Planning for leisure in South Africa: Meeting new challenges

Abstract

This contribution proposes a set of guidelines which can be constructed and applied as a framework within which planning policies and strategies can be set. These guidelines are based on information selected from the main components of the leisure industry that are relevant for planning, and are determined by approaching issues from the perspectives of an urban and re­gional planner. From the discussion it is apparent that the establishing of an adequate and appropriate infrastructure in South Africa’s deprived areas is a major factor in leisure planning. Participa­tion patterns and preferences are changing continuously, with new activities becoming popular and a broader spectrum of activities being recognized and practised as leisure. Differences in participation patterns seem to correspond mainly with differ­ences in socio-economic standing. Leisure in general and tourism in particular are influenced by the grow­ing importance attached to the natural environment. Global and South African leisure trends are weighed against the factors influencing leisure planning in South Africa. From this ten challenges evolve with which an urban and regional planner in South Africa will have to cope when planning for any leisure-related project. An international per­spective is acquired from the literature with regard to various approaches to these problems, theoretical and practi­cal. These are then applied to the situation in South Africa and used as a basis for a framework for leisure planning.