Regional Policy in the Southern African Development Community

Drewes, J. Ernst (Ed.); van Aswegen, Mariske (Ed.) Book Regional Policy in the Southern African Development Community Routledge Advances in Regional Economics, Science and Policy Provided in Cooperation with: Taylor & Francis Group Suggested Citation: Drewes, J. Ernst (Ed.); van Aswegen, Mariske (Ed.) (2024) : Regional Policy in the Southern African Development Community, Routledge Advances in Regional Economics, Science and Policy, ISBN 9781003379379, Routledge, London, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003379379 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/290440 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your personal and scholarly purposes. You are not to copy documents for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. If the documents have been made available under an Open Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This book analyses regional development policy or the lack thereof in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which forms a key trading bloc on the African continent as well as the Global South. It explores the main attributes relevant to the formulation of regional policy in terms of socio-economic policies as well as spatial planning instruments. Further, it integrates macro and sectoral policy frameworks and applies the goals and objectives thereof practically through the appropriate and timely application of spatial targeting instruments within the SADC as a developing region. The focus of the research is to reflect on the social, economic, environmental, and political arguments through a focused analysis of relevant planning instruments, policies, and barriers in terms of the regional policy goals for the SADC region. The book provides insight into the role of the SADC in the context of regional development, analyses regional policy on a national, regional, and continental scale with reference to the SADC, and evaluates the inherent potential in the regional economy as well as barriers to regional development. It identifies gaps in the existing regional policy framework of the region and its constituent members and makes recommendations for improved regional policy frameworks and their implementation. The book is targeted at scholars, researchers, and students studying international trade as well as regional and economic development, and urban and regional planning and policy. It will also be a useful resource for policymakers, as it provides practical policy guidelines for improved regional planning towards a comprehensive regional policy framework. J. Ernst Drewes is a full Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at NorthWest University, Potchefstroom, South Africa. Mariske van Aswegen is a Senior Lecturer in the Unit for Environmental Science and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa. Regional Policy in the Southern African Development Community Routledge Advances in Regional Economics, Science and Policy The Rural to Urban Transition in Developing Countries Urbanisation and Peri-Urban Land Markets Amrutha Mary Varkey Urban Heritage in Europe Economic and Social Revival Edited by Gábor Sonkoly Homes at Work Urban Informality and Recognition in Latin America and Africa María Carrizosa Regional Development and Forgotten Spaces Global Policy Experiences and Implications Edited by María del Carmen Sánchez-Carreira, Paulo Jorge Reis Mourão and Bruno Blanco-Varela European Regional Policy and Development Forgotten Regions and Spaces Edited by María del Carmen Sánchez-Carreira, Paulo Jorge Reis Mourão and Bruno Blanco-Varela Smart Cities in Europe and Asia Urban Planning and Management for a Sustainable Future Edited by Prana Krishna Biswas and Robert Dygas Sustainable Regional Development Revitalizing Regions Through Innovation Michael P. Clair Governance and Leadership in Shrinking Cities Strategies for Managing Urban Decline Edited by Stanisław Mazur Regional Policy in the Southern African Development Community Edited by J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen For more information about this series, please visit: www .routledge .com /series /RAIRESP Regional Policy in the Southern African Development Community Edited by J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen First published 2024 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2024 selection and editorial matter, J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen; individual chapters, the contributors The right of J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Open Access version of this book, available at www .taylorfrancis .com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Drewes, J. Ernst, editor. | Van Aswegen, Mariske, editor. Title: Regional policy in the Southern African development community/ edited by J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen. Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2024. | Series: Routledge advances in regional economics, science and policy | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2023054497 (print) | LCCN 2023054498 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032459424 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032459431 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003379379 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Regional planning–Africa, Southern. | Economic development–Africa, Southern. | Africa, Southern–Economic policy. Classification: LCC HT395.A356 R44 2024 (print) | LCC HT395.A356 (ebook) | DDC 338.968–dc23/eng/20231226 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023054497 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023054498 ISBN: 978-1-032-45942-4 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-45943-1 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-37937-9 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003379379 Typeset in Sabon by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India List of figures vii List of tables viii About the editors x List of contributors xi 1 Introduction 1 J. ERNST DREWES AND MARISKE VAN ASWEGEN PART 1 Policy perspectives 13 2 Regional policy in the AU and SADC 15 J. ERNST DREWES AND MARISKE VAN ASWEGEN 3 Understanding the role and potential of the peripheral region 32 MARISKE VAN ASWEGEN AND J. ERNST DREWES 4 Implications of subnational regional development policy for the Southern African Development Community 56 ERIC YANKSON PART 2 Structural perspectives 77 5 Corridors as spatial instruments to channel and focus economic development: Science versus politics 79 ANDRÈ BRAND Contents vi Contents 6 SADC’s settlement hierarchy and networks in support of crossborder regional development 99 JOHAN MARITZ, ALIZE LE ROUX AND ELSONA VAN HUYSSTEEN 7 The role of infrastructure in regional trade in the SADC region 123 VERENA TANDRAYEN–RAGOOBUR PART 3 Future perspective 145 8 Influence of location on the competitiveness of SADC industries 147 EWERT P.J. KLEYNHANS AND GABRIELMHONYERA 9 The road less travelled: Exploring the untapped potential of intra-regional trade in the SADC 166 ERMIE STEENKAMP AND LORAINNE FERREIRA 10 Regional integration and industrialisation in the SADC: A comparative analysis of developing regions 192 OCKERT R. PRETORIUS 11 Artisanal mining in the SADC region: Lessons learned from the Kimberley artisanal mining case on formalisation 216 MICHELLE L.M. GOLIATH AND MALÉNE CAMPBELL PART 4 Future perspective 243 12 A regional policy approach for the SADC 245 MARISKE VAN ASWEGEN AND J. ERNST DREWES Index 255 1.1 The 16 member states of the Southern African Development Community 2 3.1 Core-periphery interdependence 36 3 2 SADC in terms of the systems view 42 5.1 The chronological development process of corridors 83 5.2 Durban–Free State–Gauteng corridor 91 5.3 Southern Economic Corridor traversing between Thailand and Cambodia 92 6.1 Forecasts for the growth of urban dwellers in SADC 102 6.2 Regional-rural development model 111 6.3a SADC (Africa) settlement landscape(a) and largest growing settlements 2000–2015(b) 113 6.3b SADC (Africa) settlement landscape(a) and largest growing settlements 2000–2015(b) 114 6.4 Settlement typology for the Africa SADC region (not including island nations) 117 6.5 Main population centres based on hotspot analysis 118 8.1 FDI inflows in SADC from 2011 to 2021 152 9.1 Research process flow 172 9.2 Sector distribution of untapped regional trade opportunities in the SADC, based on untapped potential export values 180 9.3 Sector distribution of untapped regional trade opportunities in the SADC (based on the number of untapped export opportunities) 181 9.4 Untapped trade opportunities for men’s jackets between SADC countries 186 9.5 Illustration of all untapped, value-add trade opportunities in the SADC 188 10.1 SADC ranking in industrialisation variables 199 10.2 SADC ranking in regional integration variables 201 11.1 SADC status of employment in ASM 225 11.2 Study area with formal and informal mining areas 226 11.3 Measurement of mining subtypes in ASM case 2016 to 2020 228 11.4 Foreign and local labour per year 2016 to 2021 229 11.5 Mobility during the formalisation process 230 12.1 Proposed SADC-RDA 252 Figures 2 J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen Introduction 1.2 Setting the scene The SADC is a Regional Economic Community (REC) comprising 16 member countries (Angola, Botswana, the Union of Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe; see Figure 1.1). The SADC bloc’s collective aim is to achieve development, peace and security, and economic Figure 1.1 The 16 member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Source: Own compilation, Microsoft Excel Mapping tool, 2023 Introduction 3 growth, to alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the peoples of Southern Africa, and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration, built on democratic principles and equitable sustainable development (Konstantinus et al., 2019). SADC’s member countries include small, isolated economies with island states, a mix of lowand middle-income countries, and larger countries with potentially large economies. The economic geography reinforces the importance of regional integration to create a larger market and greater economic opportunities (Ranganathan & Foster, 2011). 1.3 The structure of the book The book is subsequently organised into four parts, providing perspectives from a policy background (Part 1) and focusing on the physical and structural status quo in Part 2. This is followed by Part 3 with an in-depth analysis of the various economic and trade perspectives, and, lastly, Part 4 resorts to a conclusive summary and policy proposals in line with the book`s aims stated above. 1.3.1 Part 1: Policy perspectives The first part of this book is devoted to understanding the policy perspectives of regional policy in the SADC and is divided into three chapters: Chapter 2: Regional policy in the African Union and SADC Chapter 3: Understanding the role and potential of the peripheral region Chapter 4: Implications of subnational regional development policy for the Southern African Development Community Chapter 2: Regional policy in the African Union and SADC Regional policy as conceived by central or regional government has not always been a purely economic question. Political, social, and environmental considerations have usually played their parts in explaining the regional economic policy question dynamics. Regional policy, per definition, is directed at problems related to spatially irregular development, especially in developing regions. The aforementioned ‘regional problem’ derives from geographical irregularity, either in distribution or in the conditions of production; from a regional consciousness of regionally irregular processes of change; or a wider awareness on the part of the government of the potential political effects of change upon particular regions. 4 J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen The focus of this chapter, and the book in general, suggests a broader view of regional policy. Recognising that regional policies vary from place to place and over time, they would typically involve the pursuit of one or more of the following goals: reduction of regional disparities, whether for reasons of economic efficiency, political stability, or social justice; redistribution or change in growth patterns of population and economic activity in space; and improvement in resource allocation by reducing unemployment and promoting relatively rapidly growing sectors. The formulation and determination of regional policy guidelines for SADC could, therefore, be seen as an attempt to modernise and restructure the productive base of the economy by inducing a locational shift which corresponds to a more effective pattern for efficient production, while still being consistent with relevant national aspirations. Chapter 3: Understanding the role and potential of the peripheral region This chapter aims to discuss the ‘peripherality of the SADC’ within the context of regional resilience, ultimately focused on providing a regional policy response for the interrelated SADC region. The region within the larger spatial environment is bound to certain regional dynamics, mainly economic growth and development, but continuously considering the impacts and influences of spatiality. Development and growth are found to be inextricably linked to location, either within the diversified relational space (dependent on endogenous growth) or within the diversified-stylised space (dependent on exogenous influences). This also reflects the intricate spatial relationship between the member countries in the SADC region. Concepts of stagnation and backwardness of regions are associated with peripherality and marginality, which are visible from the earliest understanding of regional interaction, finding their way within the resilience literature as the ability of regions and their actors to welcome change and exhibit a certain level of readiness to adapt and grow to become agglomerations. This ability to resist stagnation, but also to balance readiness with stability, is what is found to be central to the resilience capabilities of a region, not only absorbing shocks but recovering in such a manner that the entirety is better off because of a shock, ultimately turning the negative shock into a positive new growth path. Under the principles of growth-pole theory, and supported in the new economic geography, it is emphasised that by focusing more on local interactions between a region`s core and periphery, a region will be able to revitalise itself from stagnation. Once this internal openness is reached, the regions will yield more to exogenous factors and influences. In this manner, regions' locational advantages are explored, focusing on strengthening intra-regional interaction (as a form of localised regionalism) through concentration and clustering to overcome negative regional externalities. Peripherality within Introduction 5 the SADC and towards the SADC will be reviewed, and recommendations will be made for pertinent regional policy response with a focus on unlocking mechanisms. This chapter serves as a theoretical base for understanding the SADC`s position in the world and highlighting reasons for its lagging growth. Chapter 4: Implications of subnational regional development policy for the Southern African Development Community Regional development policy may be regarded as a growing body of literature in the discourse on inter-jurisdictional governance in the global era. At the subnational level, there is growing interest regarding how the nuances of the nation-state shape policy choices by region. This notwithstanding, subnational regional development policy in an African context appears to be a largely emergent area of scholarship. This proposal seeks to address the dearth by articulating the ‘dynamics of subnational regional development policy’ to unpack its ramifications for the wider SADC. Based on a case study of Namibia, it seeks to address the following specific questions: how has subnational regional development evolved, and what are its defining attributes or interests? What is the nature of the policy-making process at this scale, and how does it shape the approach to regional development? What are the broader lessons offered by subnational regional development policy for SADC? The study conceptualises subnational regional development policy in terms of integrated regional land use planning; regional cooperation and networks; metropolitan rescaling; multilevel governance; rural-urban linkages; global-local synergies; agricultural development and natural resource management; small-scale industrialisation; and interand intra-regional planning approaches. It argues that subnational regional development policy serves as the building block for supranational regionalism within the lens of SADC. The research thus contributes to the existing literature by articulating the ramifications of subnational regionalism for supranational regional integration in developing countries. 