The Future of Regional Development and Planning in South Africa Presenter: Eric Nyembezi Makoni Annual TCI Conference 2008

Objectives of the Presentation  Highlight the importance of regions in promoting regional competitiveness and development  Sketch out the challenges and opportunities faced by SA provinces (subnational scales) in fostering regional development  Providing some insights on the possible future of regional development in SA

New Regionalism and Regional Development  Regional development punted as an important activity for promoting regional innovation and competitiveness  For New Regionalism (NR), the region has been celebrated as a functional space for negotiation globalisation processes  NR acknowledges the significance of individuals, firms and institutions in shaping the development trajectory of a given region

Why the Region? The rise of the region is a result of;  The devolution of political power and economic control from the nation-state to subnational scales and entities  The strategic positioning of the region  Clustering of firms through exploiting untraded interdependencies (e.g. Silicon Valley)  The nation-state however, still plays an important role

Regional Development in SA  SA is only beginning to grapple with the dynamics of regional development  There are unique political, sociospatial, economic and institutional challenges hindering inclusive and sustainable regional development in South Africa  The provincial scale finds themselves in the coal-face of regional development challenges

What are the current Regional Development Challenges in SA? Like most transitional states, SA has to address a range of challenges;  A dual economy  Rising income inequalities  Poverty, unemployment and crime  Jobless economic growth  Spatial fragmentation  Ineffective development planning system  (Any explanations for the failure of this scale to deliver?)

Complex Institutional Design  The existence of a ‘quasi – federal state’ has resulted in too many policies emanating from all three spheres of government  Lack of skills in all scales of government to implement policies and initiatives  No alignment of strategic planning policies between scales of government  The provinces are a result of a political compromise and its role in promoting regional development has been accidental

Lack of Sound Strategic Regional Development Strategies  The Provincial Growth and Development strategies are weak and lack strategic focus  No thorough understanding of internal and external economic and sociospatial issues critical for regional competitiveness  Provincial Growth and Development strategies not underpinned by a strong spatial rationale  Lack of a shared vision with regard to regional development trajectory

More Challenges…  Lack of a sound development planning framework at national level has made it difficult for national and provincial line departments to promote integrated development planning  The uptake of the National Spatial Development Perspective at provincial level has been dismal

Possible future for Regional Development  The recent political developments have resulted in the rethinking of the institutional design of the state – implications for regional development  There are discussions on the formulation of a national Planning Council  The current provincial policy review by DPLG  Rise of city-regional development planning e.g. Gauteng Global City Region and Cape Town Functional Region

I Thank You Innovation, Resilience and Adaptability!