Tshepo C Chabalala-Maswanganye

The main focus of this essay is to tackle the international debate that has emerged on spatially unequal economic development of South Africa. The debate sought to outline two perspectives; international and South African context. The debate is about space-neutral policies and place-based policies in relation to South Africa on Local and Regional Economic Development models. In preparing this essay, World Bank as a proponent of space-neutral policies will be a focus literature to unpack the paradigm alteration in regional policy in the context of South Africa and internationally.

Planning has evolved throughout different eras in different forms, initially as informal planning and then throughout the ages, planning had been formalized and scripts have been written by different scholars and preserved as theories. The main focus of this essay is to tackle the problems associated with utopian planning and what has been done to address these issues. Ebenezer Howard and Charles-Edouard Jeanerette-Gris who was best known as Le Corbusier will be the main focus in developing the main argument within this essay. The main argument is that, modernism led to the development of the planning profession through utopian planning. The argument will be substantiated by theorists such as Fredric Engels, Ebenezer Howard, Le Corbusier, Jane Jacobs, Kevin Lynch and Natrasony and Alexander. Values of paternalistic grand visions in planning will be examined. The essay will integrate justice, public interest participation and the role of the expect planner. The essay will then focus on the South African context, and explained through the use of legislation.