1.3.2 Part 2: Structural perspectives Part 2 consists of three chapters with a specific focus on hard infrastructure within the SADC region as follows: Chapter 5: Corridors as spatial instruments to channel and focus economic development: Science versus politics Chapter 6: SADC’s settlement hierarchy and networks in support of cross-border regional development Chapter 7: The role of infrastructure in regional trade in the SADC region 6 J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen Chapter 5: Corridors as spatial instruments to channel and focus economic development: Science versus politics The chapter aims to rationalise scientific reasoning when employing economic development corridors to pursue cohesion and development within RECs. The SADC as a REC propagates regional connecting infrastructure, or ‘development corridors’, that ensure increased access between member countries. Primarily, the function of corridors is to connect areas across regions and countries to promote trade. Development corridors are viewed as a network with multisector linkages and are considered most beneficial for economic development. Countries’ modus operandi towards development corridors is primarily supply-driven with the notion of creating an overarching transport solution (morphological or physical connections) that will automatically translate into economic activity and growth. However, lessons learned signified that it has not and will not necessarily work. ‘Offsetting remoteness’ is more than just physical connections; it also provides for nonphysical (functional) connections, such as the sphere of influence of a region and how it can potentially be measured and interpreted. The chapter shows that SADC member countries should engage in exchanges outside the areas of traditional hard infrastructure to foster economic development. It establishes that to mitigate corridor potential, inter-regional development must be facilitated by enhancing the extent of corridors through scientific reasoning. Scientific reasoning enables an objective and effective spatial targeted strategy as part of the conclusive remarks. Chapter 6: SADC’s settlement hierarchy and networks in support of cross-border regional development The SADC is undergoing rapid urbanisation. Since SADC's establishment in 1980, the population has surged from 127 million to 363 million in 2020, with urban populations expanding by 133 million. While mega cities in Africa are often the focus of urbanisation discussions, in 2012, it was estimated that only 9% of urban dwellers would be living in cities with over 5 million inhabitants and that about 57% of urban dwellers would be living in cities with fewer than half a million inhabitants (UN, 2012), with growth occurring in often under-resourced and smaller towns, cities, and local governments (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs/ Population Division, 2012). Many fast-growing cities, towns, and settlements carry risks such as harsh climatic impacts, as well as the realities of displacement, high levels of poverty, inequalities, and the scars of a colonial past. Cities and settlements with hinterlands and in close interaction with surrounding rural zones still carry diverse roles as regional economic gateways and providers of service functions (Wisner, 2015). They are also increasingly significant in addressing international and regional goals (i.e., for the Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s Agenda 2063 (Slavova, 2016)), agreements, and plans. Cities in Introduction 7 Africa are still typically being categorised and compared merely in relation to population size (Aerni, 2016; Agergaard, 2016; Powell, 2018; European Commission, 2015; Paterson et al., 2017; UN-Habitat, 2014; Slavova, 2016; Angeloulo, 2015). The chapter will also contribute to the value of more nuanced profiling in support of a context-specific understanding of urban and settlement typology. This chapter underscores the importance and benefits of ‘establishing a regional settlement profile’ for SADC. It examines the development trends influencing the region's settlement patterns and emphasises the significance of cities. The chapter discusses the need for a shared regional settlement profile using the South African settlement typology as an example and offers an analytical profile that utilises combined datasets to analyse the evolving settlement landscape in SADC. The chapter concludes with several recommendations to indicate what the process would be to create or improve a settlement typology to achieve some of SADC’s objectives. Chapter 7: The role of infrastructure in regional trade in the SADC region Regional infrastructure is one of the major determining factors of regional integration. Efficient infrastructure networks play a key role in enhancing international and regional connectivity and facilitating international trade through the free flow of goods and services across borders, enabling countries to gain from a better and more efficient allocation of resources. Both hard and soft infrastructures matter for countries to improve their trade potential. The objective of the chapter is to probe into the association between infrastructural development in the SADC region and regional trade within SADC. The study first undertakes ‘a hard and soft infrastructure diagnostic of the region’ and investigates the challenges that exist. The main components of infrastructure are probed into, and various indicators are used to analyse the infrastructure landscape in the region. Second, the analysis probes into trade integration within the SADC region and its association with regional infrastructure. The findings show a strong and positive correlation between regional infrastructure and regional trade across SADC member states. By focusing on a regional policy approach, SADC member countries need to make significant progress in addressing infrastructure deficits to boost their trade potential and thus enhance the region's economic development. 1.3.3 Part 3: Economic and trade perspectives The third part of the book is dedicated to understanding and exploring the economic composition and the role it plays in the trade and industrialisation of the region. This section further includes a case study of the mining sector, as a large player in the SADC’s economy. 8 J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen Chapter 8: The influence of location on the competitiveness of SADC industries Chapter 9: The road less travelled: Exploring the untapped potential of intra-regional trade in the SADC Chapter 10: Regional integration and industrialisation in the SADC: A comparative analysis of developing regions Chapter 11: Artisanal mining in the SADC region: Lessons learned from the Kimberley artisanal mining case on formalisation Chapter 8: The influence of location on the competitiveness of SADC industries Firms seek to maximise profits, a decision rule that is stringently imposed by the dynamics of capitalist competition. Hence, industrial location matters in the competitiveness of industries. Given the significance of location in the competitiveness of industries and the investment decisions of firms, this chapter aims to enhance the understanding of the ‘influence of location on the competitiveness’ of the SADC industries. While globalisation and the accompanying technological progress have inspired the thinking that industrial location and geography do not matter in contemporary times, practical evidence suggests otherwise. For instance, the significance of industrial location has been prevalent in the variations of economic and development performances of countries and regions, the geographic concentration of leading firms or industries within nations or regions, and the location decisions of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Despite an apparent shift in the paradigms on which the principles of industrial location are grounded, it is acknowledged in this chapter that each location may uniquely possess something that it can offer relatively competitively. The locational factors influencing the competitiveness of SADC industries were identified as being land-locked/sea-locked, resources, human capital, infrastructure, technology, economic and political stability, market-related factors, agglomeration, and regional integration. Part of the recommendations of this chapter is that the SADC regional grouping must strive to create a productivity-enhancing regional system and technology-based ecological ambition that can possibly support the transition to a new path of development centred on enhancing regional competitiveness. Chapter 9: The road less travelled: Exploring the untapped potential of intra-regional trade in the SADC Trade agreements in Africa, including the SADC, have developed at a faster pace than the coordination of any regional development policy initiatives. Introduction 9 Regional policy and trade agreements are, however, in support of each other, and it is the latter concept and characteristics that are analysed in this chapter. Key aspects to consider in evaluating the import-export characteristics in the SADC include an overview of existing patterns and protocols. Trade can help stimulate growth and development, but this depends on what the member countries export rather than how much they export. In addition, the spatial impacts of existing policies aimed at increasing diversity of exports versus diversifying destination markets are very different. Understanding implications for skill and technology requirements on policy formulation is also a key consideration in the analysis of existing policy and protocol. A further key insight for regional development policy formulation flowing from more recent research in the international trade research environment is that policymakers must be aware that it also matters ‘what’ the economy produces and ‘how’ it produces. The main objective of this chapter underlying the regional policy brief is, based on existing patterns, to identify potential opportunities for trading goods and services using an alternative approach (also endorsed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO)) known as the ‘Decision Support Model’ (DSM) approach. The DSM was specifically designed to assist with the selection of the most promising markets for a given exporting country to assist export promotion organisations in planning and assessing their export promotion activities. Chapter 10: Regional integration and industrialisation in the SADC: A comparative analysis of developing regions Developing regions, including SADC, compete in the flow of trade and factors of production. Regional policy seeks to position the region to attract capital, skilled labour, and advanced technology to catalyse industrial productivity, innovation, and long-term economic growth. Increased regional integration and industrialisation have the potential to increase intra-regional trade and enable economies of scale, technology acquisition, and capital formation. However, the competitiveness of the SADC is limited due to restricted diversification, barriers to trade, and reliance on primary activities and exports with price fluctuations and low-value addition. This chapter undertakes a comparative analysis of ‘regional integration and industrialisation’ among the SADC and developing regions and delineates regional policy recommendations for enhancing the region’s competitive positioning. A quantitative research methodology is applied using secondary data to rank the SADC among nine other developing regions. The findings indicate that industrial exports, employment, value addition, and competitiveness are comparatively lower in the SADC. This is also the case with physical and non-physical infrastructure, while intra-regional trade and labour mobility are below the sample average. To increase the competitiveness of the SADC, regional policy 10 J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen ought to prioritise deeper economic and spatial integration, including trade liberalisation and improved quality of trade-facilitating infrastructure. This will strengthen resource-based industrialisation (RBI) through regional value chains that exploit the competitive advantages of member countries while also increasing industrial value addition, labour productivity, and employment. Supranational institutions ought to be sufficiently capacitated to oversee the policy harmonisation process and coordination of regional policy interventions. Chapter 11: Artisanal mining in the SADC: Lessons learned from the Kimberley artisanal mining case in formalisation Artisanal mining plays a significant role in the SADC region, contributing to livelihoods and income. However, its informal and unsustainable practices lead to environmental degradation, social inequalities, and economic volatility, triggering conflicts and undermining regional policy objectives. This paper emphasises the need to address hazardscapes and conflicts associated with artisanal mining through conflict management mechanisms, improved health and safety standards, and a clear regulatory framework. Mining activities also disrupt development corridors and infrastructure plans, hindering regional connectivity and sustainable development. To tackle the social and environmental consequences of artisanal mining, measures promoting social inclusion, protecting miners' rights, empowering local communities, and enhancing stakeholder cooperation are essential. Integrating principles and guidelines from African Mining Vision (AMV) into national policies can enhance sustainable development in the ‘artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector’. Formalisation is vital for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, reducing conflict and illegal mining, and fostering social and economic development in mining communities, unlocking the full potential of artisanal mining for the SADC region's benefit. The case study of Kimberley, South Africa, highlights artisanal miners' challenges and the formalisation process's success factors, providing valuable insights for shaping effective policies in the region. By implementing the recommended strategies, SADC countries can harness the potential of artisanal mining while mitigating its negative impacts, fostering a more sustainable and responsible mining sector that benefits both the miners and broader society. 1.3.4 Part 4: Future perspective The final part of this book includes a synthesis of the preceding chapters and aims to provide a future perspective regarding an integrated policy approach for the SADC. Chapter 12: A regional policy approach for the SADC Introduction 11 Chapter 12: A regional policy approach for the SADC Regional policy in the SADC could influence the supranational and subnational locational decisions of government and industry by offering inducements to investors through tax incentives, grants, subsidies, regional employment premiums, and so on. Therefore, developing and implementing a supranational regional policy could be considered a step towards modernising and restructuring the economic foundation of this peripheral region by encouraging a shift towards a more sustainable and efficient production model while also ensuring that it remains consistent with the underlying subnational objectives. A threefold regional policy analysis was relevant throughout this book, i.e., (i) analysing policies that currently follow a silo approach in an integrated manner, (ii) the investigation of said policy guidelines through the determination of functional planning instruments in the form of physical infrastructure, and iii) evaluating existing and potential trade and economic interactions among the member states of the SADC. The concluding chapter aims to integrate spatial and sectoral policy frameworks and practically apply the goals and objectives through the appropriate and timely application of spatial targeting instruments within the SADC as a developing region. Proposals for the determination of regional development policy for the SADC, coupled with an implementation agency to facilitate progressive integration and interaction, are provided. References Aerni, P. 2016. Coping with migration-induced urban growth: Addressing the blind spot of UN habitat. Sustainability, 8(800). doi:10.3390/su8080800. African Development Bank (AFDB). 