The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality implemented a new regulated public transport system with the objective to support the Economic and Social development of the City. The system will be done by transforming current diversified minibus taxi and bus operations into integrated city wide system which will provide the citizens with efficient, affordable, accessible and safe public transport services. The decision was based on the 2006 Public Transport Plan (PTP) prepared by Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. The long term strategy is based on the Nelson Mandela Bay 2020 Vision taking into account national and provincial transport policies. (Public Transport Operational Plan Draft 2008). The plan has been developed by the municipality in collaboration with the Eastern Cape Department of Roads and transport supported by the National Department of Transport.

Thirteen years in the new democratic South Africa, South Africa is still faced with socio-economic problems such as high rates of unemployment, shortage of housing, crime and HIV/Aids. Buffalo city falls within the Amathole District Municipality (ADM). ADM population is estimated at + 1, 67 million, being predominantly rural and living in low socio-economic conditions. The demographic trends of ADM population depict high poverty, illiteracy and unemployment rates, rendering them prone to high morbidity and mortality (www.amathole.gov.za, 2007). The aim of this research was to assess the role of the SMMEs in the socio-economic development of Buffalo City. This study is based on exploratory quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Using a convenience sampling technique structured questionnaires were used to collect data amongst 28 SMMEs in Buffalo City. The findings of this study suggest that SMMEs play a vital role in the socio-economic development of Buffalo City. The SMMEs create employment and incomes; provide human capital investment in form of training programs and HIV/Aids programs; make donations to community structures; give sponsors to various sports clubs and food to the homeless. Finally SMMEs contribute towards tax revenues that in turn help reduce poverty and redistribute wealth. However, SMMEs in Buffalo City face a number of constraints, namely, lack of access to funding, lack of operating space, and high cost of property to lease and difficulty in finding trained competent staff. Further, the perceptions of the SMMEs about the adjudication of tenders was some biasness in the adjudication of tender in favour of those who were close to the public officials. There was no accountability and professionalism amongst the adjudicating officials. Finally the government was not doing enough to encourage SMME development in Buffalo City. In view of the socio-economic benefits of the SMMEs in Buffalo city, it is recommended that support programmes to the SMMEs should be enhanced. On the basis of the findings in this study, it is suggested that assistance to the SMMEs should go beyond institutional support such as Ntsika, Khula, DTI and/or SEDA but should be targeted to funding opportunities for the SMMEs. Commercial banks should be involved in ensuring that SMMEs obtain access to funding. Infrastructural facilities such as affordable business premises should be provided for the SMMEs. Affordable premises will reduce the overhead costs of the SMMEs and in turn increase the profits of these SMMEs. Increase the profits of the SMMEs will ensure the survival of the SMMEs and will in turn contribute towards the upliftment of the socio-economic status of the people who would have otherwise been unemployed, destitute and poor.

Migrant remittances have been cited as one of the most rising forms of development financing. Migration-development scholarly debates have often made comparisons between migrant remittances and some of the most popular forms of development financing such as development aid. The development-migration debates have often contended that migrant remittances are fast growing and surpassing the popular forms of development financing. This study sought to examine the developmental role of migrant remittances in the rural district of Tsholotsho in Zimbabwe. Given that there are millions of Zimbabwean migrants working in South Africa, the study sought to examine the possible use of migrant remittances in the creation of sustainable livelihoods. In addition, the study focused on examining the skills and opportunities that are necessary in the creation of an enabling environment for investment as well as assessing the multiplier effect that result from the inflow of migrant remittances within the local economy. The study followed a mixed methods methodological approach wherein a quantitative survey and qualitative in-depth interviews were used to gather data. The findings of this study revealed that migrant remittances are central in the livelihoods of poor people in Tsholotsho and they have potential to create sustainable livelihoods. While skills and opportunities to drive entrepreneurial activity exist, there is need to deal with structural barriers in order to create an enabling environment for the creation of sustainable livelihoods through savings and investment. The study recommends the prioritization of education, improved access to the credit system and the development of cooperatives. These could assist in achieving sustainable livelihoods through migrant remittances.

