Town and Regional Planning

From the editors

Abraham Matamanda — 2024-06-19

Rapid urbanisation experienced across the world is exacerbating urban challenges. The complexity of cities as spatial entities facing multiple problems poses challenges for urban and regional planners worldwide. These problems have intensified in scale and occurrence over the past decades as urbanisation and its effects grow exponentially. Weak institutions and adaptation capabilities characterise the Global South, and the Global North is also grappling with multiple urban challenges including urban health issues, climate disasters, international migration, as well as civil unrest and wars. While cities are spatial entities, they constitute individuals and communities that come from different contexts. The aspirations of these individuals are constantly evolving, as they age or migrate into or from urban areas. The persistence of these urban challenges compromises urban liveability and often planning initiatives have been blamed for the occurrence and scale of various problems. For example, Peter Hall in his book Great planning disasters provides evidence of how some planning projects in America were unintentionally responsible for wrongful socio-economic development. Several similar cases have been reported in the African context, where urban planning has not been effective in addressing emerging challenges.

Place attachment and participation in community-driven development in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Wendy Tsoriyo — 2024-06-19

As the world faces unprecedented social, economic, and environmental issues, there is a greater emphasis on participation in community-driven solutions to foster sustainable and inclusive development. More local urban planning studies need to demonstrate the nexus between peoples’ emotional bond with a place, place attachment, and participation in community-driven development initiatives. This article aims to add to the body of knowledge in the broad field of environmental design, where the concept of place attachment influences the design of urban spaces. The article explores the nexus between place attachment and community participation in community-driven programmes in Gauteng province, South Africa. This article adopts a quantitative approach and uses the Gauteng City-Region Observatory’s Quality of Life (QoL) survey data. The study uses K-means clustering and ordered logistic regression models as the primary data-analysis methods. Four social clusters were identified based on place attachment, participation in community initiatives was evaluated, and a combined participation index was calculated. The identified clusters, namely the discontented advocates, neighbourhood self-doubters, potential community catalysts from afar or non-local influencers and potential neighbourhood champions had different levels of participation in community-driven initiatives. Cluster ‘Discontented advocates’ is more likely to participate in community development programmes than the cluster ‘Neighbourhood self-doubters’. The developed combined participation index shows that nearly half (45.5%) of the residents in Gauteng province have never participated in community-driven development initiatives. The study recommends that various stakeholders should engage in inclusive and robust participatory planning procedures, and experiment with the implementation of universal design features that ensure equitable access to urban amenities, inclusion, and cultural sensitivity. These practical measures foster a sense of identity, place dependence, and social bonding, which are the important dimensions of place attachment that positively influence community-driven development and meet the overall goals of social justice and societal well-being.

Enhancing urban and regional development for border security in Iran: A futures study of West Azerbaijan province

Mahdi Hoseinpour — 2024-06-19

In the border regions of Iran, which include West Azerbaijan province, the interwoven dynamics between development and security present a multifaceted set of challenges. This comprehensive study delves into the intricate relationship between these two critical elements, with a focus on elucidating potential scenarios that impact on development and security alike. Employing a rigorous methodological approach, using advanced data analysis tools and incorporating insights from experts, this research identifies seven pivotal factors that play a crucial role in shaping the sustainable development and security landscape of these border regions. By using the Method for Inserting Knowledge into Decision Support Models (Méthode d’Insertion de Connaissances dans les Modèles d’Aide à la Décision) MicMac software, an in-depth analysis of both direct and indirect variables was conducted to precisely gauge their influence in border security. The outcomes of this extensive analysis provide a solid foundation for the construction of diverse scenarios, thus offering a wide spectrum of potential future trajectories for the region. The examination of these scenarios grants invaluable insights into the intricate nexus between development and security, reinforcing the essential need for a holistic and integrated approach to regional planning. This research effectively underscores the vital imperative of nurturing synergies between security and development for the sustained progress of Iran’s border areas. With a focus on empirical data and informed projections, this study sheds light on the intricate dynamics at play, emphasising the pivotal role of an integrated approach to regional advancement.

Strategies for promoting and preserving urban landscape identity through public participation amidst urban renewal changes: The case of Kisumu City, Kenya

Edwin Koyoo — 2024-06-19

Urban renewal to revitalise urban realms within cities should aim to reinvigorate landscape identity, in order to maintain the city’s uniqueness and distinctiveness. The concern in urban renewal projects is how to sustain place identity, due to changes. In this study, urban landscape identity is the residents’ opinions and perceptions of the special features in terms of the physical, meaning, and function aspects that help them differentiate between places. This article postulates that effective public participation is important in identifying, promoting, and maintaining a city’s landscape identity in urban renewal projects. The article aims to propose appropriate strategies to develop and preserve urban landscape identity, with emphasis on public participation. At the time of the study, there were ongoing and completed urban renewal projects within Kisumu City, Kenya. A qualitative approach was adopted through interviews with four officials from County Government as key informants, four professionals as experts, and field investigation through mapping and photography. Archival document analysis was carried out based on documents from County Government. The study reveals that Lake Victoria and its scenery, parks, sociocultural activities at public parks, local foods, social interaction at public Central Square, and government buildings contributed to the city’s urban landscape identity. The study concludes that, in order to preserve landscape identity, it should be acknowledged in legislations and policies that guide urban renewal and developments, and in public participation processes. The study proposes amendments to the existing planning regulatory controls to guide the preservation of landscape identity in Kisumu. The study reveals concern for the preservation of urban landscape identity within urban renewal projects in the postcolonial era in the Global South.

Practising planners’ perceptions of post-1994 planning law and settlement planning and development processes: A Western Cape case study

Marshallene Harris — 2024-06-19

While a significant body of academic work has been compiled on the transformation of planning law since the end of apartheid, far less has been produced on the perceptions of practising planners of these new laws, and their impacts on the planning profession’s stated objective of contributing to the creation of quality human settlements. This article seeks to assist in filling this gap in the field by reporting on a study into the perceptions of practising planners in the Western Cape in this regard. The study involves research into the views of professional planners on planning laws applied during and post-apartheid and the impact of these laws on human settlement planning and development. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 25 professional planners employed in the public and private sectors. The data sample, limited to the Western Cape province, was regarded as a starting point for further research on the perception of planners in these regards in the remaining eight provinces in the country. The key findings of this study are that planners by and large welcome the new planning legislation and view it as an improvement on the old. The challenges being experienced are mainly related to the institutional and financial landscape in which the law plays out rather than the law itself, notably lengthy planning processes; a focus on meeting housing-delivery targets at the cost of other equally important settlement development objectives; capacity, and budget constraints.

Assessment of conformity to demarcated environmentally sensitive areas in land use plans: The case of Abuja, Nigeria

Evidence Enoguanbhor — 2024-06-19

Environmentally sensitive areas such as lands demarcated for urban green infrastructure and regional forest reserves by urban and regional plans are crucial to be protected due to the environmental, economic, social, and cultural services they provide. However, such environmentally sensitive areas are being threatened by various human activities, including urban dynamics. The current study, therefore, aimed to deploy existing scenario alternatives to predict and evaluate the environmental impacts of the possible future urban dynamics in environmentally sensitive areas to support the core of the Strategic Environmental Assessment process for sustainable urban and regional development planning and policy. The study deployed Geographic Information Systems, existing land cover maps, land use plans, calibrated and validated land use/land cover model, and scenario alternatives to predict the possible future urban and regional land dynamics using the Markov model. The matrix method of environmental impact magnitude and environmental sensitivity was used to define environmental impact significance. In so doing, the environmental impact magnitude in the environmentally sensitive area is categorised into very low (> 0% <5%), low (>= 5% < 10%), medium (>= 10% < 15%), high (>= 15% < 20%), and very high (>= 20%). Key findings showed a significant and non-significant environmental impact of the possible future urban dynamics in environmentally sensitive areas associated with the Business As Usual scenario and alternative scenarios, respectively. The information from the current study is useful to support decision-makers in addressing problems associated with the core of the Strategic Environmental Assessment process and its application to land use planning in Sub-Saharan Africa in particular and other parts of the Global South in general.

