Place-based regional planning: shaping governance, planning policy and practices in a South African region, 1994–2022

Abstract

ABSTRACT The governance of regions is activated through actors and institutions representing diverse interests. Using place-based planning, this paper reviews local planning in South Africa drawing upon a case study of the iLembe District. We argue that region building is constructed through economic and political forces, currently blocked by poor relationships between the state, civil society, business, and inter-governmental complexities. The study uses empirical evidence on the regional conditions of the iLembe District and associated municipalities, reviews of planning documents and legislation, and interviews with key stakeholders. The authors argue that the local planning framework is ineffectual, lacking strategic direction, and primarily servicing provincial and nationally derived compliance requirements, rather than meeting strategic developmental objectives. Most recently, the global pandemic emphasized interlinked vulnerabilities and weak linkages associated with globalisation and sustainable development, particularly with global supply and value chains, health systems, settlement patterns, energy production and food security. We argue for a new form of collaborative regional planning and governance framework which could be laid through a “learning region” approach as identified in the place-based literature. An example is unlocking green energy production as a value addition to the established but crisis-laden sugar industry in the case study.