Showing papers by "Christian M. Rogerson published in 2016"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors highlighted that South Africa is one of the most vulnerable parts of the world in terms of projected climate change and that climate change is a major factor impacting upon local economic development futures.
Abstract: Climate change is a major factor impacting upon local economic development futures. South Africa is one of the most vulnerable parts of the world in terms of projected climate change. This article ...
55 citations
TL;DR: Local economic development is one of the key development strategies pursued by localities in South Africa as discussed by the authors, and it is a core local government mandate and one which is notionally defined by the South African Constitution.
Abstract: Local economic development is one of the key development strategies pursued by localities in South Africa. Local economic development is a core local government mandate and one which is notionally ...
47 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse planning and policy issues around the state and the informal economy in Harare, Zimbabwe and show that state responses to informality vacillate between actions of frontal aggression and of unleashing bouts of forced evictions to repressive tolerance within which formalization is increasingly promoted as a means of extracting revenue flows from already economically hard-pressed informal entrepreneurs.
Abstract: Informality is one of the major challenges facing urban policy makers across sub-Saharan Africa. Responses to informality can be viewed along a continuum from violent repression and sustained evictions to inclusive and supportive policies. Using the example of street trading, the task in this paper is to analyse planning and policy issues around the state and the informal economy in Harare, Zimbabwe. In the experience of Harare, the pursuit of targeted actions for inclusive planning designed to support communities of growing informal entrepreneurs is not on the agenda of policy makers. The historical and contemporary directions of policy responses occurring in Harare suggest an unpromising future for their city’s informal entrepreneurs. It is shown that state responses to informality vacillate between actions of frontal aggression and of unleashing bouts of forced evictions to repressive tolerance within which formalisation is increasingly promoted as a means of extracting revenue flows from already economically hard-pressed informal entrepreneurs.
46 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the issues around inclusive tourism development in South Africa through a locality study, focusing on the small town of Dullstroom which has experienced considerable tourism growth over the past decades as a consequence of its rich tourism products of fly-fishing, agritourism and second homes tourism.
Abstract: Growing international debates surround the notion of inclusive tourism development. The objective in this paper is to examine the issues around inclusive tourism development in South Africa through a locality study. The analysis focuses on the small town of Dullstroom which has experienced considerable tourism growth over the past decades as a consequence of its rich tourism products of fly-fishing, agritourism and second homes tourism. Findings are reported from qualitative interviews with black (African) employees of tourism establishments in Dullstroom. The results reveal tourism development in Dullstroom provides a range of positive economic and social benefits for local residents and that this small town exhibits evidence of an inclusive trajectory of tourism development.
45 citations
TL;DR: Heritage tourism is an increasingly popular form of tourism across many destinations globally as discussed by the authors, and Maximising the opportunities from heritage tourism is a critical policy issue in the global South. Aga...
Abstract: Heritage tourism is an increasingly popular form of tourism across many destinations globally. Maximising the opportunities from heritage tourism is a critical policy issue in the global South. Aga...
34 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors unravel the shifting trajectories and reframing of national government policy towards the informal economy in South Africa since the 1994 democratic transition and reveal that, notwithstanding a rhetoric of support for the informal sector as part of small, medium and micro-enterprise (SMME) policy, a national policy framework for supporting the informal ecosystem was initiated only in 2012, and the most controversial aspects of the new policy framework surround initiatives introduced in proposals to improve the regulatory environment for local informal entrepreneurs.
Abstract: In common with much of the global South, the policy environment in South Africa surrounding the informal economy is highly significant for local development futures. The objective in this paper is to unravel the shifting trajectories and reframing of national government policy towards the informal economy in South Africa since the 1994 democratic transition. It is disclosed that, notwithstanding a rhetoric of support for the informal economy as part of small, medium and micro-enterprise (SMME) policy, a national policy framework for supporting the informal economy in South Africa was initiated only in 2012. A pro-development narrative is provided in national policy documents and is accompanied by the progressive roll out of support interventions seeking to address certain of the key challenges of informal entrepreneurs. The most controversial aspects of the new policy framework surround initiatives introduced in proposals to ‘improve the regulatory environment’ for local informal entrepreneurs. What exist...
34 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated tourism innovation in the Western Cape region of South Africa and revealed that innovation by tourism firms is widespread, albeit is largely incremental in nature, and provided recommendations regarding measurement of innovation in tourism.
Abstract: A research gap exists for the conceptual strengthening, measurement and analysis of innovation at the tourism firm and systems levels, especially in the context of the global South. This paper investigates tourism innovation in the Western Cape region of South Africa. In particular, the nature and types of innovation by tourism firms and system actors are interrogated. It is revealed that innovation by tourism firms is widespread, albeit is largely incremental in nature. The main contribution of this research is the development of an expanded evidence-based tourism innovation typology from a cross-sectoral survey of tourism firms and qualitative interviews undertaken with tourism system actors. In addition, recommendations are provided regarding measurement of innovation in tourism. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
31 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the geography of tourism innovation in the Western Cape, South Africa and reveal that the main tourist regions in the western Cape are also the most innovative.
