Source: Marginal REVOLUTION
Cape Town's real estate market physically separates income tiers—tourists and wealthy residents cluster in central neighborhoods while young professionals and service workers commute hours from affordable periphery zones, pricing labor out of proximity to its own economic engine. The problem isn't abstract housing unaffordability but spatial exclusion: workers lose access to good schools, quality supermarkets, and job density, compounding inequality through time cost and opportunity access. The pattern mirrors housing crises in London, San Francisco, and Auckland, but tourism adds a distinct layer—discretionary leisure spending directly displaces essential labor by capturing residential supply.