(Regional and) local economic development themes in contemporary South African Cities

Abstract

Local economic development has played a significant role in South African cities as an approach to achieve economic upliftment in the democratic era. Although there have been critiques of this approach in the light of project failures and the neoliberal positionality of local economic development, South African cities continue to pursue the strategy and city policy formulation currently includes a direct focus on local economic development within their long-term development strategies. Despite a sense of the need to explore new lines of development, there is apparent continuity in terms of the pursuit of what have become traditional local economic development interventions in many of the country's cities. While this study highlights the evidence of the continuation of these trends in current urban economic development strategies, a closer examination of emergent local economic development practice in Durban points towards areas in which shifts in the practice of local economic development in South African cities are beginning to take place.