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The "bottom-up" approach to M en ... should d o their actual living and working in communities ... small en ough to perm it Local Economic Development (LED) genuine self-government and the assumption of personal In small towns: a South African responsibilities, federated into larger units in such a way that the case study of Orania and Philippolis temptation to abuse great power should not arise. The larger (structurally) a democracy grows, J.J. Steyn the less b e co m es the rule o f the people and the smaller is the say of individuals and localized Submitted to Town and Regional Planning, November 2004; groups in dealing with their own revised January 2005. destinies Gandhi Abstract o understand what is happening While global forces are playing a bigger role in the world economy, the real changes in small towns as far as Local tend to occur at local level. Local Economic Development (LED) is regarded by many TEconomic Development in the - including the South African government - as a means to facilitate the bottom-up Free State is concerned, it is approach in regional development. In two small towns along the Orange River, necessary to approach it from a Philippolis and Orania, local economic development was implemented in different global to a Local perspective to view ways. In Philippolis, it was mostly brought about by government investment, and help what influences econom ic policies from outside was the driving force. Here, money and ideas were offered to a and the local situation. Thereafter the community with a high level of unemployment. Some projects were abandoned or situation in O rania a n d P hilippolis will discontinued because of a lack of managerial skills or funds, or merely as a result of be addressed as the "bottom-up" certain petty local issues. In Orania, highly-skilled people initiated projects, funded them with their own money and were personally responsible for making these projects approach to development is imple­ work. Lessons from these towns show that economic development cannot originate mented differently in these two towns. from the outside alone, but that people with experience and the willingness to shoulder 1. GLOBAL INFLUENCES responsibility are needed in order to bring about such development. Three big changes that influenced 'N "BOTTOM-UP"-BENADERING TOT PLAASLIKE EKONOMIESE planning took place in the world ONTWIKKELING (PEO) IN KLEINER DORPE: 'N SUID-AFRIKAANSE during the second half of the GEVALLESTUDIE VAN ORANIA EN PHILIPPOLIS twentieth century. The first was the ) “systems revolution". It started off with . Hoewel die wereld ekonomie deur globale kragte bel'nvloed word is dit verandering op 2 the "babyboom" and the postwar 1 plaaslike vlak wat mense se lewens direk raak. Plaaslike Ekonomiese Ontwikkeling word 0 deur baie, ook die Suid-Afrikaanse regering gesien as 'n hulpmiddel om van econom ic growth. This, together with 2 voetsoolvlak af streekontwikkeling te stimuleer. In twee kleiner dorpe langs die the development of spatial d e Oranjerivier naamlik Philippolis en Orania het plaaslike ekonomiese ontwikkeling interaction models whereby t a verskillende vorme aangeneem. In Philippolis is dit hoofsaaklik deur regeringslnstansies information such as location theory, d of hulp van buite verkry. Geld en idees van buite is gebruik om werksgeleendhede te ( transportation planning, land use r skep. Sommige projekte het in duie gestort of is weens 'n gebrek aan planning and any other data could e bestuursvaardighede of fondse of kleinlike plaaslike politiek beeindig. In Orania het h be fed into made planning an s hoogs gekwalifiseerde persone projekte geloods, daarvoor betaal met hul eie geld en i l was hulself verantwoordelik om dit te maak werk. Lesse wat uit die twee gevallestudies academ ic disciplince. In a short b u geleer kan word is dat ekonomiese ontwikkeling nie net van buite kom nie maar dat tim e P mense met ondervinding, die bereidheid om hul verantwoordelikheid op te neem e the discipline of physical planning nodig is om ontwikkeling te laat slaag. h ch a n g e d m ore in th e 10 years t from 1960 to 1970, than in the y b LEANO LA HO GALA NTLAFATSO FATSHE, NTLAFATSONG YA MORUO WA previous 100, possibly even 1000 d LEHAE (LED), DITOROPONG TSE NYANE: DIKETSAHALO MABAPI LE LEANO years. The subject changed from e t LENA NAHENG YA AFRIKA BORWA TOROPONG YA ORANIA LE PHILIPPOLIS a kind of craft, based on personal n knowledge of a rudimentary a r Leha Lefatshe le leka ka matla ho tlisa diphetoho moruong wa Iona, diphetoho tse collection of concepts about the g kholohadi di bonahala moruong wa lehae (Masepala). Ntlafatso ya moruo wa lehae city, into an apparently