
man, “let us forget all about him for a little while, and go up to the old
seat where the trees leave off, before it gets too dark for us to see
the sea. You remember the old seat, and how we used to trespass to
get at it, don’t you?”
Mabin blushed a little. She remembered the old seat very well; an
old broken-down bench supported on the stumps of a couple of
felled trees, just on the edge of the plantation belonging to “The
Towers.” Being conveniently near both to “Stone House” and the
Vicarage, the children of both houses had established, in those far-
off years which Rudolph was recalling, a right to tread down the old
fence at that particular point, and to hold wonderful picnics of
butterscotch and sour apples.
“We won’t go up there now,” she said, with a sudden demureness
which contrasted strongly with the eagerness she had shown while
discussing the persecution of Mrs. Dale. “It’s getting dark, and rather
cold, I think, and besides, I hope by this time that Mrs. Dale may be
ready to see us again.”
Rudolph felt snubbed. The girl’s manner was so precise, so stiff,
that it was impossible for him to understand that her sudden
primness was only a relapse into her ferocious girlish modesty. He
followed her without a word toward the house, and there just inside
the portico they saw the slight figure in black looking like a pathetic
vision in the gloaming, with its white, tear-stained face and slender
little jewelled hands.
“Well?” said Mrs. Dale. And her voice was hoarse and broken. “I
have been waiting here for you, wondering where you had gone. I
had almost begun to think,” she went on, with assumed playfulness,
which did not hide the fact that her fear had been real, “that you had
run away from me altogether.”
Mabin lost her awkwardness, her stiffness, her shy, girlish reserve
in an instant; moved by strong pity and affection, she took the two
steps which brought her under the portico, and stooping, flung her
arms round the little figure.
“You didn’t—really?” she whispered hoarsely. “Oh, I hope not, I
hope not!”
Mrs. Dale could not answer. But Mabin felt her frame quiver from
head to foot, and heard the sound of a stifled sob. Rudolph stepped
noiselessly out into the garden again.
“My dear, my dear child,” murmured Mrs. Dale, when she had
recovered some of her self-possession by a strong effort, “you would
have been quite justified if you had gone. But I am glad, oh, so glad,
that you have waited for me to drive you away.”
“You won’t do that!” cried Mabin, starting back, and seeing with
surprise in the fair, blue-eyed face an expression of strong
resolution. “After pretending you were so glad to have me!”
“It was no pretence, believe me!” said Mrs. Dale with a sad little
smile. “But I have got to send you away all the same. It would not be
right to keep you here, now that I see the persecution I am to be
subjected to still.” And her blue eyes flashed angrily as she spoke.
But the next moment her face changed again, and she added
quickly, “I have deserved it all. More than all. I am not complaining of
that; I have no right to complain. Only—she might have spared you. I
should have done you no harm; you would have learnt no evil from
me, wicked as I am.”
The girl interrupted her, with a frightened face, and speaking in an
eager whisper:
“Oh, hush, hush! You are not wicked. It is dreadful to hear you say
such things! I will not let you say them. You have the kindest heart in
the world; if you have ever done wrong, you are sorry, bitterly sorry.
Wicked people are never sorry. Let me stay with you and comfort
you if I can, by showing you how happy it makes me to be with you!”
Mrs. Dale shook her head. She did not, however, repeat in words
her resolve that Mabin must go, though the girl guessed by the
expression of her face that her mind was made up on the subject.
They stood silently looking out at the soft beauties of the twilight,
the greens as they melted into grays blending in such a tender
harmony of color that the sight seemed to supply a balm, through
tear-dimmed eyes, to their heavy hearts; the scent of the roses came
to them across the broad space of gravel, too, mingled with the
pleasantly acrid perfume of the limes.
Rudolph’s step, as he took advantage of the silence to thrust
himself again upon the notice of the ladies, startled them both.
“Now you’ve spoilt it all!” cried Mrs. Dale, in a tone which was
meant to be one of light-hearted pleasantry, but which betrayed too
plainly the difficulty she had in assuming it. “The garden looked like a
fairy picture till you rushed in and ruined the perspective. Aren’t you
going to apologize?”
“No. The picture wanted human interest, so I painted myself into
the canvas, just to satisfy your artistic susceptibilities. I am sorry to
find you so ungrateful. I hope you, Mabin, have more appreciation?”