2011. African Development Report. Retrieved from https://www .afdb .org /sites /default /files /documents /publications /african _development _report _2011 .pdf. Agergaard, J. M. 2016. The sustainable development goals and the new urban agenda. Urban Africa Policy Brief 3, University of Copenhagen. Retrieved from http://www .e -pages .dk /ku/ .187/. Albert, T. 2019. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement: Opportunities and Challenges. Geneva: CUTS International. Anderson, W. P. 2001. Southern African development community: The Maputo corridor. In U. Subramanian (Ed.), Integration of Transport and Trade Facilitation: Selected Regional Case Studies. Washington, DC: The World Bank, pp. 71–79. Angeloulo, G. 2015. MasterCard African cities growth index: Crosscurrents of growth. Knowledge Leadership. MasterCard. European Commission. 2015. Towards a Country-Wide Mapping & Monitoring of Formal and Informal Settlements in South Africa. Pilot-Study, European Commission in Cooperation with the South African National Space Agency (SANSA). Konstantinus, A., Zuidgeest, M., Christodoulou, A., Raza, Z., & Woxenius, J. 2019. Barriers and enablers for short sea shipping in the southern African development community. Sustainability, 11(6), 1–16. doi:10.3390/su11061532. 18 J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen Higgins, & Savoie., 1990: 282–284). Internationally, regional policy and issues relating to regional policy have been implemented on various levels of government with wide-ranging levels of detail and intensity. Definitions and descriptions of the term and its application differ quite significantly in the literature (see Friedmann, 1966; Needleman, 1968; Williams, 1996), and except for Richardson (1981, 1987a, 1987c) and Friedmann (1966), little has been written about the theoretical foundations of regional policy. This policy focuses on the comparison of economic performance amongst different regions. It is commonly believed that long-lasting economic disparities between regions can have harmful effects (Armstrong & Taylor, 2000: 203). However, simply having economic differences between regions is not enough to make regional policy a core component of regional planning. The reason for prioritising regional policy is to address the obstacles these disparities create to achieving national policy goals, such as creating more job opportunities, economic growth, and higher per capita income. Essentially, regional policy aims to ensure that national societal goals are met (Richardson, 1987b). The approach to regional policy has varied considerably in both developed and developing nations. Since the conclusion of World War II, regional policy has garnered significant interest and produced outcomes that are both beneficial and unfavourable (Hall, 1999). The substance of regional policy has fluctuated immensely amongst and within countries and regions in recent decades. In contemporary times, there has been a heightened emphasis on environmental preservation, citizen participation, and post-war economic objectives (Armstrong & Taylor, 2000; Horio, 2011). Traditionally, regional policy has been formulated to uplift the poorest regions, the smaller towns, and the rural areas (Friedmann, 1966). It was usually as a response to specific socio-economic or political problems in the above regions that these policies were formulated to relieve these tensions (Foust & de Souza, 1978; Taylor & Armstrong, 2000). This chapter argues that regional policy should be proactive in the formulation process, i.e., existing socio-economic trends must be supported, and future trends must be anticipated in formulating effective regional policy (see also Richardson, 1987c; Hoover & Giarratani, 1985). Urban system and urban maturation models, specifically the differential urbanisation model, are helpful in formulating regional policy to support existing and future trends. 2.4 Urban systems The concept of urban systems, and the systems theory, was founded in the 1960s, referring to a network of interacting nodes rather than focusing on individual cities (Friedmann & Weaver, 1979). This concept was based on research by Boudeville (1966: 10–17), who noted that ‘towns form a hierarchic polarized system through which economic growth will materialize’. Using the concepts of central places in geographical space (Christaller, Regional policy in African Union and SADC 19 1966) and growth poles in economic space (Perroux, 1950), Boudeville distinguished between nodal and polarised regions. A polarised region is a set of neighbouring nodes exchanging more with the regional node than other nodes of the same order. A nodal region, on the other hand, does not necessarily refer to several nodal points. Friedmann’s (1966) research suggests that the delineation of urban networks is typically carried out at a national or regional level for the purposes of spatial planning. However, as economies become increasingly integrated on a global scale, the relevance of the international urban system has grown due to the decreasing ‘distances’ between cities. By adopting an urban systems approach, regional planning and policy formulation can be improved by providing a management tool to manage urban settlement sizes effectively. This section aims to demonstrate the role of regional policy formulation within the urban systems approach, particularly in relation to various urbanisation patterns that are relevant to such a system. The ultimate goal is to enable more effective management of different settlement sizes throughout the urban maturation cycle. Based on this premise, the formulation of regional policy needs to be evaluated against the background of the urban system as an integral part of the national space economy, i.e., an economy dynamic over space and time. This spatial system has three primary dimensions: structural, spatial, and temporal. Structural refers to the hierarchical or vertical organisation of a nation’s regional economies. This organisation also has a spatial expression that is, in turn, contained within the geometry of time (Bourne, 1975). Firstly, static equilibrium approaches (settlement theory) do not recognise the complexity of the subnational or regional systems, in which activities, natural endowments, culture, skills, education, health, transport, house prices, and the global economy all combine to affect the evolution of the system (Allen, Strathern, & Baldwin., 2008). Systems theory supports this, which regards any singular system as part of a more extensive network of systems (Kerzner, 1992). According to the systems theory, any system is usually part of a sub-system, and this is again part of a more extensive system, forming a hierarchy of systems. The above systems view, or systems theory within spatial planning, is widely acknowledged (Roberts, 1985). As populations gravitate towards urban areas, various shifts in demographics, economy, and geography can impact the interconnected systems that make up a city. Urban centres play a crucial role in driving growth within these systems, which can then be distributed throughout the more comprehensive national spatial system as a country develops. Over time, this process can lead to creating a multi-nuclear system with strategically placed sub-centres as the periphery surrounding metropolitan areas becomes more integrated with nearby economies. The ultimate objective of this spatial organisation is to achieve national integration, efficient location of individual firms, maximum potential for growth, and essential interregional balances. Once these objectives have been met, the final stage of organised complexity has been reached. 20 J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen Urban systems represent physical places where people live and work together. At the same time, the other urban infrastructure systems (transportation, energy, water and wastewater, housing, telecommunications, and green infrastructures) create and determine the conditions of such living together. These systems are, in turn, shaped by the city’s environment, urban society, the urban economy, and the institutions in place, thus forming one dynamic socio-technical system (Finger & Razaghi, 2017). On a global scale, the new interregional division of labour introduced by the information society leads to three simultaneous processes: (i) the reinforcement of the metropolitan hierarchy throughout the world by the main existing nodal centres that use their technological potential and the new technologies to extend and deepen their global reach; (ii) the decline of the old dominant industrial regions; and (iii) the emergence of new regions or new countries (Sjøholt, 1997; Castells, 2000). Globalisation as an instrument of economic growth, therefore, poses a threat to ‘business as usual’ policies for cities worldwide. Simultaneously, it provides new opportunities for growth and prosperity. Spatially, agglomeration can intensify inequality within and between cities in the national and global urban systems. National governments must adequately manage their system of cities across the urban continuum to balance agglomeration benefits with the potential negative consequences of ‘superstar city’ formation that leaves smaller cities and rural areas behind (UN, 2020). This constant monitoring process reflects the continued operation of regional policy monitoring and formulation. Identifying and classifying the various components and layers of urban systems must also be differentiated from a chronological perspective (Capello & Nijkamp, 2009). With the focus on metropolitan systems, the development process (Rostow, 1971) for establishing and continuing development is deemed necessary. Metropolitan regions form a specific morphological entity within the spatial planning sphere. The realisation of such a system follows a development cycle described, amongst others, through the differential urbanisation process. The latter approach was coined in the 1980s when a metropolitan migration turnaround in the United States and several European nations saw comparably more people and economic activities migrate from metropolitan to non-metropolitan areas than vice versa, i.e., a prevailing net movement down the urban hierarchy within the urban system (Champion, 1989b; Frey, 1995). As urban systems evolve, they undergo distinct phases. In the initial stage, known as the primate city phase, primary centres attract significant economic activity and migrants. As the system matures, new centres emerge in lowerorder areas while existing centres ascend the urban hierarchy, resulting in more dispersed economic development and a centralised urban system. In the third stage, growing urban systems establish structured subsystems at various levels, from the national to the regional and district levels. Urban system development trends, such as concentration and deconcentration, are evident at the lower levels of the hierarchy, as similar forces work at the national and Regional policy in African Union and SADC 21 regional/district levels. In a developing urban system, intermediate centres that are physically closer to metropolitan centres typically experience more development. Through this decentralisation process in the later phases of urban system development, the primate city displays a polycentric structure that dominates within the relevant urban system. In regions with more than one primate city, they usually indicate a different stage of development (Geyer & Kontuly, 1993). Empirical data show that at some point in the spatial development of most regions, these primate cities begin to mature as their growth rates slow down and spatial deconcentration is initiated (Elliot, 1997). Maturing primate cities usually reflect growth in secondary centres close to the primate city – this turnaround is known as polarisation reversal (Richardson, 1977). The above development process will repeat itself in everdecreasing temporal cycles. Empirical testing found that the temporal characterisation model fit reality in developed and developing countries, including Finland, Italy, Turkey, South Africa, Britain, Germany, Russia, and India. Urban development followed the sequence of stages proposed by the model. It is also important to note that the model did not accurately characterise urbanisation trends in Estonia, which can be explained by severe policy interventions and significant changes in political-economic conditions (Geyer & Kontuly, 2003; Geyer et al., 2012). However, it must be noted that it is not only First World regions that display these forces of cumulative causation, as developing systems like the Gauteng City Region (South Africa), Sao Paulo (Brazil), and Singapore show comparable patterns and structure, although at lower levels and scale than the more developed cores above. Urban systems are, by their very nature, never in equilibrium, and many behaviours of both actors and subsystems will be both unpredictable and emergent (Finger & Razaghi, 2017). There will be growth and possibly decline stages, with numerous factors, including sustainability and resilience, being primary determinants of its path. In summary of this first section on fundamental growth and development theory, it is essential to understand and focus on the following concepts when determining regional policy. These are the (i) appropriate focus of geographical scale regarding strategic planning, i.e., regional planning. (ii) Regional policy forms the dynamic dimension of regional planning, focusing on relevant and integrated resource planning and management for a specific region or combination of regions. Within the relevant region, it is crucial to understand that all urban areas form part of a (iii) hierarchical and interconnected network, as determined by systems theory. Lastly, within this region and network of nodes, (iv) temporal perspectives through the differential urbanisation theory impact the appropriate choice and combination of policy options in formulating applicable regional policy. The second part of this chapter focuses on the study area regarding its role in the African Union, the formation of entities that later became the Southern 22 J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen African Development Community (SADC), and relevant policies that focus on sectoral development initiatives in the region. 2.5 African Union Similar to the establishment of the European Union as a result of a combined development focus, the formation of the African Union provided a platform from which African countries could express themselves freely in the global space and represent the citizens of Africa when important international decisions are made (AUC & AUDA, 2022). The African Union (AU) was officially launched in South Africa following its predecessor’s decision in September 1999 to create a new continental organisation. The AU supports a Pan-African Agenda that acknowledges the need for cooperation of different African countries, with the primary objective of economic and social development throughout the continent. Collaboration and integration between other African countries were envisaged to achieve growth and socioeconomic upliftment. From the AU came its central development policy, namely the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and Agenda 2063, which covers various aspects concerning economic growth, integration, political issues, social relations, and the security of the residents. Given that the SADC supports the intention of NEPAD, the SADC is therefore used as a platform to promote integration and outcomes of the NEPAD programme. The main goals of NEPAD can be summarised as follows (AUC & AUDA, 2022): • To eradicate poverty; • To place African countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and development; • To halt the marginalisation of Africa in the globalisation process and enhance its full and beneficial integration into the global economy; and • To accelerate the empowerment of women. These outcomes support the role and linkages between the SADC and the NEPAD programme. This is a typical example of how a top-down approach to strategic planning is implemented into the lower-order framework and institutions. The common objective or goal could be enhanced and supported from the bottom structures upwards by aligning the lower-order frameworks. This should be used as a guideline and approach to influence spatial and regional planning in the sub-continental study area. The cooperation between different countries enhances the possibility of establishing regional and continental integration and an interrelated urban system. With the establishment of an acknowledged urban system, Africa could engage in international relationships, which in turn could aid in the economic growth of the African countries. NEPAD has identified priorities Regional policy in African Union and SADC 23 that need attention to pursue the NEPAD goals and underlined in the different institutions, specifically the SADC. According to AUDA (2022), the priority areas for NEPAD include the following: a) Establishing the conditions for sustainable development by ensuring: • Peace and security; • Democracy and good political, economic, and corporate governance; • Regional cooperation and integration and capacity building. b) Policy reforms and increased investment in the following priority sectors: • Agriculture and the Environment; • Human development with a focus on health, education, science and technology and skills development; • Building and improving infrastructure, including information and communication technology (ICT), energy, transport, water, and sanitation; • Promoting diversification of production and exports, particularly concerning agro-industries, manufacturing, mining, mineral beneficiation, and tourism; • Accelerating intra-African trade and improving access to markets of developed countries. The AU also confirmed the importance of regional trading blocs to promote social and economic development through integration between countries. The regional partnerships should aim to negotiate free trade areas that could roll out on a much larger geographic scale. The SADC is one of the pillars of these identified regional economic blocks, headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. The aims and ultimate goals of the SADC are to further socioeconomic integration and to secure the political environment and cooperation. Therefore, supporting the SADC’s role in achieving integration between the countries is essential. Based on the goals and the priority areas above, the main issues involve sustainable development, policy frameworks, and aspects aimed at accelerating economic growth in the regional space. These areas should be supported by implementing an effective urban hierarchy in the spatial system that could be used to drive and promote the achievement of these three areas. The role of an urban hierarchy would become apparent when effectively implemented in the sub-continental study area (see Chapter 5). In short, this approach could help to strategically identify the most viable locations for economic growth and development to promote sustainable development and regional balance. 