Search

Although the centre down and grass roots approaches in many respects may represent a developmental antithesis, a good case may be made for the combination of the two approaches under dualistic economic circumstances. An attempt is made in this paper to demonstrate how these diverse development policies may be successfully reconciled in urban Southern Africa. A review is given of the theoretical foundation of the two development approaches with a view to indicating how some aspects of these approaches may be combined to integrate the formal and informal sectors in urban areas in Southern Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this study an attempt has been made to evaluate the validity of the boundaries of the officially approved ‘development regions’ of South Africa. A variety of statistical methods were used for the evaluation of the empirical validity of the boundaries of these regions. Firstly, two sets of homogeneous regions based on different sets of parameters were delimited. Secondly, two sets of regions indicating areas of different levels of economic development were determined. With the aid of this information, some changes in the boundaries of the existing regions are suggested. A historical account of attempts at regionalisation in South Africa for development management purposes is also given. A semantic assessment of definitions points to the need for a change in the use of the term ‘development region’ — for this specific purpose — to the term ‘development management region’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Development axes are phenomena which occur world‐wide and which are widely used in the physical planning process as a working tool to regulate economic and geographical space. Different interpretations of the phenomenon lead to considerable differences in its application as a planning instrument ‐ also in South Africa. An attempt has been made to analyse different approaches to the concept against the background of its fundamental morphological properties. It is argued that there is still today a need for a development axis policy in the Southern African development area (SADA). Finally an alternative approach is suggested which makes it possible to illuminate some of the most important disadvantages in the current application of the concept in Southern Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]