Abstract
The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the role of urban regeneration in promoting community development in a South African metropolitan municipality. Urban regeneration is aimed at tackling the issue of modern decay and is a practice undertaken by local governments across the world. This practice has been adopted by various metropolitan municipalities in South Africa, including the City of Johannesburg, the City of Cape Town, and the City of eThekwini (Durban). These metropolitan municipalities have implemented policies to guide their implementation of urban regeneration. The pillars of urban regeneration are both economic and social; however, the main goal is to revitalise the economic value of an urban area. This study set out to answer the following question: what is the role of urban regeneration in improving community development in a metropolitan municipality?
South African metropolitan municipalities have a long history of implementing urban-regeneration programmes – for example, this study has found that the City of Johannesburg has been implementing urban-regeneration programmes since the 1980s.
Community development entails the use of various governmental programmes and tools to improve the living conditions of communities. Governments across the world are responsible for providing quality services to their citizens, and urban regeneration can be used as a tool to revitalise the economy, social life, and infrastructures of a community.
The study focused on the three largest metropolitan municipalities in South Africa. These cities focus their urban-regeneration programmes on the inner cities, also known as the Central Business Districts (CBDs).
The methodology used in this study was a desktop method, which involved the perusal of a wide range of literature and official documents to conceptualise the topic at hand. The data-collection method included different sources such as books, articles, government documents (including the Constitution, the IDP, White Papers, and policy and regulatory documents), government websites, United Nations websites, and data provided by other international organisational bodies like the World Bank. These documents were used not only to conceptualise the topic, but also to describe, explore, and explain it. The approach used in the study was qualitative and included specific
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dimensions of unobtrusive research techniques to eliminate bias and to promote conceptual and contextual analyses.
Finally, the study found that urban regeneration and community development work in conjunction. Urban regeneration is under the power and authority of the local governments – as the sphere closest to the people, they can provide efficient and effective services to the different communities. The study has found that, there is no specific policy dedicated to community development and urban regeneration in South Africa. The PESTEL method was used as an analytical framework to identify the variables influencing urban regeneration and community development in metropolitan municipalities. The following variables were identified: the lack of economic growth, high rates of corruption, political infighting in the ruling party, high rates of unemployment, and sustainable development.
Key words: Community development; urban regeneration; metropolitan municipality; and good governance.