Abstract
Between the early 2000s to date, creative and cultural industries have been perceived as a
force for economic growth and a catalyst for local economic development, urban renewal, and
sustainability. Regardless of the existing ambiguity on defining creative industries, the concept
of creative industries stretched globally in the 2000s. The acceptance of creative industries
globally was stimulated by the emergence and popularisation of the concepts of the ‘creative
city’ and the ‘creative class’during the early 2000s, which launched a surge of scholarly
investigations about creative industries and their contribution to urban development. Despite the
international significance of creative industries for urban researchers, recent reviews of
research relating to Local Economic Development in South Africa only pays limited attention to
issues around creative industries. The purpose of this research is to address this important
knowledge gap in urban development studies of Johannesburg, particularly concerning the
fashion industry and its contribution to Local Economic Development.
This study has one main objective and four sub-objectives. First, to determine the extent to
which the Johannesburg Fashion District has impacted the Local Economic Development
trajectory of the Central Business District. Second, to examine the relationship between the
fashion (creative) industry, LED, urban regeneration, and sustainability. Third, to determine key
challenges and opportunities SMMEs are facing, post Covid-19. Fourth, to discuss the behavior
and stance of creative (fashion) spaces in relation to CoJ’s IDP. Lastly, to discuss how the City
of Johannesburg incorporated LED in the Fashion District. The research demonstrates that
creative industries are a significant segment of the service economy of South Africa’s most
economically important city. In terms of the structure of the creative industries economy of
Johannesburg the study points to the dominance of the segment of creative services.
Through the use of journals, questionnaires, maps, books, websites, literature, and prescribed
readings, this study provides a summary of the assessment of the contribution thereof in the
fashion industry within the City of Johannesburg. For a broader perspective, this research looks
into the status of the topic in transitional and developed countries and cities.
Research that has been conducted in the past 10 – 20 years has only incorporated developed
countries hence the need to look into LED in the fashion sector first from the African perspective
and then from a regenerative and sustainable perspective.
The research highlighted the Johannesburg Fashion District as an example of central-city space
where creative industries have been used through LED-driven urban regeneration and
sustainability to reimagine and reinvigorate a declining post-industrial fringe area of central
Johannesburg. Since the establishment of this district in the late 90s, there has been a radical
physical transformation in the area with many economic opportunities present as well as an
immense social activity.
Keywords: Local Economic Development, Creative industries, Johannesburg, regeneration,
sustainability, Fashion, District.