Rural Local Economic Development and Land Restitution in South Africa: The Case of Schmidtsdrift,Northern Cape

Local Economic Development is (LED) an activity of increasing importance in the developing world as globalisation produces new roles for local governments. As compared to a growing number of urban initiatives for LED, rural LED initiatives are relatively undeveloped. In this paper, the focus is upon South Africa, where the post‐apartheid government has sought to encourage both urban and rural LED initiatives. Programmes of land reform and restitution in South Africa result in the resettlement or return to the land of communities formerly dispossessed under apartheid. A critical element of planning for successful resettlement is the implementation of LED programmes. Schmidtsdrift in Northern Cape is examined as an example of participatory LED in a developing rural context. Rural LED in South Africa is distinguished by its focus upon poverty alleviation in the context of addressing the legacies of apartheid.     

SOUTH AFRICA'S NATIONAL HOUSING SUBSIDY PROGRAM AND APARTHEID'S URBAN LEGACY

This study examines the ability of the South African housing subsidy program to hasten desegregation and integration of South Africa's cities. It reviews the basic elements of recent local government reform and housing subsidy legislation. Highlighting the experiences of the city of George, it notes that in order to achieve a rapid provision of housing, the racial division of urban areas has initially been perpetuated. [Key words: Housing, post-apartheid, public policy, South Africa, subsidies, urban.]     

Tourism as a local development strategy in South Africa

The promotion of tourism has been identified as a key strategy that can lead to economic upliftment, community development and poverty relief in the developing world. In the last few years, tourism has also emerged as a significant development option in post–apartheid South Africa. In the context of some current debates on tourism in poor countries, the paper examines how economic, social and environmental resources are being utilized to promote tourism as a local economic development strategy in South Africa, and more specifically it focuses on current local government endeavours in this regard and two communities that have suffered the loss of their economic resource base. Tourism–based development initiatives, one in KwaZulu–Natal and one in the Western Cape, are evaluated in the context of generating economic growth, alleviating poverty and addressing the apartheid legacy of discrimination and inequality. The significance of the dynamics of development processes involved in these initiatives has much wider relevance for local economic development, both within South Africa and elsewhere.     

Circulating planning ideas from the metropole to the colonies: understanding South Africa's segregated cities through policy mobilities

In the early part of the twentieth century, South African cities were segregated in accordance with British city planning concepts that embodied the belief that social order can be manipulated through the urban form. This paper surveys the history of South African planning practices to understand the spread of segregation policies and practices. Whereas scholars tend to agree that the apartheid city (post?1948) is a more highly organized and structured version of the colonial city (pre?1910), the literature lacks consensus on the development of the segregated city (1910?1948) within South Africa. How did concepts of segregation circulate and why was it implemented with such consistency? Accordingly, this paper employs concepts of policy mobilities to trace historical configurations in South Africa to international influences. The focus on the circuits of knowledge explains how concepts and designs transplanted from elsewhere helped create the form of South African cities today. Understanding the movement of planning ideas through policy mobilities furthers geographical understandings of historical circulation processes, the role of the local actors, and policy mobilities failure. This history of learning also challenges the assumption that South African cities are unique and in so doing opens the doors for knowledge sharing between postcolonial cities.     

Foreign Hypermarket Retailers in China: Spatial Penetration,Local Embeddedness,and Structural Paradox

As the world economy shifts towards services, transnational corporations (TNCs) in the service sector have accelerated their expansion in emerging economies. This paper examines the development and embeddedness of foreign hypermarket retailers in China. It also analyzes the spatial penetration patterns of retail TNCs, the impacts of home and host economies on their local embeddedness, and how they resolve the structural paradox between enforcing standardization and conducting localization. The expansion of retail TNCs has been influenced by the gradual liberalization policies of the Chinese government. Spatially, they expanded in two directions: from the eastern costal region to the central and western hinterland, and along China's urban hierarchy from larger cities to smaller cities. While home economies greatly influenced their initial strategies, foreign hypermarket retailers are constantly adjusting to better embed in the Chinese market and to more effectively resolve the structural paradox.     

