Space and planning in secondary cities: Reflections from South Africa

Verna Nel, Lochner Marais

Description

Much of the urban research focuses on the large metropolitan areas in South Africa. This book assesses spatial planning in the second-tier cities of the country. Secondary cities are vital as they perform essential regional, and in some cases, global economic roles and help to distribute the population of a country more evenly across its surface. Apartheid planning left South African cities fragmented segregated and with low densities. Post-apartheid policies aim to reverse these realities by emphasising integration, higher densities and upgrading. Achieving these aims has been challenging and often the historical patterns continue. The evidence shows that two opposing patterns prevail, namely increased densities and continued urban sprawl. This book presents ten case studies of spatial planning and spatial transformation in secondary cities of South Africa. The book frames these case studies against complexity theory and suggests that the post-apartheid response to apartheid planning represents a linear deviation from history. The ten case studies then reveal how difficult it is for local decision-makers to find appropriate responses and how current responses often result in contradictory results. Often these cities are highly vulnerable and they find it difficult to plan in the context of uncertainty. The book also highlights how these cities find it difficult to stand on their own against the influence of interest groups (property developers, mining companies, traditional authorities, other spheres of government). The main reasons include weak municipal finance statements, the dependence on national and provincial government for capital expenditure, limited investment in infrastructure maintenance, the lack of planning capacity, the inability to implement plans and the unintended and sometimes contrary outcomes of post-apartheid planning policies.

Sujets

• Littérature Sud-Africaine
• Littérature sud-africaine
• Étalement urbain
• Infrastructure
• Demographics
• Public works
• Sprawl
• Urban sprawl
• Spatial planning
• Complex adaptive system
• Participatory planning
• Settlement hierarchy

Informations

• Publié par: UJ Press
• Date de parution: 01 septembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781928424352
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