2.6 Southern African development initiatives: A historical perspective Before establishing the SADC, the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), formed in 1980 in Lusaka, Zambia, supported regional cooperation amongst Southern African countries. While socio-economic 24 J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen development constituted the primary motive for creating the SADCC, political considerations also played a part in its initial finding. Member countries sought to encourage comprehensive political liberation in the region. Increased cooperation between majority-ruled countries in Southern Africa was envisaged to decrease their dependence on South Africa and increase their shared economic and political influence in the area (SADC, 2012). The closer collaboration amongst Southern African countries started when Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia met regularly to coordinate support for the different liberation movements in the region. The nine independent countries of Southern Africa, namely Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, later transformed the ‘SADCC’ from a coordination conference into SADC, the Community. The economic dimension was added to deepen cooperation and integration and increased its membership to 15 with Namibia, South Africa, and Mauritius’s admission in the 1990s. Seychelles, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Madagascar followed suit (SADC, 2012). Another essential administrative structure, namely the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), was already established in 1910 between the Union of South Africa and the three so-called High Commission Territories of Bechuanaland (now Botswana), Basutoland (now Lesotho), and Swaziland. Namibia joined SACU in 1990 upon its independence from South Africa. The SACU Agreement was renegotiated in 2002 and entered into force in 2004. The three main aspects of SACU were the free movement of goods and services between member countries, a standard external tariff, and revenue sharing of the shared pool of duties and trade taxes. The latter formula includes three components, namely custom, excise, and development. The custom revenue is distributed based on each country’s share in intra-SACU imports, and the excise allocation again depends on each country’s share of GDP. The development component, fixed at 15 per cent of total excise revenue, is distributed according to the inverse of each country’s GDP per capita (Falilou & Gasealahwe, 2017). More recently, a Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) initiative was launched in 2008 between members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). A corresponding objective was to solve the complications created by overlapping membership of the different regional economic trading blocs. All members belong to more than one trading bloc; for instance, eight members of COMESA are simultaneously members of SADC. These overlapping memberships created legal uncertainty, unnecessary costs, and delays in implementing reforms. After four years of negotiations, the TFTA was signed in 2015 by 24 countries. However, South Africa and SACU members still need to sign. The parties committed to concluding outstanding issues on rules of origin, trade remedies, and tariff offers by 2016. However, the deadline was not met, and the start of Phase Regional policy in African Union and SADC 25 II negotiations – trade in services and other trade-related matters – has been delayed, waiting for the conclusion of the talks. As expected, the objectives regarding regional economic development and employment creation constitute the basis of regional integration in SADC and Southern Africa. This primary objective is supported by the following supplementary goals for the region (SADC, 2012): • Support social development in the various member countries through increased regional economic growth and development; • Empower the various institutions of SADC to fully perform their outlined functions and oversee regional integration between participating countries; • Ensure regional economic resilience and ‘self-sustaining development’ through increased cooperation between member countries; • Ensure the productive utilisation of all the existing resources in the region to stimulate economic growth and development sustainably. Under numerous umbrellas of increased cooperation, 15 countries are now members of SADC. At the turn of the century, Mauritius, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Seychelles joined the regional group, and membership of SADC was completed when Madagascar joined in 2005, the Seychelles in 2008, and Comoros joined in 2018. Each of these countries is a voluntary participant in the process of integration that seeks to increase interaction through trade, the movement of people and services in the region, and working together to plan, formulate, and implement policies to ensure socio-economic development. 2.7 SADC: Existing policy initiatives The goals of the SADC and AU form the overarching vision of the continent and the southern subregion, and several sectoral policies have been compiled to support the above. However, per the above discussion, formal regional policy has yet to be promulgated or compiled for the SADC. Numerous policies guide sectoral components of regional development, like trade agreements and social development goals. According to the SADC (552020), regional development strategies are mainly contained within the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), which dictates regional development and growth priorities in the Community to ensure greater regional parity between all the regions of SADC. However, as described in Section 2.3 of this chapter, regional policy is multi-faceted and sectorally integrated, something that is outside of existing SADC policies. Accordingly, the two central policies related to regional policy will be discussed in this section, while more focused trade and integration policies will be addressed in the relevant chapters to follow. 2.7.1 Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) The most recent SADC Treaty and SADC Protocols provide the legal framework for all activities in the region. In contrast, its policy framework consists 26 J. Ernst Drewes and Mariske van Aswegen of new and existing policy documents that guide the Community’s response to existing and emerging opportunities and challenges. Implementing SADC policies and programmes relies heavily on mobilising resources from within the Community and external sources through the SADC Resource Mobilisation Framework (SADC, 2020). It is envisaged that the funding of all regional projects will be channelled through the planned SADC Regional Development Fund (RDF). The first Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (2015–2020) envisaged the promotion of regional value chains and increased value-addition in priority sectors, which included agro-processing, mineral beneficiation, and pharmaceuticals. The objective was also to increase the region’s manufacturing capacity, competitiveness, and capacity to trade and consequently achieve more sustainable economic change. The goals envisaged above align with global and continental frameworks, such as the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The aims of the RISDP support the SADC Treaty’s quest for broader and deeper regional economic integration to () create a conducive environment to foster regional integration, (ii) mobilise resources from within the Community and external sources, (iii) improve implementation of existing SADC policies and programmes, (iv) strengthen compliance by the member states, and (iv) magnify visibility and awareness to drive the regional integration agenda. The Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan was revised in 2020 and set out a ten-year development agenda for addressing the region’s social, economic, political, and governance issues (SADC, 2020). In a departure from past practice, the RISDP brings together issues previously presented separately under the Revised RISDP and Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ on Defence, Politics, and Security Cooperation. The inclusion of peace, security, and governance matters in the new RISDP recognises their foundational importance in ensuring the necessary preconditions for achieving the Community’s other priorities. The three core pillars of the RISDP are (i) Industrial Development and Market Integration, (ii) Infrastructure Development in Support of Regional Integration, and (iii) Social and Human Capital Development, anchored in policies related to peace, security, and governance. In the context of these pillars, numerous goals and priority areas have been formulated, including priority areas like security, market integration, social development, climate change, and disaster risk management (SADC, 2020: 11). The RISDP continues to provide strategic guidance in the form of actions, interventions, targets, and timelines that will, potentially, deepen integration in SADC. However, of importance to this and the following chapters is that no subregional spatial application has been included in these policy documents, i.e., the existing and previous RISDP have no explicit spatial footprint other than the whole SADC region as a spatial reference. For example, guidance must be provided for spatial priority areas for social and human capital development, Regional policy in African Union and SADC 27 market integration, industrial development, etc. A review by the Organisation for Economic Coordination and Development (OECD) of regional development policies in its member states concluded that instruments used to promote regional development in different regions should reflect spatial specifics and adapt to different regional contexts (OECD, 2018: 20). Development policies that combine policies across other sectors to unlock the growth potential of ‘regions’ need to reflect on places. 2.7.2 Infrastructure development policy The other development policy that closely relates to regional policy in the SADC refers to infrastructure master plans. An analysis of the previous Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan (SADC, 2012) revealed that the region faced numerous challenges concerning inadequate regional infrastructure. The said RIDMP aimed to instil a sense of urgency for the region to expedite the implementation of strategies to bridge the main gaps and eliminate blockages to unlock the regional potential of SADC. This Regional Infrastructure Development Masterplan (SADC, 2012) was based on six pillars: energy, transport, information and communication technologies (ICT), meteorology, transboundary water resources, and tourism. The six infrastructure pillars were, on their part, based on existing policies and regulations and supported by a joint pool of human resources in a concerted effort to create public awareness and commitment to these goals. A positive contribution of this policy was its spatial focus for specific regional infrastructure projects. These included under-sea communication cables, regional water provision across borders, transportation corridors, fibre links throughout the SADC, and tourism focus areas in cross-border locations (SADC, 2012). A revision of the abovementioned infrastructure master plan in 2019 declared that the member states were lagging in implementing the identified projects. At this time, it was determined that 95 per cent of the projects within the six sectors still needed to be completed. The study attributes this unfavourable position to various factors (SADC, 2019). One reason is insufficient spending on infrastructure. Infrastructure spending in Africa is about 3.8 per cent of GDP, whereas India and China spend 4.7 per cent and 8.5 per cent of GDP, respectively. In addition, the study observed a funding mismatch between member states and funding partners. Member states cite the need for more funding for infrastructure projects, whether national or regional, yet the funding institutions are looking for viable projects to invest in. Only some projects have properly prepared bankable proposals that attract funding. Member states find more value in implementing their national projects as opposed to those of a regional nature. This explains why the national project priority list does not always mirror regional priorities. A positive contribution of the revised RISDP was prioritising projects to identify projects with a robust regional impact that would catalyse 34 Mariske van Aswegen and J. Ernst Drewes planning instruments, on furthering the development of the region in a cohesive manner, which will be explored in more detail in the final chapter of this book. The subsequent sections will focus on establishing reasons for lagging and sluggish development within the SADC, which could be ascribed to its position as a peripheral and marginalised region in the world. 