中国东北地区资源型城市棚户区改造与反贫困研究

东北地区资源型城市的贫困居民、贫困棚户区与贫困城市问题揭示的是中国当前日益突出的城市贫困现象,相关研究有助于提高地理学解决社会问题的实践能力。通过总结资源型城市沉陷安置区社区建设、居民就业、社会保障、接续产业发展等诸多问题,讨论了在棚户区的改造方式与安置位置选择、政府的贫困救助能力以及城市经济转型中,存在的不利于城市反贫困的主要障碍,并提出应通过采用灵活适用的改造模式、改善安置住房的区位条件、扩大救助贫困居民的地区援助、支持资源型城市自生能力增强等措施,促进棚户区长效改造、克服城市贫困。     

Searching for the Mecca of finance: Islamic financial services and the world city network

This paper presents an analysis of the geography of the booming 'Islamic financial services' (IFS) sector, which provides a host of financial services based on Islamic religious grounds. The relevance of such an analysis is discussed against the conceptual backdrop of the world city network literature. It is argued that a focus on the globalisation of the IFS sector may provide an alternative to hegemonic geographical imaginations of world city-formation through its focus on other forms of globalising economic processes and regions that do not commonly feature in this literature. Based on information on the location strategies of 28 leading IFS firms in 64 cities across the world, we analyse different features of this decentred global urban geography. Manama is hereby identified as the Mecca of the IFS sector, while other major Gulf cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi are also primary nodes in this urban network. Other major Middle East North Africa (MENA) cities such as Tehran follow suit, but also more traditional financial centres such as London are well connected.     

1996-2011 年南非人口空间分布格局与演变特征

南非是中国在非洲的最大投资目的地与经贸合作伙伴, 特别在基础设施建设方面发展迅速。南非人口空间分布研究对开展中南合作具有重要意义。本文通过收集整理南非历年来的全国人口普查资料统计数据, 运用空间自相关模型、不均衡指数、人口重心模型和偏移—分享模型, 分析了南非人口的空间分布格局和演变特征。研究结果表明, 南非人口分布具有显著的“东高西低”的空间格局, 呈现出以工业化程度较高的大都市区和港口城市为中心的“多核心”集聚的分布特征;空间自相关分析得出人口高集聚区主要分布在大都市区和沿海港口城市, 低密度集聚区主要集中分布在中西部地区;从变化趋势上来看, 1996-2011 年间人口分布不平衡趋势不断加强, 人口重心向西北方向移动;偏移—分享分析表明, 南非人口增长速度先后经历了从1996-2001 年快速增长到2001-2007 年缓慢增长, 再到2007-2011 年高速增长的“高—低—高”增长阶段;省域层面上看, 豪登省和西开普省一直是南非人口集聚较强地区。     

Community resources for small city creativity? Rethinking creative economy narratives at the Blue Mountains Music Festival

ABSTRACT

Limitations in scale, infrastructure and business opportunities in combination with a greater sense of community in small centres require a more diverse understanding of the small city creative economy. Entrepreneurship and business development builds on non-capitalist resources, creative community initiatives, volunteers and community networks. Fostering the creative economy in small cities requires a rethinking of creative narratives that iterate the key role of non-capitalist community resources. I illustrate this argument via a case study of the Blue Mountains Music Festival, in New South Wales, Australia. It examines the gap between creative economy aspirations of a small city government and the reality of creativity ‘on the ground’. The City of the Blue Mountains is a small urban centre on the fringes of metropolitan Sydney and regional New South Wales. Its council has recently adopted a creative industries approach to enhance local employment in line with national and metropolitan creative agendas. The Blue Mountains Music Festival was launched in response to creative economy policy more than 20 years ago, but has now lost this connection as it fails to fit current policy aspirations. The festival is, however, an effective example of how creativity in a small city unfolds, demonstrating that beyond jobs and growth are key matters of non-capitalist community networks and resources.     

APARTHEID WITHIN APARTHEID: AN ASSESSMENT OF OFFICIAL INTRA-BLACK SEGREGATION ON THE WITWATERSRAND,SOUTH AFRICA

Apartheid in South Africa operates at several levels, notably in the policies of state partition and urban residential segregation. The Black population of South African cities resides in racially exclusive townships where the various linguistic groupings are further separated as part of the apartheid policy of state partition. The extent to which linguistic segregation has been enforced in the complex Witwatersrand townships is measured in this paper. The policy has been less effective than other forms of urban segregation, suggesting constraints by the inherited township structures and management problems.     

APARTHEID WITHIN APARTHEID: AN ASSESSMENT OF OFFICIAL INTRA-BLACK SEGREGATION ON THE WITWATERSRAND,SOUTH AFRICA

Apartheid in South Africa operates at several levels, notably in the policies of state partition and urban residential segregation. The Black population of South African cities resides in racially exclusive townships where the various linguistic groupings are further separated as part of the apartheid policy of state partition. The extent to which linguistic segregation has been enforced in the complex Witwatersrand townships is measured in this paper. The policy has been less effective than other forms of urban segregation, suggesting constraints by the inherited township structures and management problems.     

Down to Earth: Local government and greenhouse policy in Australia

Global environmental politics and policy are conventionally seen as the province of nation-states and international negotiations. However, there has been increasing attention devoted to the part that local places can play in the pursuit of (global) sustainable development. In this paper, I explore the role of local government in Australian greenhouse policy. A brief outline of the role of local government in environmental management is followed by a short history of greenhouse policy in Australia. From its initial marginal position, local government has begun to occupy a more prominent role in greenhouse policy development and implementation. The paper examines the processes that have led to this change, the development of local greenhouse and energy policies in Newcastle, New South Wales, and the initiation of the 'Cities for Climate Protection' program by the federal government. In conclusion, some thoughts on the problems and prospects of a local approach to the greenhouse issue are offered.     

全球化背景下在华跨国移民社区的空间生产——广州远景路韩国人聚居区的案例研究

运用问卷和半结构化访谈的方法,梳理了远景路从城中村到跨国移民社区的空间生产过程。研究显示,广州远景路已形成以韩商为主的贸易产业链和韩国人与本地村民、外来人口混居的跨国移民社区,其中白云区政府、投资开发商和韩商三者共同参与,推动了远景路韩国人聚居区的空间形成。     

The Sponge City Hypothesis: does it hold water?

The notion of sponge cities has attracted considerable attention in the media, in the policy arena, and in academia. It rests on the notion that some regional centres ‘soak up’ population and business from a ‘pool’ of surrounding areas, thereby appearing as ‘oases’ of growth in areas of population decline. Specifically, the notion of sponge cities rests on two premises and a deduction: some large towns and provincial cities are growing; surroundings areas are losing population; therefore, the growth results from the relocation of people from outlying farms and smaller towns to the nearby growing centres. Despite its popularity, the notion has largely gone untested. Investigation of migration trends in Dubbo and Tamworth (New South Wales, Australia), frequently cited as sponge cities, over the period 1986–2001 shows that the reality is much more complex than the simple metaphor suggests. The contribution made by the ‘pool’ to the growth of the regional ‘sponges’ is relatively minor. This calls into question the value of the notion of a sponge city—and the use of metaphors in social science more generally.     

DOCTORAL THESES – DOKTORAVHANDLINGER

The article examines the role of ‘local paths’ and ‘substrates’ (networks, stakeholders, and human and economic capital) in the revitalization strategies of shrinking cities. Relationships between local stakeholders as well as their initiatives to revitalize declining cities determine not only future decision-making but also the demographic, economic, environmental, and social evolution of those cities. The article analyses two medium-sized declining cities in the old industrial region of Asturias, Spain. After a presentation of the processes that led to the studied cities' rise and decline, their revitalization strategies are analysed and interpreted on the basis of the local stakeholders' role. In these cities, the impact of local factors may largely explain the uneven evolutionary path in each city following crisis in their respective leading industries.     

