One of the objectives of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) of the Western Cape provincial government is to undertake spatial planning that promotes and guides the sustainable future development of the province and redresses spatial inequalities. This goal led to the development of the Provincial Spatial Development Framework (PSDF), which identifies the areas of growth in the province and the areas where, in terms of the sustainable development paradigm (or responsible development paradigm), growth should be emphasised in the future. It also addresses the form that this growth or development should take and further emphasises the restructuring of urban settlements to facilitate their sustainability. To provide guidance and support for implementing the PSDF, a thorough understanding and knowledge of the characteristics and performances of all the settlements in the province is needed.

The Western Cape province contains 131 towns outside the Cape Town metropolitan area (The actual number of settlements outside the metropolitan area is more than 131, but for the purposes of this study the settlements identified in a study carried ou tin 2004 was used for continuation purposes). Some of these settlements have solid developmental bases and experience dynamic growth, whilst others are stagnant or are declining. Settlements with declining populations, economic activities, services and infrastructure leads to decreasing social and economic service levels in the surrounding hinterland, which consequently impacts negatively on quality of rural life. The dynamics and intricacies of these problems and challenges must be approached in a coordinated manner.

Continued systematic research on the role and function of settlements (outside the Cape Town metropolitan area) within the developmental context of the Western Cape is required to provide a sound foundation to support well-founded strategic decisions. It is for this reason that a comprehensive study on the growth potential and functions of towns in the Western Cape was first completed by the CGA in 2004. The results of the Growth Potential Study of Towns in the Western Cape by Van der Merwe et al. (2004), henceforth referred to as “GPS1”, was instrumental in the gazetted Western Cape PSDF. The GPS1 provided ground-breaking work by being the first study of its kind completed for a province within the context of the National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP) and other related spatial and economic developmental policies. From this study four peer reviewed research papers were published, namely Merwe et al. (2005),  Zietsman et al. (2006), Ferreira et al. (2007) and Ferreira (2007).

In 2010, Stellenbosch University and the CSIR were contracted to review and update the GPS1, primarily to ascertain whether any significant changes have occurred in the growth potential of settlements since 2004. The starting point of this follow-up study (Van Niekerk et al., 2011), henceforth referred to as GPS2, was to re-analyse the growth performance and development potential of the 131 settlements outside the Cape Town metropolitan area, especially with respect to their role in generating an environment for dynamic rural-urban development. The identification of settlements (and municipalities) with high development potential (and social needs) was of great value for development planning in the Western Cape and emanated in two peer-reviewed research papers (Donaldson et al., 2012b, Donaldson et al., 2012a).

This research raised several important questions, including:

  • What are the cross-boundary geographical relationships between settlements and how do they impact on development potential and social needs
  • What types of interventions are needed to stimulate growth and reduce social needs?
  • What are the potential roles of various government sectors in implementing interventions?
  • What is the potential role of the private sector and civil society in implementing interventions?

These questions lead to the conceptualisation and implementation of a follow-up project, called the “Second Phase” of the Growth Potential Study (GPS), henceforth referred to “GPS3”. The original aim of the GPS3, was to use the information collected during GPS2 to investigate the spatial functional relationships between settlements in the Western Cape and to make suggestions about how the GPS2 results can be used to support decisions regarding specific interventions to stimulate growth and reduce social needs. The following specific objectives were set:

  • Determine the spatial-economic inter-relationships between settlements;
  • Identify clusters of settlements with strong inter-relationships;
  • Identify sectors/industries per settlement cluster with high growth potential and identify potential value chains;
  • Suggest specific interventions per settlement cluster based on composite index and individual indicator performances;
  • Identify key interventions required per cluster through stakeholder engagement (qualitative assessment);
  • Identify potential roles of individual departments in implementing suggested interventions vis-à-vis departmental programmes and priorities; and
  • Identify priority areas for improved alignment between provincial departments and municipalities in terms of the outcomes of Objectives 5 and 6 above.

Although the initial intention was to use the GPS2 indicators as basis for the objectives listed above, a significant proportion of the indicators used in 2010 were based on the 2001 Census and the 2007 Community Survey results. Consequently, the GPS3 was extended to allow for the indicators to be updated with the latest (2011) census data. An additional objective was consequently added namely:

  • Update the census-based indicators with the latest data and re-analyse the growth
  •  potential of settlements and municipalities.

The methods used to collect and analyse the data, the results that were obtained from the quantitative analyses, as well as the findings of the qualitative analyses are described in the draft report available at Draft GPS Report For Public Comment.pdf

Draft GPS Report For Public Comment Appendixes.pdf

DONALDSON, R., SPOCTER, M., DU PLESSIS, D. & VAN NIEKERK, A. 2012a. Towards generic interventions to stimulate growth potential in small towns of the Western Cape Province, South Africa. South African Geographical Journal, 94, 120-136.

DONALDSON, R., VAN NIEKERK, A., DU PLESSIS, D. & SPOCTER, M. 2012b. Non-metropolitan Growth Potential of Western Cape Municipalities. Urban Forum, 1-23.

FERREIRA, S. 2007. Role of Tourism and Place Identity in the Development of Small Towns in the Western Cape, South Africa. Urban Forum, 18, 191-209.

FERREIRA, S. L. A., VAN DER MERWE, I. J. & ZIETSMAN, H. L. 2007. Natural resource base as predictor of town growth and development potential in Western Cape Province. Geography, 92, 25-40.

KIDANE, D. K. 2005. Rule-based land cover classification model: expert system integration of image and non-image spatial data. MSc thesis, Stellenbosch University.

MERWE, I., FERREIRA, S. & ZIETSMAN, L. 2005. An investment strategy for effective town development in the western cape, South Africa. Urban Forum, 16, 295-312.

VAN DER MERWE, I. J., DAVIDS, A. J., FERREIRA, S., SWART, G. P. & ZIETSMAN, H. L. 2004. Growth Potential of Towns in the Western Cape. Stellenbosch: Centre for Geographical Analysis, University of Stellenbosch.

VAN NIEKERK, A. 2008. CLUES: A web-based land use expert system for the Western Cape. PhD dissertation, Stellenbosch University.

VAN NIEKERK, A., DONALDSON, R., DU PLESSIS, D. & SPOCTER, M. 2011. A revision of the 2004 Growth Potential of Towns in the Western Cape study: Discussion document. Cape Town: Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning of the Western Cape Provincial Government.

ZIETSMAN, H. L., FERREIRA, S. L. A. & VAN DER MERWE, I. J. 2006. Measuring the growth potential of towns in the Western Cape, South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 23, 685-700.