The study has investigated a design intervention to the historically significant industrial precinct of Modderfontein. Modderfontein contains the first dynamite explosives factory in South Africa and is situated 20km northeast of Johannesburg. The area and its old buildings are relatively unknown. Due to the introduction of the Gautrain and the proposed development of the Modderfontein station and surrounds, the area will be densified and become more accessible. The intention of the framework proposed by the author is to activate the Main Street which contains the First Factory Manager’s house and the Dynamite Company Museum. This would be achieved by densifying the village with a series of buildings in clusters that have public, office and residential components. It is proposed that one of the clusters becomes a Book Village. The proposal will adhere to the various guidelines in a sensitive, contemporary manner. / Dissertation MArch(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

MURP / Department of Urban and Regional Planning / Current studies reveal that adjacent municipalities can achieve more if they plan and share resources collaboratively. The study assessed the impact of trans-border spatial development cooperation with respect to a twinning agreement signed between the Musina local municipality, South Africa, and the Beitbridge Rural District Council, Zimbabwe in October 2004. It unpacks to the extent to which the twinning agreement objectives were achieved in terms of spatial development. The assessment revolved around six specific objectives using a trans- border twinning performance evaluation survey approach. The assessment of the implementation of the agreement focused on desirable outcomes, inputs in terms of resources, the implementation process involved in terms of effectiveness and efficiency, outputs in terms of targets achieved, impact with respect to where they are now, who needs to do what and when and whether the planning and implementation process was effective. Research questions were investigated using 14 key informant interviews, 347 questionnaires and direct field observations with the aid of an impact evaluation survey approach. The study showed that the challenges faced in municipal twinning agreements range from institutional, structural to financial. It was evident that the Musina-Beitbridge twinning agreement did not have a concrete implementation plan from 2004 to 2016. The spatial planning goals indicated in the twinning document were not achieved. The Joint coordination meetings were no longer being conducted, benchmarking exercises were not conducted, the goals were not time-bound, there was no standalone budget, no central secretariat and lastly, the majority of the local residents were not aware of the twinning’s existence. The study recommended a strategic trans-border implementation framework which addresses initial planning provisions, resource allocation, stakeholder participation and ensuring that targets are achieved as well as mitigating risks.

This study examines the determinants of unemployment at the municipal level and as such aims to answer what the place-specific drivers of unemployment in South African cities and towns are. The purpose has been to test the arguments that local economies and labour markets matter for local unemployment. The empirical analysis makes use of a balanced panel data set for the period 1996 to 2012 for across 234 local and metropolitan municipalities to estimate a regression model in which the level of unemployment in a particular place is determined by a range of place-specific explanatory variables. It is found that the place-specific determinants of unemployment are a higher population growth rate and dense populations that are associated with lower unemployment rates, indicating the benefits from agglomeration economies. A large informal sector is negatively associated with unemployment, which supports the sentiments expressed in the literature that without agglomeration, economic opportunities for individuals in informal employment are limited. If people in a city or town are better educated this is associated with lower levels of unemployment on average. High inequality does not necessarily cause high unemployment; however, they do coincide. A positive association between specialisation and unemployment is found. Furthermore, the mining, manufacturing, construction and trade sectors that are locally bigger than in the national economy are associated with lower unemployment. The results support the findings that a link exists between geography and labour market outcomes and therefore the need exists for convergence of the social safety net and integration with the economic opportunities at the thriving cities and towns. / MCom (Economics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This study examines the determinants of unemployment at the municipal level and as such aims to answer what the place-specific drivers of unemployment in South African cities and towns are. The purpose has been to test the arguments that local economies and labour markets matter for local unemployment. The empirical analysis makes use of a balanced panel data set for the period 1996 to 2012 for across 234 local and metropolitan municipalities to estimate a regression model in which the level of unemployment in a particular place is determined by a range of place-specific explanatory variables. It is found that the place-specific determinants of unemployment are a higher population growth rate and dense populations that are associated with lower unemployment rates, indicating the benefits from agglomeration economies. A large informal sector is negatively associated with unemployment, which supports the sentiments expressed in the literature that without agglomeration, economic opportunities for individuals in informal employment are limited. If people in a city or town are better educated this is associated with lower levels of unemployment on average. High inequality does not necessarily cause high unemployment; however, they do coincide. A positive association between specialisation and unemployment is found. Furthermore, the mining, manufacturing, construction and trade sectors that are locally bigger than in the national economy are associated with lower unemployment. The results support the findings that a link exists between geography and labour market outcomes and therefore the need exists for convergence of the social safety net and integration with the economic opportunities at the thriving cities and towns. / MCom (Economics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The urban heat island effect is considered one of the main causes of global warming and is contributing to increasing temperatures in the urban United States. This phenomenon enhances the intensity of summer heat waves and the risk to public health due to increased exposure to extreme thermal conditions. Characteristics of spatial development patterns can significantly affect urban temperature because they are related to the arrangement of development and land surface materials, which are crucial elements needed to determine land surface temperature. While previous studies revealed that the effect of the urban heat island varies depending on different land use types and surface characteristics, few have considered the overall development patterns of urban form. I address this under-studied aspect of heat hazards by analyzing the relationship between spatial development pattern and urban heat island effect across a sample of 353 metropolitan regions of the U.S. Specifically, I employ a series of landscape metrics to measure urban development patterns using a national land cover dataset from the U.S. Geological Survey. Linear regression models are used to statistically isolate the effect of different spatial development patterns on increasing the urban heat island effect while controlling for multiple contextual variables including built-environment, environmental, and demographic characteristics. The result of this study showed that the daytime mean surface urban heat island effect (4.04˚F) is higher than that of nighttime (2.41˚F). Ecological context (i.e. Ecoregions) has proved to be a statistically significant modulator that helps to explain the spatial distribution of the urban heat island effect. Regarding the main research question of this study, the results indicate that specific categories of urban development pattern including density, continuity, and clustering are statistically associated with increasing the urban heat island effect. This initial evidence suggests that the overall development patterns are an important issue to consider when mitigating the adverse impacts related to the urban heat island effect. In addition, when contextual heat contributors are held constant, the intensity of the urban heat island effect can differ depending on the configuration of development in urban areas. This study can be used as a starting point for a comprehensive approach to both spatial land development and hazard-resistant planning by providing alternative ways of measuring and modeling spatial development patterns.