McGee in his recent writings on Asian urbanization highlights extended metropolitan regions and proximate non-urban settlement systems with an intense mixture of agricultural and non-agricultural activities. The latter McGee terms as desakota, a neologism coined in Bahasa Indonesian, to signify the fusion of desa (rural) and kota (urban). Some of the ecological preconditions for desakota are high rural population densities; labour intensive rice cultivation with agricultural labourers in need of non-farm work in the off seasons and/or labour shedding by green revolution effects. McGee however recognizes that desakota can also occur in other ecologically dense habitat of non-rice crops with high population densities. Kerala State in India is one such region with a mix of rice and non-rice crops. This study examines the urban-rural fusion that is observed in Kerala and provides an empirically informed assessment of the McGee desakota hypothesis. While basically affirming the desakota hypothesis, the study at the same time raises some caveats. First, desakota in Kerala is not dependent on any central urban system and intra-desakota dynamics are significant. While M c G e e has recognized that such desakota do occur, his writings tend to neglect this type of desakota. Second, McGee's writings on extended metropolitan regions and desakota are increasingly associated with the recent rapid e c o n o m i c growth occurring in some of the Asian countries. Desakota in Kerala blurs this characteristic as it appears to have occurred beginning in the late colonial p e r i o d of the British Raj. Third, a unique mix of factors in Kerala make the political economy central to making desakota in Kerala intelligible. Undoubtedly in the specificity of the Kerala context the political economy is important. Nonetheless this study raises a critique of the underemphasis of the political economy in McGee's work on extended metropolitan regions and desakota. The research on desakota in Kerala involved the examination of the regional geography of Kerala. Kerala with its radical politics and remarkable social development in a context of low economic growth, attracted the attention of social scientists. But in these studies the spatial dimensions were largely ignored. This study emphasizes that geography matters in understanding Kerala, and that there is an important nexus between the space and political economy of Kerala. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The thesis is a study of the urban development of Central Vancouver Island, an area which lacks economic homogeneity. Throughout the period of settlement, agriculture has been second in importance to coal mining and later to the forest industry. Much of the settlement in the region has been as a result of the utilization of three natural resources - coal, forest and land suitable for cultivation. Access to a means of transport was the early factor limiting expansion of settlement, in particular access to the coast and steamers from Victoria. As transport facilities on land improved, occupation of inland areas took place. The first urban settlement in the region was associated with coal mining in the Nanaimo area, and later farther north at the Cumberland-Union mines. The second phase of urban growth occurred from 1900-1930, a period characterized by decreasing profits from -coal mining and greater importance of forest industries. This phase is marked by the growth of Duncan and Gourtenay as service centres for their respective agricultural hinterlands and by changes in the location of mining centres. A rapid increase of population occurred as a result of advances in the forest industry, and of concurrent increase in the service industries, between 1931 and 1961. This third phase of settlement is characterized by an improved and expanded highway system which greatly facilitated the growth of a hierarchy of urban centres, both service and industrial, along with the expansion of the settled area of the Island. A statistical analysis of the population and number of central functions and functional units present in the urban centres of Central Vancouver Island was carried out. Comparison of the results obtained with those published for a similar study in South West Iowa, indicates that most of the relationships present in the latter agricultural region are also present in Central Vancouver Island, but to a less marked degree because of the presence of a larger number of industrial centres. Another conclusion.is that the study of trade centres through this period illustrates the fact that those centres which are of a high order in a hierarchy tend to increase more rapidly than lower order centres. Five centres, Nanaimo, Duncan, Courtenay, the Albernis and Ladysmith, were selected for detailed study of their changing functions and morphology. This revealed the importance of transport facilities, wharfs, railways and highways, which have resulted in industrial expansions and, in some cases, increase of service functions. The central and port location of Nanaimo has led to its growth as the major wholesale distribution point for the area and it is as the tributary area to Nanaimo that the region attains unity. Despite the variety of economic backgrounds to which the urban centres owe their existence, and the early growth of settlement in widely separated locations, the development of a network of communications has allowed the evolution of a hierarchy of urban places within the region. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

