Image enhancement and local economic development in Johannesburg

Abstract

This paper has tracked the birth of local economic initiatives in South Africa's most important city. It was argued that Johannesburg's fledgeling LED programmes must be interpreted in large measure as a defensive response to the city's weak economic performance during the late apartheid years. The range of LED initiatives that are currently being introduced in the city have distinct parallels in the policy experiences of many North American and Western European urban areas affected by global economic restructuring. Of particular significance is Johannesburg's programmes to reconstruct the city's tarnished image and escape its status as one of the world's pariah cities (cf. Fitzsimons 1995).