IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v38y2001i7p1003-1024.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Local Economic Development: A Review and Assessment of its Current Status in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Etienne Nel

    (Department of Geography, Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa, E.Nel@ru.ac.za)

Abstract

In recent years, local economic development (LED) has become a widely practised development strategy in the countries of the North at both the local government and community levels. LED is less widely implemented in the South where, in most instances, it appears to be still in an incipient phase. This paper investigates the current status of LED in South Africa, where, over the past decade, local governments, community groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have become significantly more active in locality-based economic development. Several local governments have established comprehensive LED programmes including the establishment of LED units and the pursuit of a range of developmental strategies, whilst in parallel, an array of community and NGO initiatives are in place. In almost all cases, however, results are still of a rather limited nature and this paper assesses some of the reasons for this situation.

Suggested Citation

  • Etienne Nel, 2001. "Local Economic Development: A Review and Assessment of its Current Status in South Africa," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 38(7), pages 1003-1024, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:38:y:2001:i:7:p:1003-1024
    DOI: 10.1080/00420980120051611
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/00420980120051611
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00420980120051611?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Graham Haughton, 1998. "Principles And Practice Of Community Economic Development," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(9), pages 872-877.
    2. Tony Bovaird, 1992. "Local Economic Development and the City," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 29(3-4), pages 343-368, May.
    3. Etienne Nel & Graham Humphrys, 1999. "Local economic development: Policy and practice in South Africa," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 277-289.
    4. Castillo Manuel, T., 1997. "Promoting local economic development : a review of City Summit best practices," ISS Working Papers - General Series 18984, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    5. Ivan Turok, 1989. "Evaluation and Understanding in Local Economic Policy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 26(6), pages 587-606, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sebeka Richard Plaatjie & Sebeka Richard Plaatjie, 2018. "Local Economic Development: A Test for Relevance in South Africa," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 10(5), pages 255-263.
    2. Amon Simba & Zivanayi Francis Nyandoro & Gerald Munyoro & Douglas Chimhande, 2015. "The local economic development processes in low-income countries: The case of the metropolis of Chegutu in Zimbabwe," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 30(4), pages 405-420, June.
    3. Parker, Gail Denise & Costa, King, 2021. "Enhancing Capacity For Local Economic Development In Creating Vibrant, Productive And Sustainable Rural Communities," AfricArxiv q5wx4, Center for Open Science.
    4. Riccardo Crescenzi & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2011. "Commentary," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(4), pages 773-780, April.
    5. Gomez, Georgina M. & Helmsing, A.H.J., 2008. "Selective Spatial Closure and Local Economic Development: What Do We Learn from the Argentine Local Currency Systems?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2489-2511, November.
    6. Oliver Mtapuri & Mark Anthony Camilleri & Anna Dłużewska, 2022. "Advancing community‐based tourism approaches for the sustainable development of destinations," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 423-432, June.
    7. Waldo Krugell & W.a. Naudé & Stephanie Rossouw, 2000. "The Quality of Metropolitan City Life in South Africa," Regional and Urban Modeling 283600049, EcoMod.
    8. A.J. Christopher, 2005. "The Slow Pace of Desegregation in South African Cities, 1996-2001," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 42(12), pages 2305-2320, November.
    9. Ashley Gunter & Kenneth Manuel, 2016. "A role for housing in development: Using housing as a catalyst for development in South Africa," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 31(1-2), pages 312-321, February.
    10. Hay Anette & Hay Johnnie, 2017. "Indicators of post-productivism in South Africa’s “platteland”: A second home case study of Rosendal, Eastern Free State," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 37(37), pages 35-49, September.
    11. Rogerson Christian M., 2014. "Reframing place-based economic development in South Africa: the example of local economic development," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 24(24), pages 1-16, June.
    12. Jonas A. Akudugu, 2018. "Institutionalising local economic development practice in Ghana," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 33(4), pages 405-420, June.
    13. Etienne Nel, 2009. "Misplaced Expectations? The Experience of Applied Local Economic Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 24(3), pages 224-237, May.
    14. Gerrit van der Waldt, 2018. "Local economic development for urban resilience: The South African experiment," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 33(7), pages 694-709, November.