We conducted three experiments to better understand how mothers structure their input to young children for finding hidden objects and how young children use this input to guide their searches. We examined the reference frames and spatial terms mothers use to communicate with their 2.5-, 3.0-, and 3.5-year-old children about location by asking mothers to verbally disambiguate a target hiding container from an identical non-target hiding container for their child. We varied the relative proximity of the target and non-target containers to a landmark and to the mother and child. The target and non-target containers were on opposite sides of the landmark in Experiment 1 and on the same side of the landmark in Experiments 2 and 3. The absolute distance of the containers from the landmark was increased in Experiment 3, while the relative distance of the containers to the landmark and to the mother and child remained the same. In all of the experiments, mothers' reference frame use was governed by the relative proximity of the target and non-target containers to the landmark and themselves. Older children followed directions more successfully than did younger children. The Discussion focuses on how the age of the child and the characteristics of the task shape maternal spatial communication.

Rapid and sustainable economic growth and progressive social and spatial development through industrial development, has been a persistent challenge for the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A commonly held "solution" to this challenge has been to provide access of manufactured goods from the SSA-region to the dynamic markets of the affluent North. This perceived wisdom led to the passing of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2000 by the 200th Congress of the United States of America. In this exploratory study, the experience of Lesotho with AGOA, with specific reference to the economic and spatial development outcomes of the Act in the country, is explored. The findings of the study reveal that the larger settlements where the AGOA-factories are located have shown little improvement, neither from an economic, nor from a spatial perspective. The same applied to villages to which AGOA factory workers sent their remittances. This was due to the meagreness of the remittances a function of the low wages paid in the factories and the resulting limited disposable income to support small-scale businesses in these villages. While AGOA did result in the creation of tens of thousands of job opportunities for unskilled and semi-skilled Basotho youth, it did not provide them with portable skills for use after leaving the factory floor. AGOA was also not found to have motivated the youth or local entrepreneurs to tap into the manufacturing sector. On the spatial development side, a number of landlords in the larger settlements subdivided their land and built residential rental units for the factory workers. Some landlords also sold their land illegally and informally, resulting in haphazard land development. The research findings suggest that, while "trade and development boosting tools", like AGOA, may be useful in providing term-based job opportunities for unskilled workforce, they will most likely not have as significant a positive impact on (1) the local economy, (2) the creation of an indigenous industrial class, or (3) the building of sustainable human settlements. Other supporting instruments, in addition to tools such as AGOA, will need to be developed locally, to achieve these goals. In addition to the research findings providing an insight into the experience of Lesotho with AGOA, they should also be of assistance to scholars and policy-makers working on the development of trade-driven tools in support of struggling regions. / Dissertation (MTRP)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Town and Regional Planning / MTRP / Unrestricted