Abstract: This paper interrogates the geography of tourism innovation in the Western Cape, South Africa. In particular, innovations by tourism firms are mapped and local tourism innovation networks are analysed. Networking behaviour is examined since it is regarded as indispensable for accessing knowledge and learning for innovation purposes. The analysis draws on a broader investigation of tourism innovation and networking within the Western Cape province. It is revealed that the main tourist regions in the Western Cape are also the most innovative. Whilst external networking relations are observed to be highly significant for tourism innovation, local embeddedness remains critical for stimulating path creation and exploiting local core competencies for the competitiveness and survival of tourism firms and destinations.
27 citations
TL;DR: As an economic manifestation of informality the activity of street trading is widespread across many countries of the global South as discussed by the authors. In particular, cities of sub-Saharan Africa are characterised by...
Abstract: As an economic manifestation of informality the activity of street trading is widespread across many countries of the global South. In particular, cities of sub-Saharan Africa are characterised by ...
27 citations
TL;DR: Alongside national government interventions designed to target spatial inequalities, there are Local Economic Development policy...South Africa's distressed areas are the country's spaces of despair as discussed by the authors, and there are local economic development policy...
Abstract: South Africa’s distressed areas are the country’s spaces of despair. Alongside national government interventions designed to target spatial inequalities, there are Local Economic Development policy...
26 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a new strategy document intended to inform the Department of Science and Technology's involvement in the policy space of local economic development (LED) with the mandate of strengthening local systems of innovation and production in a systemic and systematic manner.
Abstract: Recently, innovation has become a critical parameter for contemporary regional and local development policy in the global North. In South African debates about regional and local development policy issues of innovation rarely are discussed and the country’s most recent policy documents and frameworks around local economic development (LED) make no mention or acknowledgement of issues around innovation. This disconnect between South Africa’s national innovation policies and those around regional and local development planning is under review as the country’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) with responsibility for innovation policy in the country, released a new strategy document intended to inform the DST’s involvement in the policy space of LED with the mandate of strengthening local systems of innovation and production in a systemic and systematic manner. It is argued that in terms of LED policy and practice across the global South this South African policy document represents a potential benc...
TL;DR: The authors examines South Africa's recent re-engagement in spatial economic development, focusing on the economic disparities persisting to the present day, and examines the recent reengagement of South Africa.
Abstract: Uneven geographical development is deeply entrenched in South Africa with apartheid era spatial economic disparities persisting to the present day. This paper examines South Africa’s recent re-enga...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that there has been a renewed emphasis upon the region as the locus for economic, social and political action and the roles of institutions in local and regional development.
Abstract: Local and regional development trajectories across the global north and south exhibit both convergent and divergent tendencies (Barca et al., 2012; Nel and Rogerson, 2009; Pike et al., 2014; Reddy and Wallis, 2012; Rogerson and Rogerson, 2010). One of the distinctive features of SouthAfrica’s development pathway in the post-apartheid era has been the reinvigorated embrace of regional and local development policy and interventions. This characteristic exemplifies the broader argument internationally that there has been ‘renewed emphasis upon the region as the locus for economic, social and political action and the roles of institutions in local and regional development’ (Pike et al., 2006: 130). Spatially based economic interventions have had a long and contested history in South Africa where support for marketbased interventions have sat uncomfortably alongside the direct pursuit of political objectives and of attempts to use economic support measures to achieve social and political outcomes. After Second World War and until the democratic transition of the early 1990s, Keynesian state thinking was used to justify the apartheid’s states efforts to divide and separately develop and economically support different parts of the country and different areas within cities on racially segregated lines. Parallel efforts included import-substituting industrialisation and a growth point strategy targeted to both develop the country’s peripheral areas and to offer national economic development opportunities for the racial reserves which had been established (Bell, 1987; Nel, 1999; Tomlinson and Addleson, 1987; Wellings and Black, 1986a, 1986b). After the 1994 political transition, there was an initial reluctance to engage in spatial interventions which were seen as being tainted by associations with apartheid planning (Oranje, 2010). Nevertheless, a number of spatially targeted interventions were applied
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, a broader study of tourism innovation in the Western Cape, South Africa, is examined, and the authors point out that tourism entities, private, public and non-profit alike, need to innovate in order to be competitive from an economic perspective as well as implement environmentally and socially responsible practices, and impact on environmental and social change.
Abstract: Responsible tourism incorporates economic, environmental and social imperatives in keeping with sustainable tourism notions. It can be argued that tourism entities, private, public and non-profit alike, need to innovate in order to be competitive from an economic perspective as well as implement environmentally and socially responsible practices, and impact on environmental and social change. This article proposes that responsible tourism can provide a framework for conceptualising and cultivating tourism innovation in the light of sustainability debates. Based on a broader study of tourism innovation in the Western Cape, South Africa, innovation relating to economic, environmental and social practices is examined. The findings point to the widespread implementation of both innovation and environmental practices by tourism enterprises. In addition, social and structural innovations are identified as innovation types which have a particular bearing on responsible tourism. It is argued that local policy initiatives are needed to strengthen innovation for responsible business practices in tourism and thereby to enhance environmental and social change on a larger scale. Overall, the results of this cross-sectoral investigation contribute to discourses on environmental innovation in tourism by identifying it as a prevalent type of tourism innovation which comprises multiple environmentally-friendly practices.