Regional Spatial Development Framework for Mossel Bay Municipality

• Main Author: Vorsatz, Wesley
• Other Authors: Watson, Vanessa
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2014
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7513

Undertaking a regional planning exercise to guide the development of a region in the global South has become an increasingly important ask in light of the challenges that the regions in the developing world face in the twenty-first century. Regions in the global South need to suitably adapt to a plethora of challenges such as globalised economy, rapid growing population and impacts of climate change in order for the inhabitants of regions to prosper. This dissertation therefore aims to guide the development of the Mossel Bay Municipality in the Western Cape Province of South Africa to improve the spatial form, functioning and performance of the municipality that will benefit all people in the municipality by the year 2040. The regional spatial development of the municipality is based on a set of normative values and principles which include social justice, environmental sustainability and human development. It guides the development of the municipality through adopting a spatial targeting approach to the municipalitys development whereby most future public and private investment is directed to the main town of Mossel Bay which is home to the majority of the municipalities economic activity, population and infrastructural elements. The spatial targeting approach is selected based on the findings of a literature review of regional planning, the analysis of the environmental and humans settlement systems of the municipality and legislative context which the municipality operates under. The desired spatial form of Mossel Bay Municipality is then spatialised in three separate frameworks namely the environmental management framework, economic development framework and the settlement and services framework and collectively the three frameworks forms the regional spatial development framework of the Mossel Bay Municipality. The strategies formulated in each framework are firstly, formulated to achieve the vision of the municipality by the year 2040 and secondly in response to spatial opportunities and constraints that currently exists in the municipality. Through these strategies the regional spatial development framework aims to turn Mossel Bay Municipality into a socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically viable region.