The right to housing and the pan-African city: Challenges of inclusivity and equity – A review of four African countries

John Mubangizi — 2024-06-19

The right to housing is a fundamental human right, but the paucity of context-specific legislation and policies on the right to housing makes housing inaccessible to a significant number of people residing in African cities. This review article explores the challenges of inclusivity and equity in the provision of housing within the framework of the pan-African city to provide legal frameworks for policymakers, urban planners, and stakeholders committed to realising the right to housing and the vision of the pan-African city. Specifically, it focuses on four diverse African nations – South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, and Nigeria – for insights into the multifaceted nature of housing rights. The article begins with a review of the key concepts (housing, pan-African city, equity, inclusivity, policy planning), followed by a review of the challenges of inclusivity and equity in each of the selected countries within the context of the right to housing and the pan-African city. The article then reviews the selected countries’ efforts to address the challenges within the framework of relevant international human rights instruments and the various countries’ constitutional, legislative, and policy frameworks. It is concluded that the right to housing in the pan-African city remains an ambitious goal, with numerous challenges in achieving inclusivity and equity. It is recommended that African countries pay more attention to the right to housing within the pan-African city, emphasising the need for collaborative efforts to ensure access to safe, adequate, and affordable housing. This can be done through information and knowledge sharing, joint infrastructure development, cross-border collaborations, technology transfer, and regional financing mechanisms, among others.

Regional policy in the Southern African Development Community edited by Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen

James Chakwizira — 2024-06-19

This book analyses regional development policy or the lack thereof in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which forms a key trading bloc on the African continent as well as the Global South. It explores the main attributes relevant to the formulation of regional policy in terms of socio-economic policies as well as spatial planning instruments. Further, it integrates macro and sectoral policy frameworks and applies the goals and objectives thereof practically through the appropriate and timely application of spatial targeting instruments within the SADC as a developing region. The focus of the research is to reflect on the social, economic, environmental, and political arguments through a focused analysis of relevant planning instruments, policies, and barriers in terms of the regional policy goals for the SADC region. The book provides insight into the role of the SADC in the context of regional development, analyses regional policy on a national, regional, and continental scale with reference to the SADC, and evaluates the inherent potential in the regional economy as well as barriers to regional development. It identifies gaps in the existing regional policy framework of the region and its constituent members and makes recommendations for improved regional policy frameworks and their implementation. The multi-authored book by writers from both the Global North and the Global South, edited by Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen, has twelve chapters, including the introduction and a signing-off chapter. The book is targeted at scholars, researchers, and students studying international trade as well as regional and economic development, and urban and regional planning and policy. It will also be a useful resource for policymakers, as it provides practical policy guidelines for improved regional planning towards a comprehensive regional policy framework.

Land-use management to support sustainable settlements in South Africa by Verna Nel and and Stuart Paul Denoon-Stevens

Martin Lewis — 2024-06-19

The book Land-use management to support sustainable settlements in South Africa is set to provide a theoretical and practical foundation needed to change the practice of land-use management in Southern Africa. The argument for change is the premise of changing values, technological developments, progression in medical science, changes in the standard of living, and globalisation. The authors highlight, inter alia, the increased emphasis on sustainability and climate change. The book addresses five main areas, namely a discussion of the evolution of land-use management; planning theory and its applicability to the Global South; the question as to why the current system is inadequate for the South African context; the principles and options for a land-use management system to support sustainable and equitable settlements, and a southern approach to sustainable land-use management.