In response to South Africa's idiosyncratic past, integrated development planning has emerged as a policy and practical instrument for reconstruction and development of a new society. This form of planning seeks to weave the different cut pieces of the fragmented past through a common tread resulting in a rich tapestry of human society. This complex process is not without conflict, tension, uncertainties, ambiguities and confusion. This dissertation seeks to explore the evolution, logic and character of this planning model. Such an exploration will help unpack the confluence of forces that gave rise to this planning as well as how it unfolds in contemporary times. The role of key players within the context of integrated development planning, namely officials and councillors, will be examined in an effort to come to terms with how the manifestations of power relations between these actors help bring colour to this process. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, 1998.

The study is concerned with economic restructuring and its effects on small towns. A small town, Pongola, has been chosen to illustrate how economic change affects small agriculturally based settlements. Local economic development (LED) is then suggested as one approach to address some of the problems that exist in places like Pongola. What motivated me to undertake this study is that many of the problems that exist in South Africa's big cities and large towns emanated from the fact that small towns and rural areas are generally neglected by national government. One problem that needs to be mentioned here is that of hyperurbanisation. This problem has been caused by the neglect of rural areas leading to overly rapid rural-urban migration. Whilst urbanisation per se is not a problem, urbanisation in excess of the absorption capacity of cities. Rural areas account for 40% of the total population of South Africa yet the pattern of rural settlement, for a variety of historical reasons, has been distorted. There is massive rural overcrowding in some areas, to the point where ecological collapse is imminent (Dewar 1994). In other areas, the essential social and service infrastructure necessary to support a vibrant local agrarian economy is declining steadily. The result is an ongoing contribution to hyperurbanisation: people who are involuntarily displaced from the countryside move to towns and cities that are growing at rates that outstrip the ability of the urban systems to deliver jobs and services. A main challenge in the new political and social dispensation is to target these areas that have been disadvantaged in the past and which are now the source of major problems for the country as a whole. As many urban areas are experiencing major plant closings and more retrenchments in the context of global economic competition, it becomes imperative to consider developing small towns and their rural hinterlands. Planning analysts like Dewar, McCarthy, Rogerson and Nel, have all commented that rural areas have a potential, that of available land, which could be used to address some of the problems. They also call for the social, economic and urban reconstruction of small towns. This study does not intend seeking a solution to all agricultural and rural problems. However, after looking at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of this particular case study, I will suggest that local economic development (LED) is an alternative planning strategy that could be used to address some of the problems of small town development. Although LED has its own short-comings, it has the advantage of using local comparative advantage of a particular locality to create jobs and achieve economic growth. It therefore avoids trying to resolve problems of small towns by diverting growth from other areas as it happened for example, with the old Regional Industrial Development Programme. This dissertation will look first at global economic restructuring and its effects on localities. Secondly this study will discuss the restructuring of commercial agricultural production, looking specifically at the implications of this restructuring process for workers in agriculture, and will also look at some processes that have brought about this transformation and the phenomenon of declining small towns. Thirdly, this study seeks to explore in the literature that is available what other South African small towns, have done to address problems that exist in their localities. Stutterheim will be used as an example of a local development initiative with apparent considerate success, although a recent study disputes this. Finally, this study seeks to use alternative interpretations of local economic development (both locally and internationally) as a bases for draWing policy recommendations for Pongola. Another general concern is to explore how Pongola is responding to problems of decline. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, 1998.

Since 1994 a rapid rate of large-scale development in the region of Ballito, KwaZulu Natal, has generated significant urban spatial changes. This dissertation aimed to identify and examine the factors that have generated and sustained these changes. Qualitative information, sourced from interviews conducted with various professionals and actors involved in Ballito's recent development procedures, was utilized to this extent. The study focused on localised institutional, socio-economic, historical, physical/environmental, policy- and agency-based explanations of Ballito's spatial metamorphosis. It was found that the town's resulting pattern of spatial growth reflects tendencies towards urban fragmentation that have been observed in many South African and international urban contexts. Whilst forces of globalisation have played a role in driving the urban changes of Ballito, many localised and region-specific trends have influenced the development process in unobvious manners. In particular, issues relating to local government incapacity have served to undermine state planning initiatives, which take as their focus the reversal of apartheid's socio-developmental discrepancies. Likewise, incongruencies within the South African developmental policy position have served to create uncertainty in the local urban management arena. As a corollary of these trends, the interests of private-sector and central government institutions have assumed the position of greatest power within Ballito's urban process, to the neglect of local governmental and communal concerns. It is concluded that the representative capacity of local government and disenfranchised communities must be improved as a means of promoting the delivery of complex political concerns such as 'integrated' and 'sustainable' development. It is also suggested that urban analytical models involving institutional explanations of urban change are more effective in providing recommendations for the reversal of socio-spatial inequalities than traditional, economic-based analytical models. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

No abstact available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The aim of this study was to determine the role of Ward Committees in facilitating community participation in municipal planning. The main objective was to identify challenges currently faced by Ward Committees in discharging their responsibilities and to make recommendations that would improve Ward Committee's participation in municipal planning. A qualitative approach was adopted and data was gathered through focus group discussions and interviews. The findings indicated that one of the key impediments to Ward Committees having an influence on council decision making appears to be limited power that most Ward Councilors have within the deliberation processes of municipal councils. Moreover, the tensions around respective powers and functions of Ward Committees also highlight a larger fundamental issue affecting public participation and local government. This study found that the role of Ward Committee members in the Integrated Development Planning process is unsatisfactory. The findings indicated that the Ward Committees had limited knowledge of the Integrated Development Plan process despite the fact that they were expected to facilitate and take part in decision making. The study recommends training for Ward Committees on municipal process, clarity on their role and access to information on municipal planning. Ward Committees have a great potential to facilitate bigger community involvement and should be more integrated into municipal processes the study has established. It is therefore necessary that the role of Ward Committees be understood as being an instrument of community participation within a broader context of municipal governance. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1997.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.