    15. Parker, Gail Denise & Costa, King, 2021. "Mapping The Emergence Of Local Economic Development In South Africa Since The Dawn Of Democracy," AfricArxiv hcxk4, Center for Open Science.
    16. Akpeko Agbevade, 2020. "Implementation dynamics of local economic development: Comparative empirical experiences from Ghana’s local governance system," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 35(6), pages 609-624, September.
    17. Parker, Gail Denise & Costa, King, 2021. "Drivers For Local Economic Development In South African Municipalities," AfricArxiv x4utw, Center for Open Science.
    18. Parker, Gail Denise, 2021. "The Challenge Of Sustainable Land-Based Local Economic Development In Poor Communities Of South Africa: The Case Of Groblershoop, Northern Cape," AfricArxiv rqx9b, Center for Open Science.
    19. Tony Binns & Etienne Nel, 2002. "Devolving Development: Integrated Development Planning and Developmental Local Government in Post-apartheid South Africa," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(8), pages 921-932.
    20. Etienne Nel & Christian M Rogerson, 2016. "The contested trajectory of applied local economic development in South Africa," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 31(1-2), pages 109-123, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gerrit van der Waldt, 2018. "Local economic development for urban resilience: The South African experiment," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 33(7), pages 694-709, November.
    2. Tony Binns & Etienne Nel, 2002. "Supporting Local Economic Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 17(1), pages 8-24, February.
    3. Harvey Armstrong & Hooshang Izadi, 1994. "The Evolution of the Economic Development Initiatives of Nonmetropolitan District Councils in England and Wales, 1980—1992," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 17(1), pages 1-21, April.
    4. Margaret E. Dewar, 1998. "Why State and Local Economic Development Programs Cause so Little Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 12(1), pages 68-87, February.
    5. P M McGurik & H P M Winchester & K M Dunn, 1996. "Entrepreneurial Approaches to Urban Decline: The Honeysuckle Redevelopment in Inner Newcastle, New South Wales," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 28(10), pages 1815-1841, October.
    6. Cecilia Wong, 2002. "Developing Indicators to Inform Local Economic Development in England," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(10), pages 1833-1863, September.
    7. H.D. Watts, 1991. "Plant Closures in Urban Areas: Towards a Local Policy Response," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 28(5), pages 803-817, October.
    8. Paul Lawless & Peter Else & Richard Farnell & Rob Furbey & Sue Lund & Benita Wishart, 1998. "Community Based Initiative and State Urban Policy: The Church Urban Fund," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 161-174.
    9. Joyce Y. Man & Mark S. Rosentraub, 1998. "Tax Increment Financing: Municipal Adoption and Effects On Property Value Growth," Public Finance Review, , vol. 26(6), pages 523-547, November.
    10. Tony Bovaird, 1993. "Analysing Urban Economic Development," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 30(4-5), pages 631-658, May.
    11. J.T. Hughes, 1991. "Evaluation of Local Economic Development: A Challenge for Policy Research," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 28(6), pages 909-918, December.
    12. Philip Boland, 1999. "“Community†Economic Development in Knowsley, Merseyside," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 14(3), pages 214-231, November.
    13. Tony Bovaird, 1994. "Managing Urban Economic Development: Learning to Change or the Marketing of Failure?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 31(4-5), pages 573-603, May.
    14. Lesley Hemphill & Stanley McGreal & Jim Berry, 2004. "An Indicator-based Approach to Measuring Sustainable Urban Regeneration Performance: Part 2, Empirical Evaluation and Case-study Analysis," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 41(4), pages 757-772, April.
    15. Andreas Cebulla, 1995. "Property-Led Regeneration and Job Creation: The Belfast Case," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 10(1), pages 21-32, May.
    16. D.J. Storey, 1990. "Evaluation of Policies and Measures to Create Local Employment," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 27(5), pages 669-684, October.
    17. C Rakodi & R Imrie & N Phelps & N Oatley & Y Rydin & D Clapham & P Hall, 1997. "Review: International Perspectives in Urban Studies 3, Theories of Urban Politics, Small Firms and Local Economic Networks: The Death of the Local Economy?, Property Development, Planning London, Hous," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 24(2), pages 307-316, April.
    18. H. W. Armstrong & B. Kehrer & P. Wells, 2001. "Initial Impacts of Community Economic Development Initiatives in the Yorkshire and Humber Structural Funds Programme," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(8), pages 673-688.
    19. Tony Bovaird, 1992. "Local Economic Development and the City," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 29(3-4), pages 343-368, May.
    20. Aysenur Okten & B. Camlibel & Y. Evren & Betul Sengezer, 1998. "Spatial implications of the organization of production in the automotive industry in Turkey," ERSA conference papers ersa98p430, European Regional Science Association.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:38:y:2001:i:7:p:1003-1024. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.