But the girl’s eyes were full of tears, and not being used to this
light strain of talk, she could not answer, except by a few mumbled
words which had neither sense nor coherence. Mrs. Dale put up her
hand—she had to stretch it up a long way—and smoothed the girl’s
pretty brown hair.
“Don’t tease her,” she said softly. “Mr. Bonnington, I mustn’t ask
you to dine with us, but I would if I might.”
“And why mustn’t you?” asked Rudolph.
“Well, because, in the miserably equivocal position I am in, it
would be a pleasure—if I may take it for granted that it would be a
pleasure to you, as it would certainly be to me—dearly bought. The
Vicar would strongly disapprove; your mother would be shocked
beyond measure.”
“But I shouldn’t mind that, I assure you. I’ve shocked my mother
and excited the disapproval of my father so often that they don’t
expect anything else from me. Besides, I am afraid you flatter
yourself too much in believing that you have such an enviable
peculiarity; if you were to issue invitations to the whole parish to a
garden party, or a dinner, or anything you liked, I’m afraid you would
be disappointed to find that everybody would come.”
“Perhaps they would think there was safety in numbers, and that,
fortified by the presence of everybody else, they could gaze at the
monster in security!” suggested Mrs. Dale with a smile.
“In the mean time how much nearer have I got to get to inviting
myself to dinner this evening?” said Rudolph, with a subdued voice
and a meek manner.
“Ah, well, for Mabin’s sake then, I spare you the humiliation and
invite you myself. You shall stay to amuse her, since I am afraid she
would find me a very dreary companion.”
“Indeed I shouldn’t,” cried Mabin, blushing deeply, and speaking
with as much energy as if the presence of Rudolph were an injury. “I
should like nothing better than an evening alone with you.”
Rudolph drew a deep sigh, and even Mrs. Dale could not suppress
a smile at the girl’s unconscious gaucherie. When Mabin realized
what a stupid thing she had said, she was of course too much
ashamed of herself to laugh at her clumsy words, and fell, instead,
into a stiff silence which the others found it impossible to make her
break except by demure monosyllabic answers.
When they went into the dining-room, therefore, the evening did
not promise to be a lively one. Mrs. Dale seemed to find it impossible
to shake off the effects of the visit of her persecutor. Rudolph was
oppressed by fears for both the ladies, and by doubts whether his
presence there was not an indiscretion which would make matters
worse for both of them. While Mabin, perplexed and troubled by a
score of unaccustomed sensations, was the most silent, the most
distressed of all.
Daylight was still streaming in from the West as they took their
seats at the table in the dingily furnished room. Mrs. Dale gave a
little shudder as she glanced from the “furnished house” knives to
the commonplace dinner service.
“Ah!” she said, “it is not like this that I used to entertain my friends.
My little dinners had quite a reputation—once!”
Then, as if she felt that these regrets were worse than vain, she
turned the subject abruptly, while a spasm of pain for the moment
convulsed her face.
Rudolph on his side was sorry she had mentioned the “little
dinners.” They suggested a past life in which there had been
something more than frivolity; something with which he would have
dissociated Mrs. Dale if he could. But innocent Mabin, wishing to say
something, brought the conversation back to the point it had left.
“But why can’t you have pretty dinners now, if you like to?”
Mrs. Dale’s fair face grew whiter as she answered gently:
“I will tell you—presently—some day—why I don’t have anything
pretty or nice about me now.”
And Mabin, feeling that she had touched a painful chord, became
more silent than ever.
Perhaps it was her sudden subsidence into absolute gloom which
caused the other two to make a great effort to restore something like
animation to the talk. And being both young, and of naturally high
spirits, they succeeded so well that before the meal which had begun
so solemnly was over, Mrs. Dale and Rudolph were talking and
laughing as if there had never been a shadow upon either of their
lives. At first they made brave attempts to drag Mabin into the
conversation. But as these efforts were in vain, it naturally ended in
her being left out of the gayety, and in her sitting entrenched in a
gloomy silence of her own.
And when dinner was over, and they all went into the little
adjoining room which Mrs. Dale called her “den,” it was quite natural
that Mrs. Dale should sit down at the piano, in the good-natured wish
to leave the young people to entertain each other; and equally
natural that Rudolph, on finding that Mabin had nothing to say to
him, and that she was particularly frigid in her manner, should go
over to the piano, and by coaxing Mrs. Dale to sing him his favorite
songs and then hers, should continue the brisk flirtation begun at the
dinner-table.
