Uneven geographical development is deeply entrenched in South Africa with apartheid era spatial economic disparities persisting to the present day. This paper examines South Africa’s recent re-engagement with spatial economic interventions designed to help address the challenges faced by the country’s ‘lagging regions’ or what are designated as the ‘distressed areas’. Current moves to support such areas through infrastructural, manufacturing and tourism interventions are detailed and critiqued in this paper.
Alfred Nzo Development Agency (2011) Annual Report 2011–2012, Mount Ayliff: Alfred Nzo Development Agency.
2.
ArcharyL (2011) Comprehensive Rural Development Programme: Rural Infrastructure Development, Pretoria: Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.
3.
BarcaFMcCannPRodriguez-PoseA (2012) The case for regional development intervention: Place-based versus-place-neutral approaches. Journal of Regional Science52: 134–152.
4.
BekDBinnsTNelE (2004) ‘Catching the development train’: Perspectives on ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ approaches in post-apartheid South Africa. Progress in Development Studies4(1): 22–46.
5.
CrushJRogersonCM (2001) New industrial spaces: Evaluating South Africa’s Spatial Development Initiatives (SDI) programme. South African Geographical Journal83: 85–92.
6.
Department of Economic Development (DED) (2010) The New Growth Path Framework, Pretoria: DED.
7.
Department of Economic Development (DED) (2013) The Space Economy: An important consideration in spatial development planning. Paper prepared for the EDD-SACN Social Dialogue, 13 April.
8.
Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) (2012) Background. Available at: www.ruraldevelopment.gov.za (accessed 15 June 2014).
9.
Department of Tourism (2012) Rural Tourism Strategy, Pretoria: NDT.
10.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) (2012a) Policy on the Development of Special Economic Zones in South Africa. Pretoria: DTI published in Government Gazette 34968, 23 January.
11.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) (2012b) Special Economic Zones Policy & Bill, 2011, Presentation to Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, 25 January. Pretoria: DTI.
12.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) (2012c) Draft Regional Industrial Development Plan: Creating a Regionally Diversified Industrial Economy, Pretoria: DTI.
13.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) (2014) Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) 2014/15-2016/17, Pretoria: DTI.
14.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) (2015) Industrial Policy Action Plan 2015, Pretoria: DTI.
15.
GarcilazoE (2011) The evolution of place-based policies and the resurgence of geography in the process of economic development. Local Economy26: 459–466.
16.
Harrison P and Mathe K (2010) Towards a Spatial Vision for South Africa. Paper presented at the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Midrand, 20 October.
17.
HarveyD (2006) Spaces of Global Capitalism: Towards a Theory of Uneven Geographical Development, London: Verso.
18.
Heimann C (2013) Comprehensive Rural Development Programme Presentation for Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, Pretoria.
National Planning Commission (2011) National Development Plan: Vision for 2030, Pretoria: National Planning Commission.
21.
NdabeniLL (2013) Where There are No Jobs: The Challenges of Development at O.R, Tambo District Municipality. Pretoria: Tshwane University of Technology.
22.
NelERogersonCM (2009) Re-thinking spatial inequalities in South Africa: Lessons from international experience. Urban Forum20: 141–155.
23.
NelERogersonCM (2013) Special economic zones in South Africa: Reflections from international debates. Urban Forum24: 205–217.
24.
NelERogersonCM (2014) Respatializing development: Reflections from South Africa’s recent re-engagement with planning for special economic zones. Urbani izziv25(Suppl): S25–S36.
NyakabawoW (2014) The Geographic Designation of Special Economic Zones, Pretoria: TIPS Working Paper.
27.
O.R. Tambo District Municipality (2012) Integrated Development Plan 2012–2017, Mthatha: O.R. Tambo District Municipality.
28.
Pallares-BarberaMSuau-SanchezPLe HeronR (2012) Globalising economic spaces, uneven development and regional challenges: Introduction to the special issue. Urbani izziv23(2): 2–10.
29.
PikeARodriguez-PoseATomanyJ (2006) Local and Regional Development, London: Routledge.
30.
PikeARodriguez-PoseATomaneyJ (2014) Local and regional development in the global north and south. Progress in Development Studies14(1): 21–30.
31.
Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Committee (PICC) (2012) A Summary of the Infrastructure Plan, Pretoria: PICC.
32.
RichardsonHW (1987) Whither national urban policy in developing countries?Urban Studies24: 227–244.
33.
Robbins G (2008) Reflecting on South Africa’s post-apartheid experience with spatially informed economic development programmes. Unpublished Paper prepared for Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies, Pretoria.
34.
Rodriguez-PoseAFratesiU (2004) Between development and social policies: The impact of European Structural Funds in objective 1 regions. Regional Studies38(1): 97–113.
35.
Rodriguez-PoseAHardyD (2015) Addressing poverty and inequality in the rural economy from a global perspective. Applied Geography61: 11–23.
36.
RogersonCM (1998) Restructuring the apartheid space economy. Regional Studies32: 187–197.
37.
RogersonCM (2014a) Reframing place-based economic development in South Africa: The example of local economic development. Bulletin in Geography: Socio-Economic Series24: 203–218.
38.
RogersonCM (2014b) Rethinking slum tourism: Tourism in South Africa’s rural slumlands. Bulletin of Geography: Socio-Economic Series26: 19–34.
39.
RogersonCM (2015a) Tourism and regional development: The case of South Africa’s distressed areas. Development Southern Africa32(3): 277–291.
40.
RogersonCM (2015b) Restructuring the geography of domestic tourism in South Africa. Bulletin of Geography: Socio-Economic Series29: 119–135.
41.
RogersonCMRogersonJM (2014) Urban tourism destinations in South Africa: Divergent trajectories 2001–2012. Urbani izziv25(Suppl): S189–S203.
Todes A (2013) Spatial targeting: Lessons from South African experience. Background report for the Workshop on Spatial Targeting, 3–4 October.
44.
TomaneyAPikeARodriguez-PoseA (2011) Local and regional development: Reflections and futures. In: PikeARodriguez-PoseATomaneyJ (eds) Handbook of Local and Regional Development, London: Routledge, pp. 618–630.
45.
TurokI (2011) Spatial Economic Disparities in South Africa: Towards A New Research and Policy Agenda, Cape Town: Human Sciences Research Council.
46.
TurokI (2012) People-based versus place-based policies; The 2009 World Development Report. Local Economy28(1): 3–8.
47.
Van der MerweC (2014) Battlefields tourism: The status of heritage tourism in Dundee, South Africa. Bulletin of Geography: Socio-Economic Series26: 121–139.
48.
WilsonGA (2014) Community resilience, path dependency, lock-in effects and transitional ruptures. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management57(1): 1–26.
49.
World Bank (2009) Reshaping Economic Geography: World Development Report 2009, Washington, DC: The World Bank.
