Land-Use Management to Support Sustainable Settlements in South Africa

Verna Nel is a Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of the Free State, South Africa. She had extensive experience in local government, including as Chief Town Planner in the Centurion Town Council and the City of Tshwane’s City Planning Function, before joining the university. She has published on spatial governance, urban resilience, secondary cities, and the impacts of mining on communities. She is a consultant on land use management.Stuart Paul Denoon-Stevens has a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning and is Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University (UK). Initially working as a planner in development control, since 2015 he has been working as an academic, conducting research on topics such as development control, housing, spatial planning for mining towns, and planning practice and education. He has been involved in high-level policy and legislative work relating to planning legislation and spatial planning in South Africa and has previously co-led a major NRF-ESRC project focused on planning education and practice in South Africa.

• 1. IntroductionChange requiredLand use managementArgument for changeChanging valuesDemocracy in South AfricaLocal government transitionComplexity and general resilienceStructure of the book2. Evolution of land use managementEarly rules and generative codesRegulation based on zoning codesFirst zoning controls: France, 1810German approachSpread of zoningBrief overview of the evolution of land use management in South AfricaEarly beginningsInfluence of the discovery of diamonds and goldFirst provincial planning legislationPlanning legislation 1900–1994Situation prior to 19941994–2013: From development control to land use managementDevelopment Facilitation Act, 1995Draft Green Paper2001 White Paper on Spatial Planning and Land Use ManagementLand use management bills, draft provincial legislation and SPLUMACurrent land use management system3. Planning theory and its applicability to the Global SouthIntroductionProcedural Northern planning theoriesModernism and planningCollaborative and communicative planningCritical Northern theoriesMarxism, power, and planningDiffusion of powerSocial justice and inclusionSpatial theories: Smart growth, new urbanism, transit-oriented development, and liveabilitySustainabilityNorthern theories in an African contextTowards theories for planning in AfricaSustainabilityTactical urbanismInformalityInformal settlementsInformality and livelihoodsComplexityConclusion4. Why the current system is inadequate for the South African contextIntroductionProblems of African land use managementInequality and exclusionOverview of the inadequacies of the current systemTraditional areasLack of recognition of African culturesUrban areasInformal livelihoodsInformal settlementsBackyard dwellingsSprawling, poor quality, and unsustainable urban formControl-orientatedCausesPower, politics, and corruptionConflicting and competing rationalitiesCustomary land tenure and contested leadershipCapacity, bureaucracy, and the aspirations’ mismatch5. Principles and options for a land use management system to support sustainable and equitable settlementsIntroductionPrinciplesAcknowledge and work with changeLand use regulations can changeRegenerative sustainabilitySocial justice and inclusionEconomic development and livelihoodsContext mattersOther land use management systemsRestrictive conditions and covenants in title deedsPlan-based controlsSite development plansForm-based codesPerformance standardsNomocracyBasket of rightsDiscretionary systemConclusion6. A Southern approach to sustainable land use managementSimplifying the systemCurrent systemOptions to simplify the systemRural regionsNatural areasCommercial farming areasTraditional rural areasUrban spacesSmall townsPeri-urban regionsTownshipsInformal settlementsSuburbiaCentral areasSpecial areasIndustrialRenewable energyMining7. ConclusionGlossary