Mabin had brought it all upon herself, and she tried to persuade
herself that it was quite right and natural, and that she did not mind.
And when Rudolph was gone, and she was alone with her hostess,
she succeeded in persuading her that she had not felt neglected, but
had enjoyed the merriment she had refused to share.
But when she got upstairs into her pretty bedroom, after bidding
Mrs. Dale good-night, she had the greatest difficulty in keeping back
the tears which were dangerously near her proud eyes.
She did not care for Rudolph, of course not; she wanted him to fall
in love with Mrs. Dale, if indeed he had not already done so, and
marry her and console her for all her troubles, and stop the
persecution of “the cat.” But somehow this hope, this wish, did not
give her all the unselfish satisfaction it ought to have done.
And Mabin, wondering what had happened to take the prettiness
out of the room and the pleasure out of her acquaintance with Mrs.
Dale, fell asleep with her heart heavy and full of nameless grief.
She woke with a start to find a white figure standing motionless in
the middle of the room. Mabin sprang up in bed and rubbed her
eyes. Was she awake? Or was she only dreaming that the body of a
dead woman, stiff, rigid, but in an upright position, was standing like
a marble statue between the bed and the nearest window?
She leaped out of bed, and, not without uncanny fears, touched
the statuesque figure.
“Mrs. Dale!” she almost shrieked, as the great eyes suddenly
turned and fixed a blank, wild gaze upon her face. “Oh, what has
happened? What is the matter?”
The figure, which, in white night garments, had looked so unlike
the black-robed widow that she had not recognized it, trembled from
head to foot. The lips parted, but at first no word escaped them. At
last with a strong effort she uttered these words:
“Let me stay here. Let me sit in this arm-chair till morning. Oh, I
will not hurt you, or frighten you. But if I go back I shall go mad! This
house is haunted, haunted! I have seen——”
A hoarse rattle in her throat seized her, threatened to choke her.
With one wild glance round, peering into the corners of the room,
she flung herself on the floor, and buried her face in the chair.
CHAPTER VIII.
A HAUNTED HOUSE.

Mabin was taken so thoroughly by surprise, on seeing the wild


self-abandonment of her unhappy companion, that for a few minutes
she stood staring at the crouching figure on the floor like one only
half-awake.
Was this really Mrs. Dale, this haggard, panting creature with the
hoarse voice, the twitching hands, the wide eyes full of unspeakable
terror. Mabin’s sympathy was ready, but at first she did not dare to
offer it. Such terrible anguish, such paralyzing fear, as that from
which the miserable woman was suffering, was something surely
beyond her poor powers of comfort! And even as the girl advanced
timidly a step nearer to her grief-stricken friend, there flashed into
her mind the horrible question: What must this secret be which was
locked in the widow’s breast, that could throw her into such
paroxysms of abject terror? For, not unnaturally, Mabin came to the
conclusion that the vision which had alarmed Mrs. Dale was one of
the results of the remorse from which she owned that she was
suffering.
“Don’t! Don’t sob like that! You will make yourself ill; you will
indeed. There is nothing, there is nobody here to frighten you,” said
the girl at last, drawing a little closer to the crouching figure, but not
yet daring to touch her, or to speak in a tone louder than a whisper.
At the first sound of her voice, Mrs. Dale had started, and raised
her head quickly, turning to the girl’s view a face so much altered, so
drawn, so old-looking, that she hardly recognized the features of the
lovely widow. Then, when the voice ceased, she glanced round the
room again, with the same hunted, anxious look as before.
“Nothing—nobody to frighten me!” she repeated in a shaking
voice. “No, of course not, of course not. How silly I have been! I am
afraid I frightened you, dear,—with my dreams, my silly fancies!”
She struggled, as if worn out and exhausted by her emotion, to
gain her feet. Timidly, gently, Mabin helped her to rise.
“I’m very glad I was here,” answered Mabin, in kindly tones that
sent a shiver of grateful recognition through her agitated companion.
“Do you feel better now?”