This study is intended, first of all, to be an examination of the growth of the cotton industry in Scotland from 1760 to 1835. During this period, it became the largest and most important sector of the Scottish industrial economy, producing over 70% of the country's exports by value. There is, however, a subsidiary problem, that of placing the industry's growth within the general context of Scottish economic development in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The choice of terminal dates was to some extent dictated by the availability of material. The Old Statistical Account of Scotland, probably the most important single source of information on the establishment of the cotton industry, was compiled in the last two decades of the eighteenth century. The early 1830's saw the compilation of the New Statistical Account and the publication of the findings of the Factories Inquiry Commission and the Select Committee on Manufactures, Commerce and Shipping, all important sources for the industry's later development. Separate Scottish Customs records ceased to be kept in 1827, after which date no reliable guide to the importation of raw cotton into Scotland is available. But the date I780 does mark approximately the industry's foundation in Scotland, while 1835 marks the end of the main period of its expansion. The problem of the industry's foundations and growth was dealt with by adopting a topical approach. The first topic to be discussed in this connection was that of the physical growth of the industry from 1780 to 1835, which involved an examination of the expansion of raw cotton consumption and of the number and size of the units of production. At the same time, the industry's location was considered. The next step was to consider the capitalization of the industry, the factors which stimulated the transference of capital and entrepreneurial ability from other sectors of the economy, and the response of the industry to consumer demand by specialization in certain types of product. These were considered to be the factors which made the industry's expansion possible. The most important problems involving labour in the new industry - labour recruitment, wages and conditions of work and the formation of labour organizations - were also considered. In dealing with the subsidiary problem, a narrative approach was adopted. The first chapter, therefore, is simply a description of the developments within the Scottish economy which preceded the establishment of the cotton industry. Thus, the economic conditions out of which the industry grew and in which the capital, production skills and other requirements for its growth were acquired could be set out. The last chapter is intended to show the effects of the cotton Industry's development on other sectors of the Scottish economy. The Scottish cotton industry developed out of the economic crisis which followed the loss of the American colonies in 1783. Its expansion after that date was rapid, though subject to considerable fluctuations due to uncertain market conditions arid a rather narrow specialization in the type of fabrics produced. The industry's expansion was undertaken by means of the adoption of new production-techniques and new forms of organization, which marked a change-over from the system of manual production in small-scale units to mechanized production in large-scale factory units. These came to be centred in the south-west of Scotland, around Glasgow, because of the advantages which that area enjoyed over others in respect of access to markets and raw materials and because it possessed resources of highly-skilled labour which other areas lacked. Capital and entrepreneurial skills acquired in the pre-American Revolutionary period, mainly in other textile industries, were utilized to build up the new industry, which also appears to have based its initial expansion on the exploitation of' markets previously served by the linen industry. These proved to be inadequate, however, and new products had to be developed to ensure continued expansion while avoiding direct competition with Manchester. The industry relied heavily on supplies of immigrant labour to man its factories. The working conditions within the factories varied from place to place according to the attitudes of individual managers, and wages, too, varied from one factory to the next, and even from man to man in any one mill. In general, factory wages fluctuated with the trade cycle, while wages in the remaining domestic section of the industry, handloom weaving, seem to have declined steadily at least from 1806. The concentration of the labour force in large units offset the advantages which the employers had always enjoyed in disputes with labour, and permitted the foundation of strong and effective militant labour organizations. The development of the cotton industry led to the expansion of other industries in Scotland, notably the secondary textile industries like bleaching and dyeing. Its adoption of mechanized techniques of production promoted the growth of the engineering industries in the Clyde Valley, and the increased demand for chemicals for cloth-finishing which resulted from its expansion led to considerable expansion of the chemical industry. In these ways, the cotton industry laid the basis of the Scottish economy of the twentieth century. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

This thesis is a study of the operation of economic factors in precipitating the outbreak of hostilities in Asia with particular reference to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, the China "Incident" and Japan's war with the West, It is endeavoured to study the operation of these factors principally through an analysis of Japan's economic problems, for Japan is the setting against which they can be viewed most clearly. Hence, there is first of all made a thorough study of the problems indigenous to the Japanese economic and political structure. Next, the manner in which these problems were affected by the depression, the world-wide trend toward economic nationalism and the economic rivalry between Japan and the West in Asia is studied as well as the manner in which they contributed to the successive outbreaks of hostilities at Nukden, at Loukouchiao and at Pearl Harbour. Finally, the parallel problems of the economic rehabilitation of war-torn Japan and of the preservation of peace in Asia are studied. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

Ceylon has experienced a long period of export growth. Although export expansion led to a rise in G.N.P., there is not much indication that export expansion alone was sufficient to cause a sustained and general increase of per capita incomes. Per capita G.N.P. is estimated to have risen at the rate of 1.1 per cent per annum between 1926 and 1945. Trade also had only a limited effect in diversifying Ceylon's economic structure. Growth appeared to be confined to exports and immediately ancillary services. The late 1940's ushered in a new era with the grant of Independence. Growth in per capita G.N.P. accelerated from 1947 to 4.0 per cent per annum and was accompanied by an expansion of domestic agriculture and industry despite the fact that Ceylon also experienced a population boom since 1947. Why did exports fail to operate as a leading sector in the particular case of Ceylon? The problem is approached by an examination of the following relevant factors: The historical background and the opening up of the economy to trade comprising an investigation of the impact of coffee plantations; some aspects of the production functions of export industries relevant to determining the magnitude of foreign exchange earnings, share of locally retained income; the scope for backward, forward and final demand linkages; the causes for inadequate response as well as the factors responsible for the accleration in growth in later years. A theory which states that the nature of the production functions of export industries has a direct bearing on the extent to which the stimulus from exports leads to the development of related sectors would be relevant to almost any underdeveloped export economy in which foreign trade plays a significant role. Other factors, however, such as the shortage of capital combined with the lack of credit facilities, the free availability of imports and inadequate infant industry protection, a land-based value system and the negative role of the government vis-a-vis domestic agriculture and industry seem to have been major impediments to diversification around the export base. Acceleration in economic growth and a greater degree of diversification in the economic structure of Ceylon in the post-Independence period appear to be connected with government policy, initiative and assistance. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