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REFLECTIONS FROM SOUTH AFRICA
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Lochner Marais
Verna neLSpace and planning in secondary cities: Refections from South Africa
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ISBN 978-1-928424-34-5
ISBN 978-1-928424-35-2 (e-book)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18820/9781928424352
Set in Cambria 11/16
Cover design, typesetting and production by Sun Media Bloemfontein
Research, academic and reference works are published under this imprint in print and electronic
format.
This printed copy can be ordered directly from: [e-mail]
The e-book is available at the following link: https://doi.org/10.18820/9781928424352acknowledgementS
We would like to acknowledge the following intuitions and people:
The South African Cities Network for funding and conceptualising the
original research.
Dr Di Kilpert, who performed the role of copy editor.
Mrs Dora du Plessis, for proofreading and technical editing.
All the participating municipalities.Foreword
The research collaboration between South African Cities
Network (SACN) and the University of Free State’s Centre
for Development Studies dates back to 2013 whence we
embarked upon a series of explorations based on the notion
of differentiated urban governance. The collaborative
sought to ask new questions about a supposed-category of
municipalities that were then being referred to as “secondary
cities.” These were loosely being conceptualised as a set
of second tier, fast growing cities which required special
attention and could be considered for metropolitan status in
the near future. However, there was little evidence to support
any of these suppositions and assumptions. The series of
studies and reports that followed over the past half-decade
have aimed to elucidate these ideas: of the category, and of
the unique characteristics that require special treatment
or – as we have come to refer to it – differentiation. The
book Secondary cities and development (Marais et al. eds,
2016) was the first book to emerge out of the body work.
The emerging body of work has collectively been somewhat
of a flagship in what is a relatively new area of scholarship.
We at SACN are therefore delighted to see this second
book emerge, drawing upon the fourth in the series of
studies. This particular study asked a critical question in
the advent of the national Integrated Urban Development
Framework (IUDF; RSA CoGTA, 2016) and the New Urban
Agenda (UN Habitat, 2016). It asked whether the “spatial
transformation” concept which is a key objective of these
policies is somehow unique in the case of these secondary
or intermediate cities? The rich set of case studies that were
vii
undertaken now form the basis for this book, telling a complex story about
space, about planning, and about what it may take to embed and advance the
intentions of the national urban agenda in particular places.
The work of Professor Lochner Marais and his network of collaborators at Free
State and other national universities has enabled important, new empirical
work focused on exploring these kinds of questions which are crucial to our
grounded understanding of urban dynamics in South Africa. These are insights
that we believe to be important for scholarship and – of great importance to
the SACN – for the policy and practice audiences who are actively engaged in
steering urban growth and development.
Geci Karuri-Sebina, PhD
Executive Manager
South African Cities Network
2018
www.sacities.net
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table oF c ontentS
List of igure ....................................................................................................... xvi
List of t abLe .......................................................................................................... xvii
Contributing a uthor ....................................................................................... xiii
aCronyms ................................................................................................................ xix
CHAPTER 1 SECONDARY CITIES AND SPATIAL TRANSFORMATION IN
SOUTH AFRICA
1.1 Context and background ................................................................................. 1
1.2 Sec ondar ycitesandr ese ar chandpolicyinSouthAfric a ............................... 4
1.3 SouthAfric a’ sspa talplan ningleg acyandtheor e tc al
under s t andingsofthepr oblem ................................................... .................... 7
1.4 P os t -apartheidspa talpo licy ........................................................................... 10
1.5 Theshapeofthes tudy .................................................................................... 14
1.5.1 Thepr oblem,andourq ues tons ...................................................... 14
1.5.2 Theaimsofthisbook........................................................................ 15
1.5.3 Me thods ........................................................................................... 16
1.5.4 T ermsusedinthisbook .................................................................... 18
R e f er ences .................................................................................................................. 21
CHAPTER 2 PLANNING IN COMPLEX SPACES: AN ORDERLY AND
PREDICTABLE WORLD?
2.1 In tr oducton .................................................................................................... 25
2.2 Fr omc on fdencet oc omp le xity:Thedisman tlingofcert ain ty ........................ 27
2.3 Concep tualisingc omple xity ............................................................................ 29
2.3.1 Comple xadap tv es y s t ems ............................................................... 29
2.3.2 Socioec ologic als y s t em s .............................. 31
2.4 Implic a tonsf orplanning inc omple xs y s t ems ................................................. 33
2.4.1 R ela tonalspace ................................................................................ 332.4.2 R ela tonaltme .................................................................................. 34
2.4.3 Adap tv ec o-e v oluton .... ......... ...................................... .................... 35
2.4.4 Collabor a tv eandadap tv eplanningandleader ship ........................ 36
2.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 37
R e f er ences .................................................................................................................. 38
CHAPTER 3 DRAKENSTEIN: THE SHINING PEARL IN THE SHADOW OF
THE CAPE TOWN METRO
3.1 In tr oducton .................................................................................................... 41
3.2 Literature review ............................................................................................. 44
3.2.1 Comple xity ........................................................................................ 44
3.2.2 Urbanspr a wl .................................................................................... 44
3.2.3 Ga t edes t a t es .................................................................................... 46
3.3 Studyme thods ................................................................................................ 47
3.4 Backgr oundt oDr ak ens t einMunicipality ’ sspa talpr oblem s .......................... 49
3.5 Thee x t en tofspr a wl ..................................... 53
3.6 P olicyf orspa talc on t ainm en t ......................................................................... 54
3.7 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 60
R e f er ences .................................................................................................................. 62
CHAPTER 4 LEPHALALE: THE ENERGY HUB OF THE LIMPOPO PROVINCE
4.1 Spa talplanningf ortheLimpopoener gyhub ................................................. 67
4.2 Miningboomsandbus ts ................................................................................. 69
4.3 Se tlemen tplanningand housingpolicyf orminingt o wns ............................. 71
4.4 Pr ofleofLephalale .......................................................................................... 72
4.4.1 E c onomictr ends ............................................................................... 72
4.4.2 Demogr aphictr ends ......................................................................... 73
4.4.3 Municipalfnance ............................................................................. 74
4.4.4 In fr as tructur e .................................................................................... 74
x4.5 Spa talchang eandspa talplanning ....................