Structuring South Africa’s national economic space: A regional corridor network model approach

Abstract

South Africa adopted a National Development Plan (NDP) (2013), referred to in the National Spatial Development Framework (NSDF) (2019) as a ‘super plan’, to transform national space economy and in the process disrupt the apartheid spatial logic. The South African National government adopted a series of acts and policies; sector plans and programmes, as well as strategic infrastructure investment programmes to eliminate the triple challenges of inequality, unemployment and poverty. This requires a strategic response, including a reorientation of selecting specific cities or regions as preferred locations to create development opportunities. Such a strategic response would require justifiable spatial solutions that can promote economic development. The article focuses on development corridors as a potential solution, elevating the importance of regional attractiveness as essential for economic growth. It is anticipated that the evolution of development corridors will result in the strengthening of cities and regional centres linked to the benefits exerted by corridors, on the one hand, and strong intra-national and interregional economic integration, on the other. The article concludes that development corridors are created to seek development opportunities, thereby increasing the spatial attractiveness of regions and cities that may provide for better economic spaces in South Africa.