3.2 Understanding peripheral regions 3.2.1 A peripheral View Friedmann (1967) established that the spatial system in its entirety is made up of two main regions, i.e., the core regions and the peripheral regions. The core has a dominance over the periphery with more intense development and growth visible in the core ascribed to earlier innovations within the core (Muniz et al., 2011). Friedmann (1966) established that this spatial system from a planning region viewpoint can be further divided. Five types of planning regions are commonly accepted: (i) core regions; (ii) upward transitional regions; (iii) resource-frontier regions; (iv) downward transitional regions; and (v) specialist problem regions (Friedmann, 1966; Kuklinski, 1970; Stilwell, 1972). Friedmann argues that the first two regions (core region and upward transitional regions) combined are regarded as the ‘core’ of a country, whereas the latter three regions (resource-frontier; downward transitional regions, and specialist problem regions) are deemed the ‘peripheral regions’ of said country. Friedmann (1966) is supported by the United Nations (1967) in their identification of typical problematic regions, i.e., underdeveloped regions in which different barriers hamper the regions from participating in development; depressed regions referring to regions that developed during the first industrial revolution, but experienced economic and social depression due to declining industries; with the third type of over congested regions referring to areas where growth has surpassed the capacity for development. Other causes for lagging or depressed regions (Van Duijn, 1979) are identified as being policy mistakes, exogenous disturbances, over-investment, the decline in the quality of the economic structure, lack of technological improvement, exhaustion of raw materials and energy sources, rising labour costs, and socialisation of demands (Capello & Nijkamp, 2009: 96; Richardson et al., 2011: 41–47) (also refer to Section 3.2.4). Classical economist Krugman (1991) ascribes this relationship between the core and periphery as resultant of the interaction of economies of scale, market size, and transport costs – in simple terms, establishing firms where transport cost is minimised, and demand is maximised (Weber, 1929). Whereas the neo-classical theorists focus on the endogenous factors impacting the regional distribution of industries (Kaldor, 1970), including the historical development of knowledge and skills, specialisation, knowledge transfer through communication etc., Myint (1958) refers to a vent-for-surplus theory to explain the patterns of trade, especially within underdeveloped countries. The theory explains that existing surplus goods and the discovery Role and potential of peripheral region 35 of new minerals stimulate trade from the resource-rich regions (most often underdeveloped) to the developed core regions. This trade acts as a ‘vent’ for surplus products with subsequent foreign investment and immigrant labour, furthering international trade. 3.2.2 A systems view The world systems theory, or paradigm as some refer to it, was first highlighted by Wallerstein (1976), establishing a classification of the relationships between the developed and developing world. Each country or region is accordingly categorised as either a core, semi-periphery, or peripheral player in the global economic system (Coetzee, 2001). Wallerstein (1976) describes the world system as a social system, one that has boundaries, structures, member groups, rules of legitimation and coherence. Its life is made up of conflicting forces which hold it together by tension and tear it apart as each group seeks eternally to remould it to its advantage. This dynamic world system is often utilised to describe the relationship between world regions or nations, as well as to establish a unit of social and political analysis (Aniche & Ukaegbu, 2016). This division is often referred to as a tri-modal structure (Wallerstein, 2004), which explains how the global capitalist system impacts continuing inequality due to varying levels of industrialisation in developing countries (Goldstein & Pevehouse, 2008; Ukaegbu, 2011). Each of the categories is associated with a level of development and interaction as well as a focus on how labour division is experienced on an inter-regional and transnational basis. For instance, countries within the core are found to exhibit a higher-skilled labour force focused on higher-order goods and services and capital-intensive production, resulting from their capitalist approaches in the 16th century (Wallerstein, 1974). During this time, the West established its economic advantages and essentially unequally controlled the world economy through a focus on an industrialist approach (Wallerstein, 1974; Chase-Dunn, 1983; Arrighi, 1989; Moore, 2003). The core utilises its dominance to obtain cheap labour and raw materials from the periphery, utilising it in production, and selling products back to the semiperiphery and periphery. The nations found in the core exhibit a high quality of life, high levels of education, vigorous economic growth, and superior infrastructure (Coetzee, 2001). Opposingly, the semi-periphery is focused and labour-intensive, with basic skills labour and primary or extractive industry in general. It exhibits characteristics of both the core and periphery and is exploited by the core, while simultaneously exploiting the periphery. The semi-periphery exhibits stronger ties with the core, being able to manufacture and sell to the core regions while simultaneously being dependent on their raw materials, as 36 Mariske van Aswegen and J. Ernst Drewes well as trading with the periphery (Coetzee, 2001). This is even more true for the peripheral regions in this classification, which continuously reinforces the dominance of the core over the semi-peripheral and peripheral nations. The periphery is characterised by low levels of industrialisation, a hampering social environment with low standards of living, poor education, and a lack of health facilities. Furthermore, the strong dependence on non-skilled labour in the primary sector and natural resources is evident. This lack of diversification, lack of infrastructure, and dependence on singular sources invokes a continuous state of underdevelopment (Yates, 2012). Scholars agree that this system is dynamic, and countries could change their classification based on internal shifts in connectivity, policy, and inter-regional and international trade (Dos Santos, 1970; Chase-Dunn & Grimes, 1995). 3.2.3 A dependency view A dependency view on less-developed nations is a multi-faceted concept not only focused on development but also on economics and politics. It postulates that the developed world continuously and actively pursues this state of dominance over less-developed countries through various policies and initiatives (Tanyanyiwa & Hakuna, 2014). The developed world is dependent on the developing world for its cheap labour, natural resources, and as a market for its products. Dependency theorists argue that this dependency of peripheral (poor) countries on core countries is not solely because they are unintegrated but rather how they are integrated into the larger world system. Nordlund (2018), notes that the core-periphery association is often negative, focused on a dominance versus dependency relationship, which is not necessarily always to the detriment of the peripheral region. Figure 3.1 illustrates High profit consumption goods CORE SemiPeriphery Periphery Figure 3.1 Core-periphery interdependence Source: Adapted from Smith (2013). Role and potential of peripheral region 37 this continued dependency between the three types of nations, whereas the periphery (often poor) countries provide cheap labour and raw materials to the semi-periphery and core countries. These countries in turn provide highprofit consumption goods to each other as well as to the periphery. Garza (2006) maintains that some first-world nations ‘actively, perpetuate a state of dependency through various policies and initiatives’. Other protagonists of this theory uphold that the solution for this continued dependency lies within reduced linkage to core countries and establishing stronger ties through South-South cooperation (i.e., regional integration) in import-substitution and enhanced industrialisation (also refer to Chapters 10 and 11). The SADC, as with many other developing and peripheral regions, however, receives funding support from various international organisations and funding partners, such as the European Union (EU), African Development Bank (ADB), and AU, to support development, programmes, and operations (Tanyanyiwa & Hakuna, 2014). This cycle of dependency continues as the periphery remains dependent on the core due to an inability to establish endogenous growth. 3.2.4 Attributes associated with peripheral and dependent regions The arguments for underdevelopment in peripheral or lagging regions are multiple as attested by Collier et al. (1997) in their focus on Africa (Binns et al., 2012) and the various ‘development traps’ identified and its origins ascribed to colonialism (Collier, 1997; Harrison, 2004). The resource trap links to the dependency view, stating that the ‘resource curse’ of cheap natural resources and labour led to a ‘flawed integration’ of the resource-rich regions with the developed nations (Gordon & Gordon, 2007). A second trap is identified as a ‘conflict trap’ resulting from the resource trap after the independence of these underdeveloped nations. The conflict trap refers to the poor transition from a colony to an independent state, characterised by a weak government that benefitted from highly profitable natural resources, now in a position to directly benefit and exploit its position (Gordon & Gordon, 2007). This in turn establishes nations that are not motivated to explore other avenues of income generation and new development initiatives (Gordon & Gordon, 2007). Nkrumah (1965) upholds that this has led to a new, more subtle form of colonialism, i.e., new colonialism, describing a state that is independent in theory but still falls victim to sovereignty from an international role-player (Bond, 2006). The tensions between nations on transboundary resource conflict often run high, especially in land-locked countries (Collier, 1997) (a more detailed discussion is found in Chapter 8). The grouping of the world system into centres and peripheries based on their geographical locality also impacts the relationship between these nations. This marginality (Kahveci et al., 2008) keeps marginal/peripheral nations off the centre, in effect excluding the periphery from activities originating and developing at the centre. Marginality in itself means ‘at the edge 38 Mariske van Aswegen and J. Ernst Drewes (fringe/border),’ and it could be applicable across disciplines. Marginality and marginal regions have been the focus of studies since the early 1990s, with Leimgruber (1994) attempting the first definition thereof. An exact definition remains elusive, and research focuses more on the characteristics of such regions. As established by Ruddle and Rondinelli (1983), these characteristics include geographical remoteness (on any spatial scale), ecological fragility, dispersed and heterogenous populations, lack or low levels of physical and social infrastructure, poor access to towns and cities, economic backwardness, low productivity, and isolation of the masses on their political future. Gatzweiler et al. (2011) add extreme poverty to this definition as seen from a complex-adaptive system perspective, emphasising the ecological, social, political, and spatial dimensions of marginality. Pelc (2017) argues that the spatial distribution and spatial consequences of such regions should be the focus in addressing territorial marginality and adds that the kind of marginality should be determined depending on the spatial scale, i.e., global, continental, local etc. Regional lock-in as detrimental to adaptability is a notion established within the economic geography. The metaphor for lock-in highlights the (often negative) tendency of an economy to get caught in a self-reinforcing spiral of uneven development and overfocus on specialisation subject to rigidity and inflexibility (Martin & Sunley, 2006). David (2005) argues that this ‘trap’ is experienced in economies where technology and industry become ‘stuck’ on a specific path, unable to transition into a new growth trajectory (refer to Section 3.3). Martin and Sunley (2006), however, reason that evolution is possible from a point of lock-in and that the connotation does not always have to be negative. Accordingly, a positive lock-in is possible when ‘local industrial dynamism’ is reinforced in such a manner that an increase in positive local externalities such as increasing returns and economic performance is experienced. This local inwardlooking development reinforces local regional development and over time (often over decades) stimulates development from external economies. Martin and Sunley (2006) attest that this positive lock-in could, however, turn into a negative lock-in if the region does not welcome external influences (adaptability) such as new ideas, practices, and inter-relatedness (Grabher, 1993). David (2005) upholds that a region or economic system can only escape this negative lock-in or trap through an external shock or force; this is a much-debated argument, as various authors highlight that it depends on the type of external shock (Martin & Sunley, 2006), type of region (Thelen, 1999), type of self-reinforcement (Arthur, 1994), and the timing thereof (Setterfield, 2001). Grabher (1993) established that various types of lock-in could be experienced, which reminds one of the ‘development traps’ highlighted earlier in this section. The most recognised lock-in linking to the preceding discussion is that of functional lock-in, focused on the hierarchical dependence between economic entities. Cognitive lock-in is experienced when there exists a closed-off relationship and an Role and potential of peripheral region 39 unwillingness to accept change and innovation. Lastly, the concept of political lock-in is encountered when the institutional regime does not welcome economic restructuring and uses its political agenda to hamper outside interferences. In this instance, the diversification and establishment of new firms are not supported by the powers that be, leading to a lack of dynamic growth in innovation, undiversified human skills, and hesitance in risk-taking (Schubert & Sooryamoorthy, 2010). These areas may be characterised by intense local social networks, a high degree of self-reliance among its population, and low levels of extra-local links. As a result, the level of entrepreneurship and innovation in peripheral regions is often much lower than in urban regions (Rodríguez-Pose, 1999). Table 3.1 highlights some of the more generic attributes associated with peripheral regions. The next section will establish the concept of resilience and, more specifically, focus on regional resilience as an approach to strengthen and prepare regions for the unfamiliar. This section will speak specifically to the peripheral region and its vulnerability to exogenous and endogenous shocks and the measures available to address these shocks. 3.3 Regional resilience The resilience concept received prominence in the regional policy debate after the 2008 global economic crisis, which led to cities and regions across the world facing a further increase in urbanisation (Turok, 2014). At the time, resilience was regarded as a concept mainly focused on settlement or local level, with less of a regional focus, but has become more prominent through scholarly focus and from an array of angles. Porter and Davoudi (2012: 330) remark that furthering the resilience concept in spatial planning offers ‘concepts and methods for breaking planning out of its obsession with order, certainty and stasis’, which will in the discourse of this section become more perceptible and evident. Resilience theory was initially viewed as an equilibrium state to which a return must be made after a shock or disturbance. This theory has since evolved into the school of non-equilibrium resilience. Nonequilibrium resilience establishes two views, i.e., one of the multiple states of equilibrium to which a system must return after a shock to be regarded as resilient (Ahern, 2011; Desouza & Flanery, 2013) and, secondly, establishing systems as unable to return to the initial state of equilibrium and evolving along a new path towards resilience (Lhomme, et al., 2013; Lu & Stead, 2013). In support, Barat-Salguiero and Erkip (2014: 109) and Klein et al. (2003: 38) affirm that due to the vibrant and intricate character of urban systems, the return of any system to its pre-disturbance state is decidedly disputed (Friedmann, 2011). Grabher (1993) established that both adaptability and adaptation of a region will have a substantial impact on the region’s ability to follow a new growth path after disturbances (Godschalk, 2003; Pickett et al., 2004; 40 Mariske van Aswegen and J. Ernst Drewes Table 3.1 Attributes of peripheral regions and associated implications Attributes of peripheral regions Implications Economic environment •Mostly small (often familyowned) firms •A large share of firms in the primary sector •Limited export and research and development (R&D) technology orientation •Missing specialisation and (vertical) integration •Low levels of productivity within the firm •High dependence on the public sector transfer payments in the primary sector •Less focus on growth •Potential for entrepreneurship in primary and secondary sectors Physical environment •Ecosystem goods and services are highly valued •Intensive use of natural resources as production factors (i.e., land, water, landscape, etc.) •High exposure to natural risks, such as climate change •Increasing conflicts about the use of natural resources •Potential for eco-entrepreneurship Social environment •Dense networks with mutual social control; fear of social exclusion if projects fail •Missing ‘strength of weak ties’ •High-risk aversion is common •May impact