Abstract
The concept of a ‘smart city’ revolves around the innovative use of information and communication technologies to enhance residents’ quality of life, urban operations, service efficiency, and competitiveness while ensuring that current needs are met without compromising natural resources for future generations. The smart city concept gained popularity across South Africa as a response to increasing urbanisation, the challenges of apartheid spatial planning, and other socio-economic issues such as unemployment, inequality, and poverty.
Local economic development (LED) initiatives, such as the Lanseria Smart City project, which is one of its kind in South Africa, seek to address the Mogale City Local Municipality’s population growth and socio-economic challenges. This study assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the Smart, Sustainable City project in Lanseria, South Africa. It utilises a qualitative research approach to explore the intricate nature of LED in realising a smart, sustainable city.
Findings indicate that the project has not been directly responsible for any significant regional developments. Instead, the private sector predominantly drives progress in the Lanseria region. Furthermore, the project lacks a clear and defined execution strategy. Nevertheless, principles of inclusivity are incorporated through various urban design strategies adopted by the four municipalities involved in the project: Mogale City Local Municipality (MCLM), the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), and the City of Tshwane (COT). The Lanseria Smart City (LSC) project is situated in an environmentally sensitive area, making sustainable development a top priority, with the need to mitigate environmental risks. A critical component of the project is the completion of the wastewater treatment plant, which will ensure that environmental risks are addressed, and that wastewater is managed properly. This treatment plant is vital infrastructure for the LSC, enabling the development of this smart city while preserving the natural ecosystems of the LSC node and adhering to environmental regulations.
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Challenges hindering the successful implementation of the LSC project were identified and categorised into five groups: governance and institutional issues, socio-economic challenges, environmental considerations, skills and competency deficits, and technological challenges. The governance and institutional issues represented 44 per cent of the identified challenges. Central to these governance and institutional challenges are the problems arising from the LSC project lacking coordination and alignment across all levels of government and among the four municipalities (CoJ, MCLM, Madibeng, and CoT) involved. The collaboration of four municipalities on a single project without a defined leader has led to uncoordinated plans due to conflicting planning boundaries and difficulties in delineating responsibilities. Moreover, municipalities operate in silos with no unified development strategy, complicating the execution of an integrated development plan, disrupting potential synergies, and hindering cohesive developments within the node.
Thirty-three per cent of the identified challenges were categorised under the socio-economic category. The most significant challenges in this category include the need for bulk infrastructure, funding and resources, dependence on the private sector, rising inequality, unemployment, and a lack of community engagement.
Environmental issues accounted for 9 per cent of the identified challenges. These challenges encompassed matters relating to land ownership, agricultural land zoning, strict biodiversity protections, and the environmental sensitivity of the LSC node. Only three issues were noted under the skills and competency category: communities lacking relevant skills, insufficient skills development programmes, and municipalities employing unqualified individuals. Technological challenges made up only 7 per cent of the identified challenges and are interconnected with governance and socio-economic categories. These challenges included the absence of relevant digital infrastructure and funding for digital technologies.