This thesis treats a wide variety of sociological issues within the context of urban Latin America. The selected and utilized urbanization-migration materials converge around a common denominator, popularly known as poverty. The chapters are designed to provide renewed examinations and interpretations of discussions relating to poor urbanites. Opening passages reveal several widely shared empirical generalizations about urbanization. Throughout the thesis, it is essential to keep in mind that urban populations in Latin America are increasing rapidly, that the poor component to urban populations is extremely large and continues to expand, and that the tenement slums, shack slums and progressive squatter settlements are swelling. Because it contributes heavily to the growth of urban populations in general and urban poverty segments in particular, the process of internal migration holds an important position for topical analyses in this study. Crucial points to grasp are the not-so-rural origins of migrants, the typical step-wise pattern of city-ward movement, the reliance on a mixture of former and newly acquired experiences and interactions for suitable urban existence, the variable motives for migration, and the heterogeneous residence patterns of recent and established migrants. Theoretical and conceptual examinations portray and contrast two sides of a debate over poverty perspectives. A look at the "psycho-cultural" perspective, as clearly applied in Oscar Lewis' "culture of poverty" model, reveals the need to critically question value-laden claims such as poverty-culture inferiority and distinctiveness, psychosocial breakdown, personal unworthiness and resistance to change which are supposedly preventing the elimination of poverty. The "situational-structural" perspective represents an attempt to understand many poor urbanites' attitudes, actions and reactions in terms of adaptive responses to constraining situations imposed on them by total social and economic structures. The effective elimination of poverty relies on an extensive modification of structural flaws and an immediate introduction of socio-economic improvements to the deserving poor. Empirical re-analyses of posited "culture of poverty" traits and of recent and established migrant political destabi1ization cast serious doubts on the validity, exclusiveness and explanatory potential of such notorious poverty images. "Situational-structural" considerations of existing data furnish more realistic explanations of specific urban poverty conditions, as well as social, economic and political attitudes and behaviours displayed by poor urbanites. Lastly, a careful investigation of various kinds of public housing schemes which intend to cater to lower-income families discloses an elaborate assortment of unnecessary problems being levied on both poor urbanites and urban society as a whole. When considered objectively, there are remarkably valuable lessons to be learned from the practical and sensible housing approaches being favoured and employed by so many Latin American urban squatters. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

This study examines post-war social change in a Japanese farming community. Social change is defined as changes in the three sets of rules for social behaviour in a social system. Three sets of factors affected social change in rural Japan: (1) changes in the policies and programmes of the central government, (2) changes in the national economy, and (3) the adoption by farmers of new farm techniques. The central government has aimed at the industrialization of Japanese agriculture. Through its policies and programmes the government removed or modified obstacles to economic growth and provided conditions favourable to the growth of the farm economy. The Japanese economy has grown at a rapid rate. National economic growth together with governmental policies and the farmers' incentive to increase farm output has resulted in significant changes in rural Japan. For example, these factors have increased farmers' access to economic resources, absorbed rural young people into industrial centres, motivated farmers to mechanize farm practices thereby raising production costs, and made necessary an increase in household income. Farmers have adopted new farm techniques. Despite the exodus of youth from the rural areas, as farmers mechanize their practices they developed a surplus of labour. Farmers have diversified production activities by investing the surplus labour into non-farm operations, or into farm operations when competent change-agents existed. Their adoption of new farm techniques modified the old sets of rules for social behaviour, and social change took place in rural Japan. If the present trends continue, Japanese farming communities will look very different in the future. First, present suburban communities will disappear as "farming" communities. Second, the majority of present farming households will leave farming, and only a small number of larger farmers will remain in those communities in which the residents make no deliberate efforts to differentiate their farm operations. Third, a large number of farming households will remain farming in those communities in which the residents will differentiate farm operations; these communities will be small in number, but the community I studied will be one of them. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate