Spatial planning in the global South: reflections on the Cape Town Spatial Development Framework

摘要

Spatial planning has evolved from the master planning tradition into strategic forms in order to accommodate rapid urban change and anticipate environmental pressures. The strategic spatial plan is considered an essential element in providing certainty in rapidly changing urban areas while remaining implementation-focused and participatory. Debates persist, however, on the efficacy of spatial plans, particularly in the context of the global South. In South Africa these discussions focus on how spatial plans can contribute to necessary urban restructuring. This article evaluates whether such plans provide meaningful guidance in the continuous spatial unfolding of South Africa's cities, using the Cape Town Spatial Development Framework as a case study. Analysis reveals that this framework is based on contradictory conceptualisations of space which disregard the complexity of the local situation, thus impacting on its efficacy. The study indicates that for spatial planning to be more efficient in this context, plans need to refocus on the reality of a city's spatial evolution and move away from reliance on an end-state ideal.