Developing KaNgwane: geographies of segregation and integration in the new South Africa

This paper examines social, political and economic processes within the former KaNgwane bantustan to understand the changing relationships between society and space in the post-apartheid era. Research on rural development and reconstruction in South Africa attest to the spatial legacy of apartheid while suggesting that dynamic transformations are occurring within the former bantustans. A central concern of this paper is the ways the apartheid government constructed and presented KaNgwane as a development project in order to justify racial segregation and control. While the bantustans have been effectively erased from the popular imagination, these spaces continue to be framed developmentally in ways that provide limited attention to local context and change. In order to consider the shifts in environment and development discourses within these territories, a case study is employed to evaluate livelihood production systems, environmental change, and governance institutions. It is argued that these patterns reveal the simultaneously static and dynamic nature of the bantustans while demonstrating that their reincorporation will remain an ongoing process in the post-apartheid era.     

Selecting the Appropriate Urban Biodiversity Restoration Indices based on the Pressure-State-Response Model and a Multi-scale Management Problem Investigation in Zhuhai City

Urban biodiversity is now recognized as playing a critical role in supporting global biodiversity. However, it is important to note that biodiversity is a systematic and holistic concept and prior studies have not generally focused on cross-border or multi-scale management problems. On one hand, the ecosystems of cities are interconnected with adjacent cities by natural landscapes, so they are like mosaics instead of being isolated. Urban biodiversity research demands the consideration of the continuity within an ecosystem. On the other hand, both active protection and passive restoration strategies for urban biodiversity should not only be developed by researchers or municipal government agencies, but more importantly, they should consider the real ecosystem management problems faced by multi-scale departments in order to build a practicable Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model. The solutions for these issues should be included in the analysis to form a complete and more effective urban biodiversity strategy. The study in this paper offers an answer to whether different scales of cities or districts should adopt the same biodiversity strategy; and therefore, the decision depends on whether the places are of the same importance to the global or regional ecosystem, or whether the ecological elements are connected to the adjacent cities/districts and the problems that multiple stakeholders care about.     

The processes of incorporation and secession of urban and suburban municipalities: The case of Poland

ABSTRACT

The aim of the article is to explain the phenomena of mergers and territorial disintegration of Polish towns and cities from three perspectives: social, economic and spatial-primal. Administrative border changes are fundamental components of local urban policy guidelines in countries that have experienced a dual history in the socialist and post-socialist periods, such as Poland. The main method of the authors research was the application of statistical and cartographic methods focused on measuring quantitative administrative changes in urban areas and their demographic effects. The scope of the research covered all towns in Poland existing in the years 1945–2018. Since the changes in the administrative boundaries of cities particularly concern the rural areas in the vicinity of large cities, the suburban municipalities surrounding urban centres were analysed too. The findings underline the deterministic role of political systems in the territorial expansion of towns and cities, and indicates their role for current planning decisions. The authors conclude that noticeable differences between two analysed periods have had at least two significant causes. First, the political and economic systems determining the changes differed, and second, each system was accompanied by differing directions of economic development and therefore also different ‘urbogenic’ forces.     

A micro-level approach to rural development planning: the case of piped water in Sierra Leone

This study addresses the need to incorporate analysis of the target area and the target population at the micro level as part of plan implementation strategies in less developed countries, especially in Africa. Such micro-level studies have several benefits, amongst which are the ease and low costs of data compilation and the potential for local input. To demonstrate these points, the proposed government distribution of water supply facilities in two villages in Sierra Leone, West Africa, is compared with an alternative distribution. While the government strategy attempts to maximize areal coverage, the alternative distribution attempts to minimize walking distance. It is shown that accessibility to the water supply facilities can be improved under the alternative approach.     

A new mapping of the world for the new millennium

A new mapping of the world derived from connections between cities is presented as a complement to the traditional world map of countries. Under conditions of contemporary globalization world cities have emerged as global service centres. These have been created by the location strategies of leading corporate service firms (e.g. in accountancy) in setting up their global office networks. Data on the offices of 46 global service firms in 55 world cities are used to define service connections between cities. Connections are converted into measures of network proximity and a multidimensional scaling is applied to these 'distances' to create a 'global service space' of cities. This new mapping of the world shows a distinctive centric structure with the major world cities (e.g. London) at the core. Investigation of this general structure reveals more subtle patterns of interacting regional and hierarchical tendencies.