Local Economic Development in an Era of Globalisation: The Case of South African Cities

Abstract

Since 1994 South Africa's macroeconomic strategy has sought to accommodate the forces of globalisation and ensure the country's re-entry into the global economy after two decades (1970-90) of relative international economic isolation. One key component of restructuring for globalisation has been a shift in the burden of responsibility for economic development from national to local government level and of the promotion of local economic development (LED) planning across post-apartheid South Africa. This paper focuses on the issue of LED planning in South Africa as a case study in the local consequences and reactions to globalisation of city regions in the global periphery. The planning of LED in South Africa incorporates international trends towards local promotion of economic growth but also includes a distinct and strong focus on poverty alleviation to deal with the apartheid legacy. Copyright Royal Dutch Geographical Society 2000.

Knowledge-based service industry in a South African university town: The case of Stellenbosch

“…It was interesting to see the high proportion of head offices, both national (18%) and international (36%), in the category Computer and Related Activities. The dominance of head offices in this category supports the argument by Rogerson (2000) that IT industries play an important part in stimulating investment in a town.…”

“…It was noted that there had been an increase in the number of newly established international head offices, with three of the eight having been established only since 2004 (see Table 1), and that two of these three were in the Computer and Related Activities category. In addition, four of the overall eight international head offices were in this category, further supporting Rogerson's (2000) prediction of the potential of IT industries to stimulate regional economic development.…”

“…Castells (1998) and Rogerson (2000) expressed optimism about of the way technological linkages in South Africa could help incorporate the African continent into the IT revolution of the New Economy. A Trade, Industry and Investment Review by SADC (2006) confirmed that the South African economy with its efficient financial system was the most advanced on the African continent.…”

“…Nationally, the shift of local economic development responsibilities to provincial and local government has increased the competition between provinces to attract footloose investment (Harrison, 1994;Rogerson, 2000). Urban competition has been cited as a major cause of the widening gap between regional economies.…”

Local economic development in Africa: Global context and research directions

“…The bulk of writings engage with policy development and critical evaluative research on unfolding LED activities in particular localities, with a view to advancing the practice of LED (e.g. Nel, 1994Nel, , 1999Nel, , 2001aRogerson, 2000;Nel & Rogerson, 2005b;Xuza, 2007). Limited theoretical work has been pursued.…”