Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Linking Spatial Planning and Land Use Management in the City of Cape Town: The Case of the Package of Plans

  • Published:
Urban Forum Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Spatial planning has been the subject of critique within the South African context, particularly the disconnect between the intentions of spatial plans and land use decision-making. The City of Cape Town uses a land use assessment mechanism called the Package of Plans, originally developed for the assessment of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront development, which based on the hierarchical nature of the approach, can provide a link between strategic spatial planning and land use decision-making. Although the mechanism was developed for a specific purpose over 20 years ago, it has not been reviewed within the current spatial planning and land use legislative context. The paper reviews the Package of Plans within this current context and discusses the role it can play in linking spatial planning and land use management within the Cape Town context (and perhaps elsewhere). In so doing, it raises particular questions regarding the role of the mechanism within the City of Cape Town and ways its implementation could be improved.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. A guide plan is generally a metropolitan master plan approved in terms of the Land Use Planning Ordinance (15 of 1985).

  2. A zoning scheme contains the rules and regulations governing the use of land per respective zoning category, which can be allocated to a land unit. Zoning schemes are also known by the term town planning scheme.

  3. It is the area of a floor of a building that is covered by a slab, roof or projection as governed by the zoning scheme.

  4. See chapter 4 of Harrison et al. (2008) for more information on IDPs.

  5. Financial contributions due to the City as a result of the awarding of enhanced zoning rights.

  6. Higher order public facilities are generally related to servicing a wide population of approximately 100,000 people and may include facilities such as district hospitals, regional libraries, police stations, etc.

References

  • Birkby, R. (1998). The making of Cape Town’s Victoria & Alfred waterfront: the inside story of its planning, design and creation. Cape Town: Victoria & Alfred Waterfront (Pty) Ltd.

  • Berrisford, S. (2011). Unravelling Apartheid spatial planning legislation in South Africa: a case study. Urban Forum, 22, 247–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fainstein, S. (2010). The just city. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira, S., & Visser, G. (2007). Creating an African riviera: revisiting the impact of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront development in Cape Town. Urban Forum, 18, 227–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flyvbjerg, B. (2009). Survival of the unfittest: why the worst infrastructure gets built—and what we can do about it. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 25(3), 344–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forester, J. (1991). Political judgement and learning about value in transport planning: bridging Habermas and Aristotle. In H. Thomas (Ed.), Values in planning. Avebury: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, P., Todes, A., & Watson, V. (2008). Planning and transformation: learning from the post-Apartheid experience. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Healey, P. (2010). Making better places: the planning project in the twenty-first century. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hrelja, R. (2011). The tyranny of small decisions: unsustainable cities and local day-to-day transport planning. Planning Theory & Practice, 12(4), 511–524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson, K. (2007). Managing complex spatial planning processes. Planning Theory & Practice, 8(4), 431–447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parnell, S., Pieterse, E., & Watson, V. (2009). Planning for cities in the global south: a research agenda for sustainable human settlements. Progress in Planning, 72(4), 233–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Todes, A. (2006). Urban spatial policy. In U. Pillay, R. Tomlinson, & J. DuToit (Eds.), Democracy and delivery: urban policy in South Africa. Johannesburg: HSRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Todes, A. (2008). Rethinking spatial planning. Town and Regional Planning, 53, 10–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Todes, A., Karam, A., Klug, N., & Malaza, N. (2010). Beyond master planning? New approaches to spatial planning in Ekurhuleni, South Africa. Habitat International, 34(4), 414–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, V. (2003). Conflicting rationalities: implications for planning theory and ethics. Planning Theory & Practice, 4(4), 395–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, V. (2009). ‘The planned city sweeps the poor away’: urban planning and 21st century urbanisation. Progress in Planning, 72(3), 151–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winkler, T. (2011). On the liberal moral project of planning in South Africa. Urban Forum, 22, 135–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winkler, T. (2012). Between economic efficacy and social justice: exploring the ethico-politics of planning. Cities, 29(3), 166–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work is supported by Mistra Urban Futures, a global research and knowledge centre in sustainable urban development, funded by the Swedish International Development Agenda (SIDA) and the Mistra Foundation for Strategic Development.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 16th Floor, Civic Centre, 12 Hertzog Boulevard, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa

    Lorryn Steenkamp

  2. School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, University of Cape Town, Centrelivres Building, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa

    Tanja Winkler

Authors
  1. Lorryn Steenkamp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tanja Winkler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lorryn Steenkamp.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Steenkamp, L., Winkler, T. Linking Spatial Planning and Land Use Management in the City of Cape Town: The Case of the Package of Plans. Urban Forum 25, 335–353 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-013-9216-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-013-9216-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation