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This thesis examines the use of information, particularly that of a technical kind, in decisions and policies in land use planning, and reports on empirical analysis on the making of development plan policies by local authority planning departments. The research examines the role of technical information in planning processes and starts by identifying different ideas put forward about the potential contribution of computerised systems to the provision of such information. It is concluded that the literature on decision processes in planning has a number of weaknesses in relation to how the use of information is understood. Research on the use of information in planning has found a complex picture which is at odds with many normative theories of planning. However, an empirically based theory of the use of technical information in planning, including that from computerised sources, is poorly developed. The thesis argues that the idea of a set of policy processes - structuring access, mode of debate and decision criteria in planning decisions - is a powerful analytical tool in understanding planning practice. Using this as a base, a conceptual framework relating these processes to information use is developed from the available literature and the findings from exploratory interviews. Through a set of six case studies oflocal authority planning departments the explanatory power of this framework is assessed. On the basis of this a refined framework is put forward and a final assessment made of it using a detailed analysis of the evolution and adoption of the policies in two development plans, the Wakefield Unitary Development Plan and the Lancashire Structure Plan. The research concludes that the use of technical information is heavily influenced by the regulatory nature of the British planning system, which places a focus on the justification of policies and gives greater importance to technical analysis in some situations than others. In development plan making the semi-judicial arena of the inquiry or examination in public is central. Information from computerised sources can playa distinctive role in planning but this is dependent on how it is incorporated into the policy processes through which decisions are made. Technical information and computerised analysis can play an important role in legitimating planning decision and shaping the evolution ofpolicies, but this can only be understood within a wider context of social and political processes.

A fifteen-year plan has been developed for cobia (Rachycentron canadum) aquaculture in Brazil. Guidelines are recommended for implementing reachable goals within a reasonable time frame, taking into consideration current status of technology development, environmental parameters, logistics and market. This plan reports potentialities, constraints and outlines the infrastructure and operational needs of a vertically integrated (hatchery and growout) cobia aquaculture industry in Brazil. Fingerlings availability, manpower, feeds among others essential requirements are evaluated and discussed. A pilot-scale operation plan including risk and financial analysis is also presented for the early development stages of the project. Asian countries, especially China, Taiwan and Vietnam, where approximately 50,000 tons are produced per year, currently dominate cobia aquaculture. Although production is expanding rapidly, combined yielding is still incipient. By 2025, an increasing global population is expected to raise seafood demand on 37% (FAO, 2010) and this plan is intended to profit from it. Therefore, the aim is to supply 2.5% of the global aquaculture marine fish demand by 2025, which will be approximately 66,750 tons of cobia per year according to our projections.

The study is based on a programme of research into functionintegrated city environments. In-depth case studies have beencarried out on two planning projects in Karlstad andVästerås. The object of these case studies wasexplorative, the intention being to develop a clear idea of theconditions for function integration and how these aremanifested in detailed planning processes. The key concepts of the study pertain to both the localenvironment and the process of detailed planning. Functionintegration is defined as an action within planning. The resultof detailed planning is a physical environment. What theplanning process aims to produce is a function integratedenvironment. The object of study is function integration in theprocess of detailed planning. A function integrated environment needs to be experienced assuch from eye-level. From this perspective it should bepossible to distinguish the following elements in physicalspace in the local environment: residential housing, places ofwork and services, public space with attractive places, publicland which is structured to give the pedestrian a sense ofcontinuity and connection with surrounding areas. The starting-point here is that a function integratedenvironment is one of many local environments. It is a type ofenvironment for which there is ample justification for goodplanning. The contribution of this study to the city planningdebate is primarily empirical. It investigates experiences ofdetailed planning, and conclusions that may be drawn. Onecomprehensive thesis is that in practice, there is a tendencyin detailed planning to separate functions. This is part of theexplanation why planning projects that aim to produce functionintegrated environments can seem overly complex, demanding manyresources. Keywords:Mixed use, detaild development plan, function,integration.

