Competitive regions in South Africa : a study of regional planning in the iLembe District in the province of KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

Globally, regional planning is widely used in different scales of national, regional, metropolitan and economic spatial planning and is increasingly seen as essential for supporting the economic development and competitiveness of nations in an era of globalisation. This study focuses on regional planning in South Africa since democracy and assesses the extent to which it has succeeded in meeting the challenges of economic growth and sustainable development. Whilst the South African space economy is considered to be relatively diverse, long term structural weaknesses persist. Poverty, inequality and unemployment continue to be serious challenges for the country and spatial planners, despite major expenditure on socio-economic infrastructure by the state since 1994 to close the generation gap between the apartheid and post-apartheid period. The study analyses regional planning as mandated by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and the role of the local state in planning to meet these challenges. In order to do this, it is necessary to identify how regional planning is understood and acted upon by government, business and stakeholders, so as to support growth and competitiveness of the regional economy and assist in national policy deployment at local level. In this context, the relationship between planning, public management and policy deployment to improve policy coherence and policy outcomes and impacts at a local level, is explored. A significant aspect of spatial planning is the state’s relationship to the Production of Space as articulated by Lefebvre. This aspect is explored by analysing the changes in spatial planning policy in South Africa since 1994 and the global economic context. The researcher argues that the current spatial planning architecture is compliance and process driven, resulting in limited ability to engage with economic competitiveness and emerging new capital formations. The research investigates regional planning in South Africa, using the case of the iLembe District Municipality in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal. This site has been chosen as it is representative of many district and local municipalities in South Africa. iLembe is a fast-growing region, yet faces serious socio-economic challenges, including infrastructure delivery, poverty, inequality and unemployment, especially in rural small towns and incorporating the former apartheid Homeland, the Ingonyama Trust area. This is explored using the lens of social constructivism and synthetic theory, using Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse analysis. This is a qualitative study and includes face-to-face interviews using an open-ended interview schedule administered by the researcher and documentary analysis of the current practices of planning and associated policies as the key research instruments. The contribution of this study is to propose a place-based framework for regional planning in South Africa that will contribute to national and provincial policy and resource deployment at a local scale towards achieving sustainable growth and development. This could allow regions to gain competitive advantage through collaboration of planning authorities and stakeholders, leading to better planning outcomes and assisting in closing the generation gap in the space economy. Arising out of the research findings, recommendations are made for institutional reform and a place-based planning framework for district level planning.