“Yes, oh, yes, I am all right. I am not ill. I am so much ashamed of
myself for disturbing you. I don’t know how to apologize,” answered
Mrs. Dale, trying bravely to speak in her usual tone, but glancing at
the door and then back to the windows as she uttered the words: “It
must have been a dream, of course, that frightened me.”
And then, quite suddenly, she broke down again, and slipping from
the supporting arm of her young companion, she threw herself into
the wicker arm-chair, and burst into a passion of tears. Uncertain
what to do, Mabin, in her sympathy and kindness, did exactly the
right thing. She drew another chair besides the wicker one, sat down
in it, and putting her right arm round Mrs. Dale’s shoulder, and
holding the poor lady’s trembling fingers in her own, remained in
perfect silence until the first ebullition of violent grief had passed
away.
“I shall never forget your kindness, child, never,” said Mrs. Dale,
when, as suddenly as it had begun, her passion of tears ended. “You
have saved me from going mad—yes, mad. I—I must leave you now,
or you won’t get any rest.”
She rose as she spoke; but Mabin saw that the panic of terror
which had been upon her at her entrance was regaining its hold
upon her as she approached the door. With her fingers on the handle
she stopped, and seemed once more to grow rigid with fear.
Mabin was by her side in an instant.
“Stay here,” she said. “You will have the dream again perhaps, if
you go away by yourself.”
At these words a shiver ran through Mrs. Dale, and she faltered.
“It must have been that gloomy room!” she said at last in a
whisper. “And the effect of her visit! But it will kill me if it comes
again!” Suddenly she turned to Mabin. “May I lie on the sofa until the
morning?” she asked piteously. “I won’t disturb you. I feel as if I
should be safe from—it—in here with you?”
The wistful pleading in her eyes brought the tears to Mabin’s.
“Of course you must stay,” she cried heartily. “And I do hope you
will get to sleep, and not have any more dreams.”
Very quietly Mrs. Dale lay down on the couch between the
windows, and drawing the sofa blanket over her, and refusing any
other covering, she closed her eyes. Mabin knew that this apparent
tranquillity was assumed only, and she placed herself on the bed in
such a position that she could watch her friend, while appearing to
be herself asleep.
Before many minutes had passed, she saw, from between half-
closed eyelashes, that Mrs. Dale was sitting up, and bending her
head in a listening attitude. And presently the slender figure with its
white dressing-gown slipped softly off the sofa, and hurried on tiptoe
across the floor to the door. There it knelt down and listened again.
And after a few minutes Mrs. Dale turned the key in the lock and
crept back, not to the couch, but to the arm-chair.
Mabin shut her eyes and tried to disentangle the knot of strange
ideas that filled her brain:
What was the nature of the secret which weighed on the
conscience of Mrs. Dale? Why was she kept in luxury by the very
woman who tried to make her life unbearable, to cut her off from
every human friend? What was the strange tie between the hard,
elderly woman and the impulsive, volatile young one? What was the
vision which had caused her so much distress? And, above all, why,
if it was only a vision, did she try to keep it away by locking the door?
And why—and why—? More questions surged up into her tired
brain; but Mabin forgot them as they rose. She fell asleep.
When she awoke in the morning it was to find that some one was
knocking at the door, and then she heard the housemaid’s voice
announcing that it was eight o’clock. She sprang up, and looked
toward the sofa, but there was no one but herself in the room.
Surely, she thought, the strange visit of the night must have been
a dream? The rug on the sofa was neatly folded, just as it had been
when she came up to bed last night. Not a sign was to be seen of
any intrusion during the night.
Even when she went downstairs and met Mrs. Dale in the hall,
there was little to tell of the experience of the hours of darkness.
Perhaps the pretty widow looked a little paler than usual, but in every
other respect she was the same airy, impulsive creature, now
smiling, now looking sad, as she had been before the dreadful visit
of the lady whom irreverent Mabin called “the cat.”
It was not indeed until breakfast was over and they had gone out
into the garden to cut some flowers while the dew was on them, that
either of the ladies made any reference to the events of the night.
Mrs. Dale, with one daintily shod foot in a flower-bed, was
stretching out her hands toward a bush of sweet-peas, when, without
turning her head, she said:
“I am in great trouble about you, Mabin.”
“Are you? Why, Mrs. Dale?”
“I don’t quite know what to do with you. If I send you to Mrs.
