The organisational locus of town planning within local authorities: Some perceptions of chief town planners of larger local authorities in South Africa

Abstract

An attitudinal survey conducted amongst Chief Town Planners of 66 local authorities in South Africa rev­ealed that Chief Town Planners in au­tonomous planning departments are generally more satisfied with their working conditions than their coun­terparts in engineering departments. They feel that they can execute their work more effectively, use their exper­tise to better advantage, that their opinions are more respected and that they can contribute more towards top management decisions. Chief Town planners are of the opin­ion that their biggest problems are a lack of recognition for their profession and interference with their work by fellow officials and Councillors. Although approximately 33% of all Chief Town Planners in South Africa are currently heading an autonomous planning department, most of the Chief Town Planners are situated wi­thin an engineering department. Most of the Chief Town Planners in en­gineering departments indicated that organizationally they should be locat­ed in an autonomous planning depart­ment on post level 1. Town planners have come a long way from their traditional role of controll­ing land uses through the town plan­ning scheme and planning township layouts. They are currently concerned with planning actions that involve the wider social and physical environ­ment: including the statutory, physi­cal, demographical, economical and sociological parameters and influence of these on local, regional and nation­al development policies. The place of town planners in the or­ganizational structure should be seen within the context of their new role and should be in direct relation to the nature, extent and content of the plan­ning functions of that particular local authority. It is also important that the Chief Town Planner should have enough authority to execute his work.