ABSTRACT Local government is the sphere closest to the people and is described as the most important sphere of government. The end of apartheid in the early 1990s has left South Africa with permanent social and economic legacy which is characterised by racial division and discrimination. Over the last decade all local government institutions in South Africa had been totally restructured and transformed into a single uniformed system of local governance in which all municipalities area given a new status, new powers and functions and a new constitutionally entrenched vision of achieving specific municipal objects and to be generally developmental in nature (Bekink, 2006). Most important shifts in direction for local government are enshrined in Chapter 7 of the Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), which provides the objectives of local government as being to provide a democratic and accountable government for local communities and to encourage the involvement of stakeholders, including the communities in the matters of local government. This marks the difference between the new form of local government and that of the past. The new local government has a dynamic developmental role to ensure maximum impact on poverty alleviation and to address socio-economic inequalities. Local government cannot achieve their new goals on their own. They need the support and assistance of the two higher spheres of government. This is because developmental local government requires a system of intergovernmental planning in the decision-making of local development. This entails mutual understanding with inclusive decision-making between government spheres, private sector and communities. This needs to take place within the framework of Integrated Development Planning. Therefore, stakeholder involvement in the IDP process is relevant. Over the past few years in the democratic South Africa, local government has seemed to reflect a system of government characterised by low levels of service delivery by local authorities, lack of transparency in decision making and inability to participate in municipal affairs. Various efforts have been made to bring about a system of co-operative governance to enhance intergovernmental planning, economic regeneration and social reconciliation in South Africa’s municipalities. In general, the results thus far have been somewhat mixed, but as case-study evidence (chapter 4) suggest, it is clear that some significant improvements have taken place in municipalities, particularly in terms of the implementation of the IDP. This study was undertaken in an effort to assess the extent to which intergovernmental planning plays a role in the IDP implementation of Makhado LM.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the integration of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Performance Management System (PMS) processes in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. The aim of this study will not be to find solutions to the lack of service delivery, but to evaluate the lDP and PMS process as well as the theory. The need for this study was considered relevant and necessary as municipalities today have become focus points for service delivery as per their constitutional obligations. The IDPs are management and planning instruments and are only effective if they enable municipalities to improve and accelerate the delivery of essential services and development. Central to the constitutional mandate, amongst other things, the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 (SA, 2000) requires municipalities to establish a Performance Management System that will play a pivotal role in promoting a culture of Performance Management. It is through Performance Management that priorities, objectives and targets are set, as contained in the Integrated Development Plan, are implemented and measured. Along with the implementation of lDPs, the Municipal Structures Act (117 of 1998) also mandates the implementation of performance management systems within the structures of the municipality. It was found during the literature review that the processes of IDP and PMS are linked, the resulting performance is more likely to meet the needs of an institution. There are various legislative acts and policy documents that state and mandates the use of these processes. Along with this are various guidelines that have been formulated to assist municipalities to successfully implement the lDP and a performance management system. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Denna studie är gjord med syfte att ta reda på vilken nytta lärare, för elever i de yngre åldrarna, anser att elever i årskurs 1-2 har av sin individuella utvecklingsplan (IUP). Min erfarenhet är att elever i årskurs 1-2 har svårt att förstå sin IUP och det har varit utgångspunkten för min studie. Studien lyfter fram lärares åsikter och erfarenheter gällande elevers delaktighet i skapandet av sin IUP, elevers förmåga att ta ansvar för sin IUP samt vad IUP:n bidrar till gällande elevernas kunskapsutveckling. Resultatet tyder på att den största nyttan med IUP för elever i årskurs 1-2 är samtalet och möjligen kan samtalet vara ett verktyg för elevens lärande och förståelse av den egna lärprocessen. För att ta reda på lärarnas åsikter användes kvalitativa intervjuer och den teoretiska bas som använts i studien är Strandbergs (2006) tolkning av Lev Vygotskjis teori. / The aim of this study is to examine what teachers for younger pupils, think of the usefullness of individual development plans for children in grades 1-2. My experience is that children in grades 1-2 have difficulty understanding their individual development plan and that has been the starting point for my study. The study focuses teachers opinions and experiences of students participation in the creation of their individual development plan, students ability to take responsibility for their individual development plan and what the individual development plan contributes to current pupils progress. The results suggest that the greatest benefit of the individual development plans for students in grades 1-2 is the discussion around the plan and possibly this discussion could be a tool for students learning and understanding of their own learning process.Qualitative interviews were used to find out teachers opinions and the theoretical base used in the study is Strandberg´s interpretation of Lev Vygotsky´s theory.