Bonnington, I shall have to tell some shocking tarradiddle about the
drains having come up, or the roof having given way, and she will be
sure to find me out and to pry, and to give both of us what the old
women call ‘much unpleasantness.’ And if I send you on to Geneva,
I don’t know whether they will be glad to see you when you arrive.”
“And I’m sure they won’t,” said Mabin heartily. “And there is one
other objection to sending me anywhere, and that is that I won’t go.”
Mrs. Dale dropped her sweet-peas, and turned round. Her eyes
were full of sudden tears.
“Nonsense, child!” she said sharply, but in a querulous tone which
betrayed her emotion, “nonsense! It was decided yesterday
afternoon that you were to go. You know it was.”
“You decided that I was to go. I didn’t. And—” instinctively she
dropped her voice—“And something that happened last night—in the
night, made me decide not to go. There!”
“But, my dear——”
“No, Mrs. Dale, I’m not to be ‘got round.’ You’ve chosen to take me
upon your shoulders, so now you must just keep me. Ha, ha! You
didn’t know I had so much determination, did you?”
But Mrs. Dale could scarcely speak. Now for the first time that
morning Mabin realized that the scene of the night had really taken
place, for the emotion aroused by this little bit of talk had brought
back into Mrs. Dale’s blue eyes a faint reproduction of the wild terror
she had shown when she came to the girl’s room. When she had
recovered her voice, the lady in black, pale, hoarse, shaken with her
agitation, stammered out these words:
“My dear girl, it is beautiful of you to offer to stay. But I cannot let
you. You ought never to have come. I was mad, wicked to let you
come; and my madness and my wickedness I must bear alone.”
How strange these words seemed in the broad daylight, Mabin
thought! By the weak glimmer of the night-light Mrs. Dale’s wild looks
and words had seemed fantastic, weird. But the broad sunlight
seemed to give the nameless horror which hung about the poor little
lady in black a reality as vivid as it was painful. But with this feeling
there came also into the heart of the young girl a great tenderness
toward the suffering woman, who was haunted by the shadow of her
own past. So she smiled, and with a pretty, half-shy look in her eyes,
said:
“You told me I saved you from going mad. So I mean to stay. And I
mean to sleep in the same room with you, so that you shall not be
frightened any more.”
Mrs. Dale shook her head.
“I can’t let you do that,” said she. “I don’t sleep very well, and
sometimes I start up and cry out. I should frighten you.”
“Then we will exchange rooms,” said Mabin.
By the look of joy and relief which flashed over Mrs. Dale’s face at
this suggestion, Mabin saw that she had conquered.
“But—won’t you be afraid?” asked the widow in a troubled voice.
“What! Of a ghost, a vision? Or of having bad dreams? No, not a
bit.”
Mrs. Dale glanced gratefully at the young face, with its look of
robust Philistine scorn of phantoms.
“It is a temptation,” she murmured. “For, after all, I know, I know
that it was only a dream, a horrible dream. And there is no fear that
the dream will come to you.”
“And if it did,” retorted Mabin stoutly, “it wouldn’t frighten me. I’m
too ‘stodgy;’ I have no imagination.”
Mrs. Dale smiled sadly.
“You are right,” she said. “If you did have the same dream, it would
have no terrors for you. Your conscience is clear.”
“And my digestion good,” added Mabin lightly, as she picked up
the fallen flowers and put them in her basket.
There was no doubt that her refusal to go had taken a load of
melancholy from the shoulders of her hostess, who sent the young
girl out for a walk as soon as the gathering of the flowers was over,
and charged her not to go far enough to tire her still weak ankle.
Mabin, with a book and a sunshade, sauntered slowly down the
hill to the nearest gap in the cliff, and went down the steep descent
to the sands. This was no paradise of nursemaids and babies, but a
solitary nook beloved by quiet maiden ladies and sentimental
couples. With rash disregard of the danger of sitting under a chalk
cliff, Mabin found a seat on a rock worn smooth by the sea, opened
her book and began—not to read.
The circumstances to which she found herself were far too
interesting for her to be able to give herself up to the milder
excitements of fiction. She sat with her open book on her lap and her
eyes staring out at the sea, which was vividly blue in the strong
sunshine, when she became suddenly conscious of a footstep she
knew in her immediate neighborhood.
Although she affected to be surprised when Rudolph appeared
before her, she had known that he was approaching, and her heart
began to beat very fast. He looked down at her between the spikes
of her sunshade, pretending to be afraid to speak to her.
