Urbanisation in fast lane

URBANISATION is a global trend and its speed of late has reached shocking proportions.

The reasons for migrating from rural areas are almost always to do with a wish for better access to jobs, education, opportunities, infrastructure, health facilities and markets.

But the impact of a sudden, large population growth, whether in a large city or small town, is alarming, particularly in developing countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa, and it requires us, the people in these regions, to innovate and find alternative measures to deal with the problems that arise.

My specific area of interest is the small towns in South Africa, where the spatial infrastructure is struggling to sustain the rising population numbers.

Overcrowding is accompanied by the development of many socio-economic ills.

The government has in past years attempted to boost urban development through initiatives such as the Presidential Urban Renewal Programme, which was launched by President Thabo Mbeki’s administration in 2001, as well as through a number of small town revitalisation initiatives.

Much as these urban development efforts were well-intentioned, their impacts have not led to sustainable growth of the small towns, especially the ones in the former homelands regions in the Eastern Cape, where in any case the need for small town resuscitation was already urgent.

Most small towns in South Africa still reflect the fact that historically their structural establishment was for administrative urban centres meant to oversee and extend the colonial imperial programme and manage the surrounding rural periphery.

Therefore, most small towns were planned with eurocentric interest and with absolutely no premonition of the dramatic rise in population numbers and explosive urban development that would take place a few centuries later.

Policy-makers in this epoch are now busy grappling with possible adoption of alternative strategies to build up our small towns.

It is critical, as we do this, that multisectoral, integrated and area-based approaches are considered.

Such measures could help renew these settlements and orientate structural developments to cater not only for the current needs but also for plans which consider the future demands of the next few generations.

Current studies in urban development suggest that multisectoral and comprehensive town planning perspectives and methodologies generate positive results.

Another fact that may be limiting the success of planning and implementation in small town development in the Eastern Cape is lack of specific and empirical studies.

Universities in the province should find ways of introducing town planning qualifications, as in reality small towns play a key role in our efforts towards spatial reconfiguration and development. — Zibele Xuba, via e-mail