Research report submitted to the School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Science in Development Planning, 2016 / In South Africa, the promotion of economic zones by government is marked by a paradox. The Department of Trade and Industry promote economic zones in the promise of “regional development” (Department of trade and industry 2014). However, scholars including Chinguno (2009, 2011) and Robbins (pers. communication 2015) have argued that economic zones are not designed for this purpose. In particular, economic zones have been criticised for having minimal positive economic impact on adjacent communities (ibid.). This research as a result is located under the broad theme of economic impact or effects of economic zones, with a specific focus on induced economic effects of the Coega mega-project on businesses in Motherwell. In this research induced economic effects are understood in the context of income spending that result from direct effects (employment) of the Coega mega-project.
Income spending as a lens has been used to investigate the manner in which workers employed at Coega mega-project spend their income, with a particular interest on whether these workers do or not spend their income on businesses that are operating in Motherwell. Motherwell is one of the adjacent communities - to the Coega mega-project - that have been targeted by the Coega mega-project for development (Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality 2010a). This community as a choice or area of study is interesting since the existence of the Coega mega-project is encourage by the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality because of its potential to create jobs and foster economic growth in Motherwell (see Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality 2010a, 2010b, 2014b). Primary data resulting from a survey that involved 30 workers demonstrates that there is about 10 different ways in which workers at Coega spend their income. This include renting accommodation - buying food, clothing/cosmetics, fuel - paying for medicine/doctor visits, child care, education, recreation and transportation. Moreover, workers at Coega who participated in this research also spend their income by sending it to family members and they also save their income with banks.
This research reveals that none of the workers who do not stay in Motherwell are spending their income on businesses that are operating in Motherwell. Moreover, this research also reveals that most of the income from the workers who stay in Motherwell is spent on businesses that are not operating in Motherwell. As a result of these challenges amongst other challenges for Motherwell - identified in this research - I have concluded this research by providing an intervention of what could be done to address issues of poverty and unemployment in Motherwell through income spending of workers at Coega. I have suggest that Motherwell should be developed to offer a safer and accessible urban structure/environment, characterised by mix of land uses at specific nodes that responds to income spending of workers at Coega. / MT2017
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/22683 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Lande, Kwanda |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (121 leaves), application/pdf |
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