THE extent to which urban planning has degenerated into a more or less meaningless self-centred humdrum with little or no impact on the future of our cities stands out like a sore thumb to all experienced and capable town and regional planners in South Africa.
Two examples illustrate this:
First, the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) and spatial development frameworks (SDF’s) are the holy grail of urban planning and the instrument to bring prosperity to our cities. However, it is hard to find a single SDF in South Africa that achieved any of it’s (and SPLUMA) objectives in even the slightest measure. Instead, spatial planning morphed into a generic guideline-driven compliance exercise with little or no regard to local issues and problems.
Secondly, the value of the urban and regional planner declined to a level where the profession must seek legal protection through agitation for job reservation when it cannot survive based on the value of superior services to its clients and the community at large. Underlying this is “land use planning” relegated to a legal-administrative process requiring little or no planning skills.
The challenges mentioned above highlight the need for weighty introspection by all stakeholders involved in town and regional planning (TRP). This article addresses the issues that may contribute to the low value and inability of town and regional planning to impact our cities’ future positively.
The core issues underlying the current state of TRP are:
- Lack of Technical Skills
Work produced by town and regional planners reflects the low quality (qualitative and quantitative) of town and regional planning.
- One cannot plan for things you cannot control or implement
The founding basis of Town and Regional Planning were interventions to improve health conditions in urban communities. But, it has escalated to an all-encompassing desire to control every aspect of urban development and human activities.
- The town and regional planner has no understanding of the implications of their actions
South Africa developed an obsession with plans. We present plans as the solution to our problems. However, reality proves time and time again that a plan in itself is meaningless. Nevertheless, if the required outcomes do not materialise, we re-do the plan, or, even better, we introduce a new plan.
Currently, spatial planning is a fruitless and wasteful expenditure, as defined by the auditor-general, as it is undertaken without value or substance and does not yield any desired results or outcomes.
- As problems deepen, the gallery of cheerleaders grows
Our development challenges are well documented and known. The fact that government and especially municipalities battle with managing urbanisation and meeting the delivery demands escalate planning challenges daily.
However, as these problems grow, the number of planners who can address these challenges decreases. But as the skills base declines, the number of advisors and persons telling others what and how to do planning is rapidly growing.
- A confused and mixed up implementation environment
The role players overseeing planning and development in South Africa are the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform (DARDLR) – as custodians of spatial planning, Constitutional Development and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) being responsible for local government, and National Treasury (SANT) holding the purse strings.
The crown jewel in this somewhat confusing institutional setup is the National Department of Housing and its agencies that cut across all spheres of local planning and may prove to be the most significant contributor to unsustainable local government and dysfunctional urban structures in South Africa.
The general picture is bleak and necessitates a fundamental rethink of planning and our town and regional planning approach. Town and regional planning in South Africa is everything but sustainable and integrated.
Unfortunately, inaction may result in town and regional planning being the first profession to disappear in the twenty-first century due to irrelevance and incompetence.
- Contact details; Mobile: 083 450 0077; Email: burgert@bcga.co.za or burgert@sdsafrica.net
- Article abridged. The original can be found at https://www.bcga.co.za/town-and-regional-planning-in-south-africa-inconsequential-and-a-waste-of-money/
