Abstract
Shopping centre development in the township environment is regarded as a local
economic development (LED) tool to restructure the local economy. This approach
has been embarked upon in South Africa as a post-apartheid transformation strategy
aimed at improving access to economic activities. During the process of shopping
centre development in townships, local consumers and businesses are impacted.
The general perception in the literature is that centre development in townships
hinders the achievement of economic empowerment of the local people, especially
informal businesses. This study aimed to explore the post-development socioeconomic
perception of Kwamnyandu Shopping Centre on local consumers and
local informal businesses.
Interviews were conducted with 30 local consumers and 30 informal business
owners who had their businesses within a one-kilometre radius of the shopping
centre. The research instrument used to collect primary data was a semi-structured
questionnaire which was used to conduct face-to-face interviews. These interviews
sought to identify the perception of development of the centre on shopping patterns,
travel costs, and the percentage of shopping done at shopping centres and local
informal business.
The results showed that the socio-economic landscape of the area changed in a
positive manner for consumers and local informal businesses. Consumer
participants reported that they appreciated the improved convenience of access to
goods and services (such as banking) and saved on transport costs. Local informal
business participants perceived the Kwamnyandu Shopping Centre to be a positive
contributor to their businesses due to the increased foot traffic in the area. Consumer
participants’ shopping patterns were altered by the development of the Kwamnyandu
Shopping Centre. Outshopping decreased and in-shopping increased. Consumers
still shopped at local informal businesses. The number of local informal business
around the area was perceived to have increased.
M.Com. (Local Economic Development)