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Item Open Access From the editor: planning fraternity in contemporary South Africa(Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of the Free State, 2013) Patel, YusufAbstract not availableItem Open Access Cape Town’s central city development: a strategy of partnership and inclusion(Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of the Free State, 2013) Fleming, Andrew; Makalima-Ngewana, BulelwaEnglish: The legacy of South Africa’s past continues to upset the country’s drive towards inclusive and democratised spaces. This is particularly true in Cape Town, perhaps more so than in any other city in the country, where the spatial divides of colonialism and apartheid contribute to a most unequal and segregated geospatial existence. In order to address this urban challenge, the Cape Town Partnership developed the Central City Development Strategy (CCDS), a ten-year plan that calls for the densification of the central city to re-plan Cape Town into a more liveable, inclusive, democratic, and sustainable urban space. By critically examining the role that inclusionary housing policies, public transportation, and increased economic opportunities play in a more sustainable form of urban development, this article emphasises the need to expand the way in which planners approach urban design to take on a more holistic and partnership-based approach.Item Open Access National planning in South Africa: a temporal perspective(Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of the Free State, 2013) Drewes, Ernst; Van Aswegen, MariskeEnglish: This article aims to provide a temporal and critical perspective on national spatial planning since the 1970s until the most recent directive in 2012. From the first spatial policy initiative, the National Physical Development Plan (1975), radical changes have occurred in the various approaches to national planning. The most recent spatial planning directive in South Africa is the National Development Plan (2012), which has a diversified approach with political, social and economic goals. In the past four decades, national planning policy and directives have moved through balanced and unbalanced regional growth approaches. The top-down approach of the 1970s with rigid area-specific directives transformed into a bottom-up more adaptable, socially oriented and interpretation-based approach in recent years. In the process, South Africa’s spatial policy has evolved from a policy dominated by political objectives in the 1960s to a multi-sectoral policy which purports to be based only on economic principles of a multi-sectoral free-market system; from one of strong government intervention to one of minor intervention. The general perception of this article is that only some of these policies are substantially attributed to effective socio-economic development due to the lack of spatially focused initiatives.Item Open Access Contemporary statecraft for sustained and ‘sustainable’ growth(Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of the Free State, 2013) Khan, FirozEnglish: Focusing on state structure and behaviour, the ‘good governance’ agenda, political settlement, and the current path, this article describes and elaborates – in a problematic manner – the hurdles we will encounter in simultaneously walking and making the road of state construction that is messy, complex and replete with contradictions. Some implications for planning are outlined related to issues of governance and working with clientelism and patronage as enablers and contributors to growth rather than pathologies to be ‘corrected by administrative reforms’. Whether we can carry through and successfully deliver socially inclusive and empowering developmental programmes and projects hinges on understanding and negotiating social change and transformation.Item Open Access Participatory development planning in Botswana: exploring the utilisation of spaces for participation(Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of the Free State, 2013) Molebatsi, ChadzimulaEnglish: The article examines the utilisation of spaces for participation in the development planning processes in Botswana. It has often been argued that, contrary to the widespread espousal to participatory planning, Botswana’s planning system remains non-participatory. What is perceived as a highly centralised planning system dominated by bureaucrats has often been cited as the greatest impediment to the country’s participatory governance. Despite the above perception, the article demonstrates the fluidity of spaces for participation and how, with creativity, invited spaces for participation have been used to challenge unpopular state policies and practices.Item Open Access Public participation in town-planning applications: Tlokwe Local Municipality as a case study(Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of the Free State, 2013) Puren, Karen; Goosen, Tjaart; Jordaan, TarinaEnglish: Although public participation is deemed important in South Africa, negative perceptions of its legitimacy are widely acknowledged. Inclusive town-planning processes, as instruments to address inequality, have a significant role in enhancing democracy. This article reports on a study done from a communicative planning perspective, with the aim to investigate the influence of public participation in town planning by means of an analysis of town-planning application procedures between 1992-2008 in the Tlokwe Local Municipality, North-West province, South Africa. The results indicate that only 6% of all commentary on planning applications consists of objections from the public. Technically motivated objections and town-planning firms had the most influence on planning outcomes. This seems to indicate reactive and consultative participation wherein the final decision resides with the local authority. It appears that public participation’s idealistic ‘feel good’ mask does not live up to the expectations of an empowered civil society.