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the integration of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Performance Management System (PMS) processes in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality. The aim of this study will not be to find solutions to the lack of service delivery, but to evaluate the lDP and PMS process as well as the theory. The need for this study was considered relevant and necessary as municipalities today have become focus points for service delivery as per their constitutional obligations. The IDPs are management and planning instruments and are only effective if they enable municipalities to improve and accelerate the delivery of essential services and development. Central to the constitutional mandate, amongst other things, the Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 (SA, 2000) requires municipalities to establish a Performance Management System that will play a pivotal role in promoting a culture of Performance Management. It is through Performance Management that priorities, objectives and targets are set, as contained in the Integrated Development Plan, are implemented and measured. Along with the implementation of lDPs, the Municipal Structures Act (117 of 1998) also mandates the implementation of performance management systems within the structures of the municipality. It was found during the literature review that the processes of IDP and PMS are linked, the resulting performance is more likely to meet the needs of an institution. There are various legislative acts and policy documents that state and mandates the use of these processes. Along with this are various guidelines that have been formulated to assist municipalities to successfully implement the lDP and a performance management system. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Historically the practice of conservation planning has occurred in an ad hoc manner in areas that have no economic or agricultural value. When systematic conservation planning has been implemented it has ensured the identification of priority areas that contain species, habitats, and processes essential to achieving conservation targets and goals set out by government. In the recent past a number of authors within the conservation planning fraternity have started questioning the actual impact of conservation plans. Only one third of the conservation plans (globally) published between 1998 and 2000 resulted in actual implementation. Prendengast et al. (1999) described this gap between conservation plans and conservation action as the ‘research–implementation–gap’. The same phenomenon is experienced in local government conservation planning, in South Africa. This has led to a lack of conservation planning and implementation. By using the Gauteng provincial Conservation Plan (C–Plan), that is considered the strategic conservation planning document for the province government, a critical evaluation of the extent to which environmental aspects are considered in strategic level municipal decision making was done. Six local and two district municipalities within the Gauteng Province were selected to ascertain, through a comparative and objective analysis, to what extent their strategic documents (Integrated Development Plan, Spatial Development Framework and Environmental Management Framework) reflect the conservation planning done on a provincial sphere (C–Plan). An analysis was done of the selected documentation and spatial maps to determine whether incorporation occurred either explicitly and/or implicitly. The expectation is that municipalities within the Gauteng Province, should, as part of their Integrated Development Plan process, integrate the Gauteng C–Plan with their Integrated Development Plans. The research found that all the municipalities fully incorporated the C–Plan within their Environmental Management Frameworks indicating that local government conservation planners do consult and incorporate provincial conservation plans when they are generating their own plans. The Spatial Development Frameworks and Integrated Development Plans did not reflect this strong connection with regards to conservation planning. There is a lack of integration between the different documents and an inability to bring a planning aspect(s) to delivery and implementation. There is no problem with the incorporation of the C–Plan into the Environmental Management Frameworks, thus future research or conservation initiatives should focus on the effective incorporation of the Environmental Management Frameworks into other strategic municipal documentation (Spatial Development Frameworks and Integrated Development Plans) and promote the integration that occurs between the municipal documents themselves. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Institutional Capacity has been a hidden factor that has not been given much attention in the service delivery protests that have seen many residents of the townships taking to the streets. The year 2005 saw the beginning of these protests right up to 2010. South Africa`s Constitution of 1996, has empowered municipalities through the developmental goals set out in chapter 7as well as the Bill of Rights. The Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 and the Municipal Finance Management Act of 2003 empowered all the municipalities to embark on a developmental agenda that is guided by the Integrated Development Planning (IDP). The IDP process has ensured that the needs of the communities are prioritised and are budgeted for. Hence the approval of the budget is tied to the IDP. Once the IDP is approved by the Council, outcomes and impact must be seen on the ground and this is not happening in most municipalities especially at Emfuleni Local Municipality. The completion of the IDP process is as a result of planning by all departments within a municipality. Once this is done, it is then that the budget is approved. In most cases implementation is the next step that should follow and this is not the case at Emfuleni Local Municipality. Programmes and projects do not reach the completion stage hence service delivery protests. The issue of capacity becomes a critical factor in that municipalities must be able to implement what was planned in the IDP. Currently it seems there are challenges that are caused by capacity problems and political interference in the administrative duties of the administrators. Much as it is admissible that South Africa has undergone political transformation, at the same time it is not excusable to fail when it comes to implementing projects that are planned for. It would seem that capacity challenges are not given proper attention as to whether managers and employees understand what needs to be implemented and how that should be done. Skills and qualifications are the most critical factors that need to be given serious attention when it comes to implementation of programmes and projects. By appointing incompetent people in critical position or politically connected people, the end product or the outcomes thereof are likely to be disastrous as this is revealed by service delivery protests. Project management and financial management skills are very critical when it comes to implementation of any projects. Hence the hypothesis of this study was formulated that due to lack of institutional capacity, Emfuleni Local Municipality was unable to implement the IDP to the satisfactory of the communities that they serve. In support of the empirical research, institutional capacity issues and problems were analysed. The research analysis and outcomes indicate that a majority of the employees used in the sample admit to the fact that lack of skills and political interference as well as misalignment of functions within departments result in the municipality not being able to function to its full capacity. / Thesis (M. Development and Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011