entrepreneurial dynamics negatively Human capital •Low formal qualification (tertiary education) •High levels of out-migration (brain drain) •Low labour productivity and limited innovation potential •Low labour participation •Tertiary or management experience is lacking, which may impact entrepreneurship Settlement structure •Low residential density •No or small urban zones (small towns) •Missing agglomeration economies •Limited exchange of creative human capital •Entrepreneurs cannot benefit from agglomeration economies Accessibility •Bad connection to basic infrastructure (train, roads, ICT) •Relatively high costs for information and transportation •Entrepreneurs must account for higher costs Distance •Cognitive and organisational distance •High transaction costs in the implementation of new products and processes Source: Mayer and Baumgartner, 2014. Role and potential of peripheral region 41 Ahern, 2011; Leichenko, 2011; Brugman, 2012; Desouza & Flanery, 2013). According to Grabher (1993: 265), adaptation leads to an increasing specialisation of resources and a pronounced preference for innovations that reproduce existing structures. And while the system optimises the ‘fit’ into its environment, it loses its adaptability. Adaptability crucially depends on the availability of unspecific and uncommitted capacities that can be put to a variety of unforeseeable uses: redundancy. The adaptability and adaptation-based approaches bring into account and attempt to explain the geographical unevenness of resilience or a non-equilibrium approach (Ahern, 2011; Desouza & Flanery, 2013; Lhomme et al., 2013; Lu & Stead, 2013). This approach resonates with the theory of new economic geography as it addresses conceptual, theoretical, analytical, and political influences on regional resilience (Pike et al., 2010). The notions of adaptability and adaptation are noted across the literature (Grabher, 1993; Grabher & Stark, 1997; Pike et al., 2010), all conferring that if these two notions can coincide and complement each other (Miller et al., 2010; Pike et al., 2010), a truly resilient system is possible. Such a system is recognised as one of uninterrupted growth, both by means of adaptation on its existing growth path and through adaptability towards a new growth direction to resist future shocks (De Weijer, 2013; Turok, 2014) resulting in a ‘dynamic stability’. The peripheral region is even more sensitive to shocks, generally perceived as being less resilient due to its inherent characteristics (Martin & Sunley, 2006). This links back to the characteristics discussed in the previous section. The dependence on single-sector development leaves the peripheral region vulnerable to globalisation and competition (Virkkala & Niemi, 2006). The remoteness (unintegrated character) of the peripheral region, its lack of ties with external markets, and a focus on extractive and other primary industries add even more pressure on these regions’ adaptability. The lack of innovation and subsequent low levels of entrepreneurship and research and development (R&D) (Dale, 2002; Tödtling & Trippl, 2005) are a further result of most firms being owned by international roleplayers (Lindkvist & Antelo, 2007). It is noted that international firms do not focus as much on value capture, extracting surpluses from the peripheral countries and limiting opportunities for renewal and advancement (Steen & Underthun, 2011) as would typically be the case in more advanced countries (Martin, 2012). It is argued that the adaptive capacity within these peripheral regions does exist (Carlsson et al., 2014) but that the impact of external networks remains crucial to assist in extracting and nourishing the inherent capacity (Lagendijk & Lorentzen, 2007). Fitjar and Rodrique-Pose (2011) caution against the assumption that peripheral regions are inherently less resilient; this is based on the premise of stronger cognitive and organisational proximity of local networks, supported by ‘soft institutional arrangements’ (Carlsson et al., 2014) and the involvement of various other actors (Aarsæther & Nyseth, 2007). 42 Mariske van Aswegen and J. Ernst Drewes Carlsson et al. (2014) uphold that the specific approach of regional resilience and its components add value to understanding the dynamics of and within regions (Hassink, 2010). This is supported by new manners in which a region can be assessed regarding its response to change and addressing the way places respond to and cope with either the slow-burn processes or shocks experienced (Pike et al., 2010). Coe et al. (2004) established that a peripheral region’s integration into broader value chains and production networks determines its response to, and recovery from, shocks and slow-burn processes. They are supported by Martin (2012) in the assessment of responses of different regions to financial shocks such as deindustrialisation and the 2008 financial crisis. It was established that regions will respond differently depending on the availability of resources (MacKinnon & Derickson, 2013). The next section will turn the focus on the SADC as a peripheral region in the world and frame the SADC as a region with immense potential but lacking follow-through in establishing a more integrated and resilient unit. 3.4 The SADC as a peripheral region The systems view (refer to Section 3.2.2) establishes the West as the core, while the member states of the SADC can be found as both within the semi-periphery (South Africa) and the periphery (other SADC members). The implication of this systems view or tri-modal structure is a continuous inequality in industrialisation between the West and the less industrialised SADC, and a continuous inequality among member states based on their individual systems status (Aniche et al., 2009). The Competitive Industrial Performance (CIP) Index benchmarks the ability of countries to produce and export manufactured goods competitively. Table 3.2 captures the competitive performance of each of the 16 SADC Figure 3.2 SADC in terms of the systems view Source: Adapted from Chase-Dunn, Kawannn, and Brewer (2000) and Babones (2005) Role and potential of peripheral region 43 Table 3.2 Competitive Industrial Performance (CIP) Index for SADC countries SADC country Country classification Rank (total 154) Dev. stage Score Manufacturing export structure (largest sector) Industrialisation Intensity Index (rank of 154 countries) Angola Least developed 127 Middle-income industrialising 0.005 82.6% resource-based 143 Botswana Developing economy 84 Middle-income industrialising 0.019 95.7% resource-based 96 Comoros No data available Democratic Republic of Congo Developing economy 125 Middle-income industrialising 0.006 50.6% resource-based 142 Eswatini Developing economy 86 Middle-income industrial 0.019 67.8% resource-based 49 Lesotho No data available Madagascar Least developed 137 Low-income 0.003 48.2% resource-based 48% low-tech 141 Malawi Least developed 142 Low-income 0.003 61.8% resource-based 103 Mauritius Emerging industrial 92 Middle-income industrial 0.014 49.7% low-tech 121 Mozambique Developing economy 135 Low-income 0.004 77.2% resource-based 126 Namibia Developing economy 103 Middle-income industrialising 0.011 97.5% resource-based 118 Seychelles No data available South Africa Emerging industrial 49 Middle-income industrial 0.052 46.3% resource-based 71 United Republic Tanzania Least developed 129 Middle-income industrialising 0.005 54.5% resource-based 129 Zambia Least developed 126 Low-income 0.006 63.3% resource-based 127 Zimbabwe Developing economy 116 Middle-income industrialising 0.008 85.5% resource-based 124 Source: UNIDO, 2023. 50 Mariske van Aswegen and J. Ernst Drewes This chapter established regional policy for the SADC as a potential delocking mechanism, focused on a three-pronged approach between infrastructure development, institutional buy-in and support, and spatially targeted interventions. It is upheld that suitable regional policy will assist in breaking barriers on the inter-regional scale and establish the SADC as an inwardfocused region, with an openness to exogenous assistance. References Aarsæther, N. & Nyseth, T., 2007. Innovasjonsprosesser i den nordiske periferi. Tidsskrift for Samfunnsforskning, 48(1), 5–31. Ahern, J., 2011. From fail-safe to safe-to-fail: Sustainability and resilience in the new urban world. Landscape and Urban Planning, 100(4), 341–343. Aiginger, K., Huber, P. & Matthias, F., 2012. Policy options for the development of peripheral regions and countries of Europe. WWWforEurope Policy Brief, No. 2, WWWforEurope, Vienna. Ake, C., 1981. A Political Economy of Africa. Ibadan: Longman Nigeria. Andrew, S.A., 2009. Regional integration through contracting networks: An empirical analysis of institutional collective action framework. Urban Affairs Review, 44(3), 378–402. Andrews, N., 2009. Foreign aid and development in Africa: What the literature says and what the reality is. Journal of African Studies and Development, 1(1), 8–15. Aniche, E., Okeke, V. & Ukaegbu, V., 2009. Regional economic integration in Africa: A comparative study of SADC and ECOWAS. International Journal of African Culture, Politics and Development, 4(2), 82–101. Aniche, E.T. & Ukaegbu, V.E., 2016. Structural dependence, vertical integration and regional economic cooperation in Africa: A study of Southern African Development Community. Africa Review. https://doi .org /10 .1080 /09744053 .2016 .1186866. Armstrong, H.W. & Taylor, J., 2000. Regional Economics and Policy. Oxford: Blackwell. Arrighi, G., 1989. The developmentalist illusion: A reconceptualisation of the semiperiphery. A Paper presented at the thirteenth Annual Political Economy of the World System Conference, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, April 28–30. Arthur, W.B., 1994. Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Babones, S.J., 2005. The country-level income structure of the world-economy. Journal of World-Systems Research, 11, 29–55. Barata-Salgueiro, T. & Erkip, F., 2014. Retail planning and urban resilience. Cities, 36, 107–111. Binns, T., Nel, E. & Dixon, A., 2012. Africa: Diversity and Development. Milton Park Abingdon Oxon: Routledge. Bond, P., 2006. Looting Africa: The Economics of Exploitation. Scottsville: Zed Books. Brugman, J., 2012. Financing the resilient city. Environment and Urbanization, 24(1), 215–232. Capello, R. & Nijkamp, P., 2009. Handbook of Regional Growth and Development Theories. Northampton: Edward Elgar. Role and potential of peripheral region 51 Carlsson, E., Steen, E., Sand, R. & Nilsen, S.K., 2014. Resilient peripheral regions? The long-term effects of ten Norwegian restructuring programmes. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift - Norwegian Journal of Geography, 68(2), 91–101. https:// doi .org /10 .1080 /00291951 .2014 .894565. Chase-Dunn, C., 1983. The kernel of the capitalist world economy: Three approaches. In W.R. Thompson (ed.), Contending Approaches to World System Analysis. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 55–78. Chase-Dunn, C. & Grimes, P., 1995. World-systems analysis. Annual Review of Sociology, 21(1), 387–417. Chase-Dunn, C., Kawann, Y. & Brewer, B.D., 2000. Trade globalization since 1795. American Sociological Review, 65(1), 77–95. Coe, N.M., Hess, M., Yeung, H.W.C., Dicken, P. & Henderson, J., 2004. ‘Globalizing’ regional development: A global production networks perspective. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 29(4), 468–484. Coetzee, J.K., 2001. Development: Theory, policy and practice. In J.K. Coetzee et al. (eds.), Oxford Southern Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 413–427. Collier, P., Guillaumont, P., Guillaumont, S. & Gunning, J.W., 1997. Redesigning conditionality. World Development, 25(9), 1399–1407. Dale, B., 2002. An institutionalist approach to local restructuring: The case of four Norwegian mining towns. European Urban and Regional Studies, 9(1), 5–20. David, P.A., 2005. Path dependence in economic processes: Implications for policy analysis in dynamical systems contexts. The Evolutionary Foundations of Economics, 151–194. Davies, S. & Michie, R., 2011. Peripheral regions: A marginal concern. European Policies Research Centre Paper, 11(6). Paper presented at European Regional Policy Research Consortium, Scotland, United Kingdom. De Weijer, F., 2013. Resilience: A Trojan horse for a new way of thinking. European Centre for Development Policy Management Discussion Paper, 139, 1–19. Desouza, K.C. & Flanery, T.H., 2013. Designing, planning, and managing resilient cities: A conceptual framework. Cities, 35, 89–99. Dos Santos, T., 1970. The structure of dependence. American Economic Review, 60(2), 231–236. European Commission, 1997. Regional Development Studies: The EU Compendium of Spatial Planning Systems and Policies. Brussels: European Commission. Feiock, R.C., 2007. Regional choice and regional governance. Journal of Urban Affairs, 29(1), 49–65. Feiock, R.C. & Scholz, J.T., 2009. Self-Organising Federalism: Collaborative Mechanism to Mitigate Institutional Collective Action Dilemmas. New York: Cambridge University Press. Fitjar, R.D. & Rodríguez-Pose, A., Innovating in the periphery: Firms, values and innovation in Southwest Norway. European Planning Studies, 19(4), 555–574. https://doi .org /10 .1080 /09654313 .2011 .548467 Friedmann, J., 1966. Regional Development Policy: A Case Study of Venezuela. London: MIT Press. Friedmann, J., 1967. A conceptual model for the analysis of planning. Administrative Science Quarterly, 12(2), 225–252. Friedmann, J. & Weaver, C., 1979. Territory and Function: The Evolution of Regional Planning. New York: Methuen. 52 Mariske van Aswegen and J. Ernst Drewes Friedmann, J., 2011. Insurgencies: Essays in Planning Theory. New York: Routledge. Garza, D.C., 2006. International Integration Theories: Regional Scenarios. ITESM-SAL. Gatzweiler, F.W., Baumüller, H., Ladenburger, C. & von Braun, J., 2011. Marginality: Addressing the root causes of extreme poverty (No. 77). ZEF Working paper series. Glasson, J., 1985. An Introduction to Regional Planning. London: Hutchinson. Godschalk, D.R., 2003. Urban hazard mitigation: Creating resilient cities. Natural Hazards Review, 4(3), 136–143. Goldstein, J. & Pevehouse, J., 2008. International Relations. New York: Pearson Longman. Gordon, A.A. & Gordon, D.L., 2007. Understanding Contemporary Africa (4th ed.). London: Lynne Reinner Publishers. Grabher, G. & Stark, D., 1997. Organising diversity: Evolutionary theory, network analysis and post socialism. Regional Studies, 31(5), 533–544. Grabher, G., 1993. The weakness of strong ties: The lock-in of regional development in the Ruhr area. In G. Grabher (ed.), The Embedded Firm. London: Routledge, 255–277. Hassink, R., 2010. Regional resilience: A promising concept to explain differences in regional economic adaptability? Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 3, 45–58. Harrison, G., 2004. Sub-Saharan Africa. In A. Payne (ed.), The New Regional Politics of Development. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 218–247. Johnson, R., Gregory, D. & Smith, D., 1986. The Dictionary of Human Geography. Oxford: Blackwell. Kahveci, A., Southerland, S.A. & Gilmer, P.J., 2008. From marginality to legitimate peripherality: Understanding the essential functions of a women’s program. Science Education, 92(1), 33–64. Kaldor, N., 1970. The case for regional policies. Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 17(3), 337–348. Klein, R.J., Nicholls, R.J. & Thomalla, F., 2003. Resilience to natural hazards: How useful is this concept? Environmental Hazards, 5(1), 35–45. Krugman, P.R., 1991. Geography and Trade. Cambridge: MIT Press. Kuklinski, A.R., 1970. Regional development, regional policies and regional planning: Problems and issues. Regional Studies, 4(3), 269–278. Lagendijk, A. & Lorentzen, A., 2007. Proximity, knowledge and innovation in peripheral regions: On the intersection between geographical and organizational proximity. European Planning Studies, 15(4), 457–466. Lall, S.V., 2011. Regional policy: What works and what doesn’t. In HW Richardson, CHC Bae, SC Choe (eds), Reshaping Regional Policy. Northampton: Edward Elgar, 41–56. Leichenko, R., 2011. Climate change and urban resilience. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 3(3), 164–168. Leimgruber, W., 1994. Marginality and marginal regions: Problems of definition. In: D.Ch. Chang-Yi, J. Sue-Ching, L. Yin-Yuh (eds.): Marginality and Development Issues in Marginal Regions. Taipei, IGU–National Taiwan University, 1–18. Lhomme, S., Serre, D., Diab, Y. & Laganier, R., 2013. Urban technical networks resilience assessment. In R. Laganier (ed.), Resilience and Urban Risk Management. London: CRC Press, 109–117. Role and potential of peripheral region 53 Lindkvist, K.B. & Antelo, A.P., 2007. Restructuring a peripheral coastal community: The case of a Galician fishing town. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 31(2), 368–383. Lu, P. & Stead, D., 2013. Understanding the notion of resilience in spatial planning: A case study of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Cities, 35, 200–212. MacKinnon, D. & Derickson, K.D., 2013. From resilience to resourcefulness: A critique of resilience policy and activism. Progress in Human Geography, 37(2), 253–270. Martin, R.C., 1979. Federal regional development programs and US. Problem areas. Journal of Regional Science, 19(2), 157–170. Martin, R., 2012. Regional economic resilience, hysteresis and recessionary shocks. Journal of Economic Geography, 12(1), 1–32. Martin, R. & Sunley, P., 2006. Path dependence and regional economic revolution. Journal of Economic Geography, 6(4), 395–437. Mayer, H. & Baumgartner, D. 2014. The role of entrepreneurship and innovation in peripheral regions. disP - The Planning Review, 50(1), 16–23. https://doi .org /10 .1080 /02513625 .2014 .926720. Miller, F. et al., 2010. Resilience and vulnerability: Complementary or conflicting concepts? Ecology and Society, 15(3), 11. Moore, J., 2003. The modern world-system as environmental history? Ecology and the rise of capitalism. Theory and Society, 32(3), 307–377. Muñiz, A.S.G., Raya, A.M. & Carvajal, C.R., 2011. Core periphery valued models in input‐output field: A scope from network theory. Papers in Regional Science, 90(1), 111–121. Myint, H., 1958. The “classical theory” of international trade and the underdeveloped countries. The Economic Journal, 68(270), 317–337. Nkrumah, K., 1965. Neo-colonialism: The last stage of imperialism. Thomas Nelson & Sons, Ltd., London. Nordlund, C., 2018. Power-relational core-periphery structures: Peripheral dependency and core dominance in binary and valued networks. Network Science, 6(3), 348–369. OECD, 2006. The New Rural Paradigm. Paris: OECD Publishing. Page, S., 2000. Regionalism among Developing Countries. London: Macmillan. Pelc, S., 2017. Marginality and marginalization. In Chand, R, Nel, E, Pelc C (eds.) Societies, social inequalities and marginalization: Marginal regions in the 21st century. Perspectives on Geographical Marginality Series. , London: Springer 13–28. Pickett, S.T., Cadenasso, M.L. & Grove, J.M., 2004. Resilient cities: Meaning, models and metaphor for integrating the ecological, socio-economic and planning realms. Landscape and Urban Planning, 69(4), 369–384. Pike, A., Dawley, S. & Tomaney, J., 2010. Resilience, adaptation and adaptability. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 3(1), 59–70. Porter, L. & Davoudi, S., 2012. The politics of resilience for planning: A cautionary note. Planning Theory and Practice, 13, 329–333. Potter, R., 2012. Urbanisation and Planning in the Third World: Spatial Perceptions and Public Participation. London: Routledge. Richardson, H.W., 1987. The goals of national urban policy: The case of Indonesia. In R.J. Fuchs, W.J. Jones & E.M. Pernia (eds.), Urbanization and Urban Policies in Pacific Asia. London: Westview, 277–300. 54 Mariske van Aswegen and J. Ernst Drewes Richardson, H.W., Bae, C.C. & Choe, S., 2011. Reshaping Regional Policy. Northampton: Edward Elgar. Rodríguez‐Pose, A., 1999. Innovation prone and innovation Averse societies: Economic performance in Europe. Growth and Change, 30(1), 75–105. Ruddle, K. & Rondinelli, D.A., 1983. Transforming natural resources for human development: A resource systems framework for development policy. Tokyo: United Nations. Sachs, J.D. & McArthur, J.W., 2005. The millennium project: A plan for meeting the millennium development goals. Lancet, 365(9456), 347–353. Sachs, W., Gustavo, E., Lummis, D.C., Gronemeyer, M., Berthoud, G., Illich, I., Rahnema, M. et al. 2010. The Development Dictionary (2nd ed.). New York: Zed Books. Schubert, T. & Sooryamoorthy, R., 2010. Can the centre–periphery model explain patterns of international scientific collaboration among threshold and industrialised countries? The case of South Africa and Germany. Scientometrics, 83(1), 181–203. Setterfield, M., 2001. Notes and comments: Cumulative causation, interrelatedness and the theory of economic growth: A reply to Argyrous and Toner. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 25(1), 107–112. Smith, A.M., 2013. Continuing the legacy of David Livingstone: The contribution of fair trade to international development. The Expository Times, 125(2), 53–66. https://doi .org /10 .1177 /0014524613502916. Steen, M. & Underthun, A., 2011. Upgrading the ‘Petropolis’ of the north? Resource peripheries, global production networks, and local access to the Snøhvit natural gas complex. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift–Norwegian Journal of Geography, 65(4), 212–225. Stilwell, F.J., 1972. Regional Economic Policy. London: Macmillan. Tanyanyiwa, V.I. & Hakuna, C., 2014. Challenges and opportunities for regional integration in Africa: The case of SADC. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 19(12), 103–115. Thelen, K., 1999. Historical institutionalism in comparative politics. Annual Review of Political Science, 2(1), 369–404. Tödtling, F. & Trippl, M., 2005. One size fits all? Towards a differentiated regional innovation policy approach. Research Policy, 34(8), 1203–1219. Turok, I., 2014. The resilience of South African cities a decade after local democracy. Environment and Planning A, 46(4), 749–769. Ukaegbu, V., 2011. Regional integration and dependence in Africa: A comparative study of SADC and ECOWAS. Being M.Sc Thesis Submitted to the Department of Political Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation), 2020. Competitive industrial performance report 2023, CIP index, edition 2023: Country and economy profiles. https://stat .unido .org /cip/. United Nations, 1967. Criteria for Location of Industrial Plants (Changes and Problems). New York: United Nations. Van Duijn, J.J., 1979. De betekenis van een innovatie-georienteerd regionaal beleid voor Nederland. Beleid en Maatschappij, 6(6), 162–171. Virkkala, S. & Niemi, K. (eds.), 2006. Peripheral Localities and Innovation Policies: Learning from Good Practices Between the Nordic Countries. Oslo: Nordic Innovation Centre. Role and potential of peripheral region 55 Wallerstein, I., 1974. The rise and future demise of the world-capitalist system: Concepts for comparative analysis. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 16(4), 390–399. Wallerstein, I., 1976. The modern world-system. In Wallerstein, I (ed.) The Modern World-System: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European WorldEconomy in the Sixteenth Century. London: University of California Press, 229. Wallerstein, I., 2004. World-systems analysis. In G. Modelski (ed.), World System History, in Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the Auspices of the UNESCO. Oxford: Eolss Publishers, 1–14. Ward, N. & Brown, D.L., 2009. Placing the rural in regional development. Regional studies, 43(10), 1237–1244. Weber, A., 1929. Theory of the Location of Industries. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. William, L., Andrew, M., Nehemiah, N. & Walter, K., 1997. Regional integration in sub-Saharan Africa: A review of experiences and issues. In Oyejide, T. Ademola & Collier, Paul & Elbadawi, Ibrahim (eds.). Regional Integration and Trade Liberalisation in Sub-Saharan Africa, Vol. I: Framework, Issues and Methodological Perspectives. London: Palgrave Macmillan. World Bank, 2008. World Development Report 2009: Reshaping Economic Geography. New York: Oxford University Press. World Bank, 2018. World Development Report 2019: The Changing Nature of Work. Washington: The World Bank. https://doi .org /10 .1596 /978 -1 -4648 -1328-3 Yates, D.A., 2012. The Scramble for African Oil: Oppression, Corruption and War for Control of Africa’s Natural Resources. 4 4.1 Introduction This chapter assesses subnational regional development policy with the aim of evaluating its ramifications for the wider Southern African Development Community (SADC). Regional development policy may be defined as strategic options adopted by regions to attain desired goals such as improving the socio-economic well-being of their residents. These regions are geographical polities created through the political process due to their shared attributes such as levels of development or physical features. Subnational regions entail administrative regions within the ambit of the nation-state normally established by the central government through a legislative or policy framework. Moreover, supranational regions are those created by collaborative networks of nation-states for the purpose of attending to development matters which straddle national territorial boundaries. While much research exists on subnational regionalism, the concept still appears to be relatively emergent in an African context. Equally important is the dearth of existing literature on the implications of subnational regional policy for what happens at the supranational level. Thus, the inter-linkages between the two concepts could benefit from more theoretical and empirical insights. Within the Southern African context, there appears to be little (if any) existing research which broaches this matter. The chapter thus seeks to fill this gap in the prevailing literature. Specifically, the chapter is based on a case study of Namibia. The choice of Namibia is informed by the relative dearth of research on this country given that the prevailing discourse on regionalism in Africa appears to be dominated by countries such as South Africa. The chapter thus seeks to reveal important context-specific insights that may be missing in prevailing studies. Specific objectives include: assessing the evolution of subnational regionalism and the underlying factors responsible for this; evaluating the defining elements of subnational regional development policy; and assessing the ramifications of subnational regional policy for supranational regionalism. The qualitative analysis relies on document and discourse analyses, as well as interviews to make its observations. Specifically, policy documents on regionalism as well as journal articles are analysed. Moreover, a total of five interviews were conducted with respondents from regional councils and the Ministry of Urban 4 Implications of subnational regional development policy for the Southern African Development Community Eric Yankson DOI: 10.4324/9781003379379-5 This chapter has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND license. 10.4324/9781003379379-5 Subnational regional development policy 57 Subnational regional development policy and Rural Development with the aim of obtaining insightful perspectives on regionalism in Namibia. The interviewees were selected through a purposive sampling approach due to their level of knowledge on the evolution of regional planning and development policy in Namibia. The chapter discussion starts by reviewing the literature on subnational and supranational regionalism. It broaches regionalism in SADC to provide a better contextual framing for the discussion before delving in on the situation in Namibia. It then concludes by assessing the implications of the Namibia observations for the wider SADC region, as well as the existing literature. 4.2 Subnational and supranational regionalism The pursuit of subnational regionalism in the era of globalisation may be explained in part by the context-specific nature of inter-jurisdictional challenges which create the need for subnational actors such as local authorities to pool efforts towards addressing them. Thus, it reifies inter-local or inter-governmental collaboration characterised by the downward rescaling of political governance from the national government (Yankson, 2021: 1–3; Yankson, 2023: 15–20). In a sense, subnational regionalism may thus be regarded as an element of decentralisation which seeks to transfer powers from the national government to lower levels in the political decision-making spectrum. The result of this decentralisation may however be an increase in regional disparities if it is characterised by significant devolution of power. This could occur since resource-rich regions can leverage their newly acquired powers to utilise their endowments for the welfare of their residents while resourcepoor areas may lack this privilege (Talitha et al., 2020: 704–705). Similarly, decentralisation could lead to the proliferation of new autonomous regions, resulting in increased political fragmentation. The above-noted developments may however be curtailed with broader governmental reforms which seek to minimise the ramifications of decentralisation for regional disparities and fragmentation (Talitha et al., 2020: 704–705). In a relatively centralised political system, subnational regionalism may be a state-led spatial intervention to promote development by connecting urban nodes. This can occur within the ambit of capitalist restructuring in the global political economy (Summers, 2016: 1637–1639). The notion of regional connectivity within the lens of globalisation thus presents an alternative perspective from the dominant discourse which emphasises the socially ensconced, spatially configured and contextually localised nature of regional development (Crescenzi & Iammarino, 2017: 97). Subnational governments are influenced by the power dynamics associated with both vertical and horizontal relationships. Where these polities receive relatively less support from the national government, they may be compelled to resort to more interdependence with or reliance on other local actors. The result may be a compromised or weakened position in their interactions with these players. However, where such vertical support exists, 58 Eric Yankson the interdependence may occur within the ambit of these scalar tiers. The result is a greater bargaining position in deliberations with other subnational actors (Eckersley, 2017: 84–87). Moreover, subnational regionalism may be a strategy for a more open form of governance premised on transparency and political accountability which simultaneously emphasises the roles of supranational actors in shaping policy-making (Chatwin et al., 2019: 451). In the recent past, the supranational region has emerged as an alternative conception to the hitherto dominant discourse on subnational regionalism. This occurs in part due to the transcendence of national borders by the ebbs or flows associated with globalisation. It has therefore become apparent that regions can no longer be understood only within the limited confines of the nation-state (Uwazuruike & Salter, 2017: 95–100). The notion of Schmittian Grossraum theory thus encapsulates the nuances of supranational regionalism. It embodies a political ideology around which nation-states coalesce their efforts to attain defined goals. Notwithstanding its transnational character, there exists a spatial domain within which these inter-governmental efforts are conducted. Moreover, a particular nation may assume the role of the leading power in matters such as security (Uwazuruike & Salter, 2017: 95–100). Whereas supranational regions were primarily driven by political considerations such as security challenges during the era of the Cold War, economic factors have increasingly emerged as primary reasons for the pursuit of these cross-border endeavours (Zimmerbauer, 2018: 911–912). Conceptually, the pursuit of supranational regionalism may be understood within the lenses of power dynamics underpinned by benevolent, coercive and absent leadership. Benevolent leadership occurs when the dominant player in a regional polity assumes the primary responsibility for promoting inter-jurisdictional activities even if this portends that others will be free riders in the process. The motivation lies in the availability of largesse for this purpose as well as the perceived benefits even in the absence of concrete contributions from others (Hulse, 2016: 10). However, coercive leadership occurs when a dominant power whips others in line towards making monetary and other contributions for regional development. The rationale is to maximise benefits to the dominant player even at the expense of others. Moreover, absent leadership implies relative inaction by a powerful actor in steering regional endeavours (Hulse, 2016: 10–11). Several factors may drive regional power behaviour. To begin with, power concerns imply that some nations seek to increase their sphere of influence in regional endeavours with the goal of strengthening their powers in the global political system. Moreover, countries may be driven by local concerns to pursue functional efficiency goals in order to advance their self-interests. The rationale here is to pool efforts with other countries to embark on initiatives which may yield direct benefits for citizens (Hulse, 2016: 12–13). In terms of legitimacy and signalling concerns, regionalism comes across as the right thing for nations to do. This enhances their economic and political credibility. Also, neopatrimonial interests portend that informal networks may Subnational regional development policy 59 sometimes emerge to undermine state power, implying that political actors make decisions which largely benefit private actors who actually wield influence (Hulse, 2016: 13–14). 