Magister Artium - MA / The trend in metropolitan planning is to provide overarching objectives for development, leaving detailed interpretation at the local level. The unspecific nature of these guidelines, however, coupled by the parochial interests of constituent local municipalities, can result in development that is unfavourable in terms of the metropolitan vision. The aim of this research was to consider a more detailed basis according to which the metropolitan plan for the Cape Metropolitan Area, the Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework (MSDF), could possibly be promoted. The approach was to focus on vacant land since this will be the target of future development.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Masters of Recreation and Tourism degree in the Department of Recreation and Tourism at the University of Zululand, 2010. / According to Mkhabela (2009a) it is generally acknowledged that since 1994 the government of South Africa has adopted progressive policies that sought to ensure that the economic advancement of the previously disadvantaged people, is catered for. Concepts such as transformation, spatial development framework, Black economic empowerment [BEE], job creation, employment equity, affirmative action and preferential procurement have become a regular feature in our statute books and day-to-day discussions (Mkhabela, 2009a). These government policies, be they in economic advancement in general, or in tourism development in particular, need to be well planned and executed so as to effectively benefit the broader society in any business environment. Municipalities have the national mandate to formulate spatial development frameworks [SDFs], promote tourism development within their areas with a bias to enhance Black economic empowerment. The application of such principles is particularly needed in the iLembe District Municipality mainly for addressing of basic needs, equity and redistribution of tourism wealth for the benefit of the previously disadvantaged communities. This research investigation is fundamentally about assessing such SDF-related policies and their implementation. The main purpose of this study, therefore, is to advocate for the utilisation of tourism opportunities to their maximum degree for the historically disadvantaged individuals. The thrust of investigation and analysis of the present tourism related SDK and Black economic empowerment in the iLembe. District Municipality, is based on some pertinent objectives. Some of these objectives focus on the identification of tourism business opportunities around the study area. The core objectives of the study are: (a) To establish the extent to which Black people in the study area understand the meaning and importance of tourism and tourism empowerment. (b) To indicate the levels of Black participation in SDF and BEE-related tourism business opportunities in the study area. (c) To ascertain whether the SDF and BEE policies contribute towards tourism economic empowerment within the iLembe District Municipality. (d) To reveal the perceived SDF and tourism management practices that contribute to Black Economic Empowerment in the study area. (e) To determine the extent to which the local community benefits from the SDF and BEE related tourism activities in the study area. The methodology for collecting data comprised a stratified sample size of 138 respondents, which was distributed in the iLembe District Municipality as follows: sample consisting of Black service providers [18], tourism and municipal officials [10], domestic tourists [22], local community [88]. The findings indicated that local people have sufficient understanding of the meaning and importance of tourism and tourism empowerment in the study area. There were revelations that tourism participation levels were low in the area, as well as that tourism policies were not contributing significantly to BEE-related opportunities. Other findings were that stakeholders on average perceived the tourism management practices in the study area to be poor and based on uncertainty. The skills development practice or strategy was seen as the most needed in the area. Finally, the study revealed that tourism and BEE-related community benefits were non-existent for the local communities in the study area. Furthermore, the majority of respondents were very circumspect about the high-level benefits from BEE-related tourism opportunities in the study area. In conclusion the study, based on the negative outcomes established, has proposed and recommended that a management plan be instituted, with the view to facilitate the review, re-planning and restructuring of the BEE-related tourism policy-initiatives, so as to benefit the local communities more effectively. It is anticipated that with the remodelling of policy and practice, the delivery of tourism opportunities would become an attainable reality in the study area.

This dissertation undertakes an analysis of the spatial persistence of population in South Africa over the period 1911 to 2011. A comprehensive review is given of the history and development of geographical economics in order to understand the dynamics of the forces of agglomeration. In addition the history of the development of South Africa is discussed and special focus is directed to the geographical, economic and political factors that gave rise to the unequal distribution of population and wealth in the country. In the empirical analysis Zipf’s law was applied and it was found that South Africa’s population was more evenly spread in 1911. With the application of the law to the 2011 data the Pareto exponent of the OLS log-linear regression indicated that urban agglomeration was more persistent. Although this might indicate that apartheid did not influence agglomeration in South Africa it is argued that the nature of the agglomeration was in fact influenced by restrictive measures placed on the urbanisation of the population and industrial decentralisation policies. It is indicated that the apartheid policy altered the equilibrium spatial distribution of population and wealth which lead to a smaller than optimal primate and second largest magisterial districts, too many secondary cities of similar size, and also too many small and uneconomical rural settlements. / MCom (Economics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015