scientific e c (LED) e bonwa ke batho ba bangata ho kenyeletswa le puso ya Afrika Borwa, ele activity in which vast amounts of n e mokgwa wa ho thusa leano la ho qala ntlafatso fatshe, ntlafatsong ya sedika. Leano precise information were c i garnered and processed in such l lena la ntlafatso ya tsa moruo wa lehae (Masepala), le He la sebeliswa ditoropong tsa a way that the planner could r Orange River (Philippolis le Orania) ka mekgwa e fapaneng. Toropong ya Philippolis e devise very sensitive systems of d leano lena leile la phetiswa ke mmuso le ka dithuso tse tswang kantle ho naha. guidance and control, the effects n Ditjhelete le dikeletso di ile tsa fuwa setjhaba se nang le maemo a hodimo a tlhokeho u y ya mesebetsi. Diporojeke di ile tsa emiswa le ho tlohellwa ka lebaka la ho hlokeha ha a tsamaiso e nepahetseng ea ditjhelete le mabaka a mang a se lehae. Ha toropong Philippolis was chosen because the Free w e ea Orania teng, diporojete diile tsa qalwa ke batho banang le boitsebelo bo boholo State University is involved in a community t service programme in Philippolis and the a ho tsa diporojete, mme ba diqala ka dichelete tsa bona. Tsamaiso yohle ya town is well known to the author. Orania is G diporojeke ene e etswa ke bona. Seo motho a ka ithutang sona ditoropong tsena tse located just as isolated ds Philippolis but is a t e pedi, ke hore ntlafatso ya moruo ha etswe kantle feela empa e hloka batho banang good example of a self-reliant bottom-up n development. i le boitsebelo ba bileng ba ikemeseditseng honka boikarabello. b a S Professor JJ Steyn, Chairmon, Department of Town ond Regional Plonning, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein. Email: <[email protected]>. y b d e c 55 u d o r p e R SSB/TRP/MDM 2004(47) of which could be monitored and These influences had the affect that th e British s e g re g a te d th e m se lve s in if necessary modified" in a free market global world a manner that, "the Europeans would (Hall, 1990:327), serviced by information technology get the best.......the Indians the next the role of the state had diminished best, the Africans anything that was left". The second was the need for public as far as rural developm ent is participation. It was the human After the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), concerned, it is markets that dictate reaction to the physical interventions the depression (1929) and drought development and not the state. The into their environment. The (1932/33) 300 000 mostly influence of Reagen and Thatcher weakening of the social fabric of impoverished Afrikaners (the so on the acceptance of a neo-liberal communities that led to urban called “armblankes") led the second world econom y is evident even in unrest, increase in crime and urbanisation drive of the Afrikaners to South Africa. They have an ANC- vandalism and general the towns and cities (Van Jaarsveld, government that is a coalition of the dissatisfaction. Hall (1989:280) 1982:120). African National Congress (ANC), the describes this period in America: South African Communist Party and Urbanisation of blacks took different By the end of the 1960s, all was the Congress of South African Trade p a th s b u t it w as a slow pro ce ss in cha nged . The civil rights Unions (COSATU). This grouping the 19th century, because of their movement had been followed by comes from a socialist background self-sufficiency. At first hut tax was the fre e speech movement; the imposed by the British to get black riots had torn through the newly who all endorsed the Freedom workers to work on farms and in renewed cities, revealing just how Charter, but it was the ANC- little the process had done for the government who signed the World town, but in Natal this did not underclass; opposition to Trade agreements like the General succeed, thus they brought in the Vietnam, and with it the whole Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Indians in 1860 (Smit & Booysens, Pentagon style of planning, was (GATT) and whose econom ic policy is 1981:13). The discovery of at its peak. Almost every value following the structural adjustments diamonds, gold and other minerals that planners had cherished was required by the World Bank and the led to an influx of Europeans to the now stood on its head. Instead of new mine towns while black workers a belief in top-down planning by International Monetary Fund. value-free experts, there was now had to be recruited, regulated and Globalisation, just as urbanisation, is a deep distrust of professional housed by the mine houses, thus a expertise and a demand for a reality that has to be taken into capitalist intervention into their lives.

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