4.3 Regionalism in SADC Having reviewed some existing literature, the chapter now unpacks regionalism in SADC to provide a better contextual framing for the subsequent discussion. The write-up argues that an analytical framework for evaluating development policy in a region of the Global South such as SADC may be distilled based on four defining themes: temporal provenance, conceptual paradigms, policy drivers and policy options (Table 4.1). Temporal provenance refers to historical origins and is important for comprehending the evolution of regional policy. Moreover, conceptual paradigms explain the theoretical or ideological orientations which define this endeavour. Policy drivers refer to the factors which create the need for regional development policy. Also, policy options entail the strategic interventions adopted to deal with regional development challenges. Following the end of colonial rule in many African countries, regional integration became a defining paradigm for the promotion of socio-economic development. The goal was to deal with challenges such as small economic bases, poor infrastructure, underdevelopment and socio-spatial inequality characteristic of many newly independent countries. The overarching approach occurred through the establishment of the then Organisation of Table 4.1 Regional policy in SADC Themes Elements Temporal provenance •Colonial and apartheid origins •End of Cold War •Neoliberal globalisation Conceptual paradigms •Theory of regional integration •Power play: Schmittian Grossraum theory, coercive leadership, securitisation of borders, favouring formal actors Policy drivers •Small economic bases •Poor infrastructure •Underdevelopment •Socio-spatial inequality Policy options •Regional economic growth •Cross-national development corridors •Vision 2050 •Regional indicative strategic development plan •Regional infrastructure development master plan Source: Author’s construct based on document and discourse analyses, literature review and interviews 66 Eric Yankson governmental tiers to ensure a coordinated development strategy (Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, 2015b: 5–9). Moreover, this concept involves participatory planning and thus pools the efforts of various stakeholders including local authorities, government ministries, departments and agencies, as well as local communities and ordinary citizens. Immanent in this approach is the utilisation of geographic information systems (GIS) tools for integrated planning at the regional level. Moreover, the concept seeks to plan for the needs of various sectors such as tourism, agriculture, manufacturing and other important elements of the regional economy (Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, 2015b: 5–9). Besides integrated regional land use planning, regional cooperation and networks in Namibia are evident in terms of collaborative policy endeavours between various local authorities aimed at sharing experiences and learning best practices. The exchanges mostly occur between local authorities in the country (such as periodic engagements between the City of Windhoek and other municipal or town councils). Collaborative endeavours also occur between Namibian local authorities and their counterparts in other countries such as South Africa. Moreover, regional councils pool efforts in various ways to ensure the effectiveness of government policies across the country. Regional cooperation in Namibia sometimes occurs through memoranda of understanding among the parties involved. Moreover, the existence of institutional platforms such as the Association of Regional Councils in Namibia and the Association of Local Authorities in Namibia serve as mechanisms for the promotion of collaborative endeavours. Also, political rescaling in Namibia may be understood in terms of the country’s decentralisation policy which seeks to transfer powers from the national government to subnational units such as regions, cities and towns. Specifically, the policy seeks to promote participatory decision-making to enhance democracy. Moreover, it aims to empower regional councils and local authorities to provide a better quality of service delivery to their residents. This forms part of the broader goal of promoting sustainable development (Republic of Namibia: Ministry of Urban and Rural Development, 2016: 3–4). Several functions were devolved to the regional councils as part of Namibia’s regional planning and development policy. These include the following: communitybased development, management of settlement areas, administration of communal lands, pre-primary and primary education, primary health care, forestry management, conservation, rural water management, physical planning, and economic development, as well as emergency management (National Planning Commission of Namibia, 1997: 9). Notwithstanding their lofty goals however, as noted earlier, decentralisation has been characterised by limited transfer of powers from the central government to regional and local authorities. This is partly due to the path dependency of centralisation inherited from the colonial and apartheid eras. Moreover, the limited financial resources available to subunits of government imply that they largely rely on the largesse of the central government to execute their programmes (Larsen, 2003: 10–15). Subnational regional development policy 67 In terms of multilevel governance, regional councils in Namibia may be regarded as a development bridge between the national government and local authorities. This is because they serve as the intermediary in the scalar chain between these two levels. The multilevel governance policy space serves as a forum for regional councils to mobilise resources from the national government and international development partners. Simultaneously, it demonstrates the integrated nature of the governance process which requires different spatial scales to address various challenges. This may be partly explained by Namibia’s unitary governmental system, which is hierarchical and conceptualises political decision-making at different levels. Multilevel governance is also evident in terms of the various layers of authority that characterise regional councils and other units of government. 4.4.2.2 Spatial policies Besides scalar policies, spatial interventions are also evident. To begin with, notwithstanding the rapid pace of urbanisation in Namibia, many parts of the country remain rural. This creates the need for the prioritisation of urbanrural linkages as the basis for regional development. Moreover, the proliferation of informal settlements at the urban periphery arises due to high rates of rural-urban migration. These settlements also blur the binaries between urban and rural areas, resulting in the need for a proactive approach to planning which comprehensively addresses the development challenges posed by these inter-linkages. Due to the inherent linkages between urban and rural areas, various policies have sought to equalise development outcomes in these places. For instance, Namibia’s Urban and Regional Planning Act of 2018 spells out guidelines for the preparation of a national spatial development framework, as well as regional and urban structure plans (Republic of Namibia, 2018). Moreover, the rural development policy seeks to create socio-economic and environmental progression in rural areas through better coordination, participatory planning, infrastructure provision, industrial development, economic diversification, improved sanitation and ecological sustainability (Republic of Namibia: Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development, 272012: 11–22). Regional planning also serves as a confluence of global and local synergies in the development process (Yankson, 2023: 1–5; Yankson, 2015: 1–4). For instance, the promotion of foreign direct investment in Namibia’s regions is an exemplar of how these dynamics interact with each other. Regional councils therefore play a facilitating role together with the national government and local authorities in shaping this endeavour. Global-local linkages in subnational regional policy may be understood in terms of the HPPs which prioritise international relations and cooperation. Moreover, Namibia’s industrial policy underscores the salience of industrialisation as a tool for supranational regionalism within the ambit of SADC. 68 Eric Yankson Intra-regional planning entails resource allocation within the boundaries of a region to stimulate development. Similarly, it involves channelling funds to various sectors such as housing, transport and economic development, among others. Depending on a region’s priorities, some geographical areas or sectors may receive more funding than others. Also, inter-regional planning occurs when resources are allocated between regions. This may form part of central government objectives of bridging development disparities. Thus, it may prioritise the attraction of jobs and investments to relatively poor regions (National Planning Commission of Namibia, 1997: 14–15). 4.4.2.3 Sectoral policies In terms of sectoral policies, the promotion of agriculture in Namibia’s regions is premised on the goal of ensuring self-sufficiency in food production and supplying the needs of the nation’s agro-based industries. Specific strategies for attaining these include the supply of agricultural inputs, establishment of irrigation facilities and provision of physical infrastructure. Moreover, the promotion of subsistence farming has the tendency to create jobs for the many individuals around the country who rely on this for their livelihoods (National Planning Commission of Namibia, 1997: 10–11). Also, the degradation of Namibia’s agricultural lands, forests and other natural resources is a major issue of concern. Thus, regional councils have a responsibility to implement interventions aimed at preserving these resources (National Planning Commission of Namibia, 1997: 12–13). Industrialisation is also pivotal for wealth creation in subnational regions. This partly entails enhancing the capacity of the manufacturing sector to boost regional economic competitiveness. However, due to Namibia’s small market and the labour-intensive nature of its small-scale enterprises, the promotion of small-scale industries serves a particularly important role in reducing unemployment within the country’s regions. Coupled with this is the fact that many of these enterprises belong in the informal sector which still provides livelihoods for a significant portion of the population. The promotion of small-scale enterprises entails the utilisation of both the natural and human resources available within the regions themselves. This serves as a strategy for reducing imports, utilising available technologies and satisfying regional demand for goods or services (National Planning Commission of Namibia, 1997: 11). The promotion of small-scale industrialisation at the regional level is anchored in Namibia’s industrial policy which also prioritises this sector as a tool for employment generation and economic development. Part of the strategy for attaining this entails capacity building and skills training to enhance human capital development (Republic of Namibia: Ministry of Trade and Industry, 2012: 8–10). Besides industrialisation, the promotion of the service sector is a major strategic policy intervention in Namibia’s regions. This is particularly evident in the tourism sector given the abundance of conservancies, deserts, Subnational regional development policy 69 forests, wildlife and other natural endowments which attract visitors to various regions of the country. In the year 2012 for instance, tourism contributed 3% of Namibia’s gross domestic product, and this was expected to increase steadily over the years. The Kavango East integrated regional land use plan, which recognises the potential of tourism to the socio-economic well-being of the region, is an exemplar of how this sector is prioritised by many regions across the country. 4.5 Implications of subnational regionalism for SADC Having assessed the defining elements of subnational regional development policy, the chapter now evaluates the implications of the concept for SADC (Table 4.4). Overall, several ramifications may be identified. Arguably, the Table 4.4 Implications of subnational regional policy for SADC Subnational regional policy elements Implications for SADC Integrated regional land use planning •Promotion of regional integration Regional cooperation and networks •Subnational strategies as the building blocks for national-level collaborative networks under the ambit of SADC •Blurring of lines between subnational and supranational regionalism Political rescaling •Participatory planning in subnational and supranational regionalism •Supranational regionalism as a new form of centralisation Multilevel governance •Attending to development matters at various spatial scales Urban-rural linkages •Subnational regionalism as the basis for overall development of SADC Global-local synergies •Globalisation and interconnectedness of spatial contexts •Schmittian Grossraum theory •Functional efficiency and legitimation concerns Intraand inter-regional planning •Reduction of spatial disparities in SADC Agricultural development and natural resource management •Enhancing food security in SADC •Improved tourism potential of SADC region Industrialisation •Promotion of regional economic resilience •Lynchpin of regional economic competitiveness Promotion of service sector •Cross-national collaboration Source: Author’s construct based on document and discourse analyses, literature review and interviews 70 Eric Yankson emergence of a subnational policy such as integrated regional land use planning partly accounts for the emphasis on the promotion of regional integration by SADC. This is because the SADC interventions are aimed at addressing macro-level regional development gaps not effectively attended to by the subnational strategies. This is due to resource constraints as well as limited powers possessed by lower levels of government. The implication is that national-level governments in SADC pool efforts in various ways to make up for these shortfalls. Given that central governments have more resources and political leverage, they stand a better chance of being able to attain regional development goals. With specific reference to land use planning, SADC interventions on land-related sectors such as transport and water aim to pool national efforts for more effective cross-border policies. In terms of regional cooperation and networks, subnational strategies may be regarded as the building blocks for national-level collaborative networks under the ambit of SADC. This is evident in the fact that these subnational efforts sometimes straddle national borders, demonstrating the potential for more pronounced outcomes if powerful actors such as national governments are involved. Thus, subnational regionalism constitutes a blurring of the lines with supranational regionalism. For instance, some of the actors involved in supranational regional efforts emanate from the subnational level. The cross-national partnerships between regional councils or local authorities across various SADC countries such as Namibia and South Africa are an exemplar of this configuration. These collaborative platforms which occur in ways such as memoranda of understanding and exchange of visits help to promote the sharing of development exchanges and the building of institutional capacities. With respect to political rescaling, the participatory nature of subnational regionalism underscores the need for this approach to be enshrined in supranational endeavours as well. The implication is that governmental actors must undertake discussions with the aim of advancing the interests of ordinary citizens. Moreover, wherever applicable, representations from citizen groups are pivotal in these inter-governmental discussions. Simultaneously, however, while subnational regionalism may be regarded as a form of decentralisation in the global era, supranational regionalism in a sense constitutes a new form of centralisation of power. