Regional development in South Africa’s West Coast: 'dividends on the process side'?

Bek, David; Binns, Tony; Nel, Etienne L

Title: Regional development in South Africa’s West Coast: 'dividends on the process side'?
Creator: Bek, David
Creator: Binns, Tony
Creator: Nel, Etienne L
Date Issued: 2005
Date: 2005
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6674
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006648
Description: Academics, policy-makers and consultants have been increasingly focusing upon the 'region' as the crucible of economic development. This regionalist approach places institutions at the centre of the process of stimulating growth. Much debate has been ongoing in academic circles, particularly those inhabited by economic geographers, about the veracity of the regionalist approach and the explanatory power of the terminology associated with it. This paper analyses explicit efforts to engender regional economic development in the West Coast of South Africa. Our empirical evaluation indicates that policy actors have sought to upgrade the institutional infrastructure of the region and that some significant achievements are evident within this realm. However, these achievements are yet to be associated with sustained regional economic takeoff. The paper concludes by asking searching questions about the ability of the regionalist approach to deliver meaningful socio-economic transformation.
Format: 13 pages
Format: pdf
Language: English
Relation: Bek, D. and Binns, T. and Nel, E.L. (2005) Regional development in South Africa’s West Coast: 'dividends on the process side'? Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 96 (2). pp. 168-183. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9663.2005.00448.x

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Nel, Etienne L (Prof)

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