“Good-morning,” said she at last.
“I was wondering whether I dared say the same thing!”
“Dared?”
“Yes. After your treatment of me last night, I felt nervous.”
“My treatment of you! What treatment?”
“Why were you so unkind? Or mustn’t I ask why?”
“You may ask, of course. But I can’t give you any answer, because
I didn’t know that I was unkind.”
“I wish I could believe that.”
“Well, if you won’t believe it, I have nothing to say.”
Rudolph was silent a few minutes. Then with a burst of explosive
energy, he made up his mind.
“No!” he cried so loudly that Mabin started, and threw himself
down on the sand beside her, “I will not be daunted. I will encase
myself in double snub-proof armor plates, and I will try to teach her
that to be dignified it is not necessary to be unkind—and—yes, I will
say it—absolutely rude.”
Mabin became crimson, and the tears started to her eyes. She
had not meant to be rude, but undoubtedly her behavior had laid her
open to this accusation.
“I am stupid, clumsy; I am rude without meaning it,” she said in a
tone of such excessive humility and penitence that it was impossible
to doubt her sincerity. “I am very sorry. But you shouldn’t take any
notice of what I do or say. Nobody does at home. When I am more
awkward and tiresome than usual, they always say: ‘Oh, it’s only
Mabin!’ And then nobody minds.”
“Ah, well, I can’t quite feel like that—that it’s only Mabin. When one
likes a person, and wants to be good friends, very good friends with
that person, just as one used to be when that person and one’s self
were little things in short frocks and knickerbockers, it is very
disheartening to find that person so determined to be—er—to be—er
—so reserved that when one sits beside that person as I did last
night, you know, she will only let one see so much of her right ear as
to practically turn her back to one!”
“I didn’t!”
“You did though. And it is what you were doing again just now until
the horror of hearing the truth made you turn around to fly at me! You
did turn your back upon me last night, Miss Rose, and you hurt my
feelings.”
“Indeed, you did not seem to be hurt. You seemed to be enjoying
yourself very much!”
“Well, so I was in a way. But I should have enjoyed myself much
more if you had been as nice as you were in the garden.”
Mabin heaved a deep sigh.
“It’s no use expecting me to be nice,” she said in a voice of
despair, “I can only manage it so very seldom.”
“Well, could you hold out some signal, such as by wearing a
particular flower, or color, or some especial knot of ribbon, to let one
know when one may speak to you without being snubbed?”
“No, I couldn’t,” retorted Mabin with great fierceness, but with a
twinkle of fun in her gray eyes, which gave greater hopes than her
words did. “It is of no use for me to promise more than I can perform.
You had much better look upon me as a decidedly disagreeable
person, with rare moments of proper behavior.”
“Proper behavior, then, means niceness? I’m glad you think it
proper to be nice to me!” said Rudolph. “I perceive that I’ve lighted
upon one of the ‘rare moments,’ and I’m going to take advantage of
it,” he added, as he came a little nearer to her, and looked up in her
face with a glance of amusement and admiration which made her
blush a little. “I’m going to make you talk to me, and amuse me, as
you were told to do last night.”
“No! It was you who were told to amuse me!”
“Was it? Well, we’ll take it in turn then. Do you remember how I
taught you cricket?”
“Yes, oh yes.”
“And what a rage you used to be in when you were caught out?”
“Yes,” answered Mabin, “I remember; but I don’t want to talk about
cricket. I want to tell you something. Mrs. Dale has a fancy that ‘The
Towers’ is haunted.”
And she related the adventure of the previous night, and her
intention of changing rooms with her hostess.
Rudolph listened gravely, and there was a pause when she had
finished before he made any comment. Then he said abruptly:
“You are not nervous, are you, Mabin? I know you used to have no
end of pluck.”
“Well, I haven’t any less than I ever had.”
“Well, if you do change rooms, you have got to be prepared to see
the ghost yourself.”
“You make me feel rather—rather creepy! What do you really think
I shall see?”
“A face at the window probably. The face of the spy from your
house. What else can she have seen?”
Mabin considered a moment.
“I’ll risk it!” she cried at last. “I shan’t go to bed at all. I shall sit up
and watch.”
“I wish you would. We should find out something if you had the
strength of mind to do that.”
Not without a wild beating of the heart, Mabin undertook the task
of holding the strange night-watch, without saying a word to Mrs.
Dale of her intention.
“She thinks she only had a dreadful dream, you know,” said Mabin.
“Well,” replied Rudolph, “I want to know what sort of dream you
will have.”
He had to admire the courage she showed in undertaking a task
which was, as she expressed it, “rather shuddery,” but when he left
her at the gate of “The Towers” she was still steadfast in her
intention.
It was not until after dinner that evening that Mrs. Dale introduced
the young girl to the apartment she was to occupy that night. Mabin
was astonished at its dinginess, its gloominess, contrasting so
strongly as they did with the fresh prettiness of the room which had
been prepared for herself.
It was a large square room, with a mouldy old-fashioned wall-
paper, on which unnatural pink roses climbed up a succession of thin
hop poles. The pictures were groups of trees, done with the pencil in
the woolly early Victorian manner, and stiff bouquets, in water-color,
of conventional early Victorian flowers. The bed, which was hung
with green curtains, occupied an undue space; and Mabin felt that, in
the weird circumstances of her tenancy of the room, she would have
died rather than sleep in that funereal erection.
When Mrs. Dale had kissed her and bade her good-night, after
receiving Mabin’s assurance that she did not feel in the least
nervous, the young girl felt a strong inclination to follow her friend out
of the room, and to implore her to find her some other sleeping-
place.
By a valiant effort, however, she conquered this weakness, and
made a careful survey of her surroundings. In the first place, the
windows and their fastenings had to be examined. They were
carefully secured, and were both so high above the ground that it
would have been impossible for an intruder to reach them without a
ladder.
There were three doors; and at first Mabin was inclined to regard
this as a disquieting circumstance. But on finding that two of them
were unused, locked, and without a key, and that there was a bolt on
the door by which she had entered, she began to feel more at ease.
Exchanging her frock for a dressing-gown, and providing herself
with a book, she placed herself in an arm-chair which stood near the
fireplace, which, although shabby, was sufficiently comfortable, and,
putting her candles on a small table beside her, settled herself to
read. Her book was a novel of an excellent type, not too clever to be
charming, not so commonplace as to be dull. Much to her own
surprise, she got interested, and forgot, or almost forgot, the vague
fears which kept her in the arm-chair instead of in bed.
She was in the very heart of the book, and her candles had burnt
low in their sockets, when a sound, a very slight sound, behind her
back, caused the blood almost to freeze in her veins.
It was a soft, stealthy tread.
Looking round, half paralyzed with terror, she saw that the door
was ajar, and that creeping softly round toward the inside handle
was the long, thin hand of a man.
CHAPTER IX.
A PICTURE.

In the ordinary course of things, it would have been natural for


Mabin to conclude, on seeing a man’s hand inside her door in the
middle of the night, that the intruder was a burglar. But her mind had
been rendered more clear, her perceptions more acute, by the
stimulating mystery which she had been for the past two days trying
to solve.
Instead, therefore, of screaming, or stretching out her hand to the
old-fashioned bell-rope which hung by the fireside at a little distance
from her right hand, she waited, watched, and listened. Apparently
she had unconsciously made some slight noise as she turned in her
chair to look behind her, for the intruder, whoever he was, instead of
entering, waited and listened also.
There was a pause; and then the hand which had crept so
stealthily round the door was slowly and quietly withdrawn. Mabin,
fascinated, watched the long, bloodless fingers as they gradually
disappeared from her sight; and was sufficiently self-possessed to
observe that the hand was that of a gentleman. And upon this
discovery there sprang up in her mind a strong curiosity to see the
face of the intruder.
Even while she felt the last remains of fear give place to courage
and vivid interest, Mabin, with her wits all sharpened with
excitement, wondered at the change in herself. She sprang lightly to
her feet, and with the intention of taking him by surprise, ran lightly
round on the tips of her toes toward the door. But the candles,
flickering in the draught caused by her light hanging sleeves, caused
the shadows on the dingy rose-covered wall to dance and quiver.
The mysterious visitor, as much on the alert as the girl was, closed
the door softly between her and himself.
Mabin, however, sprang forward and seized the door-handle. She
heard the sound of rapid footsteps on the other side, and for one
moment she hesitated to go in pursuit. With the clearness of intellect

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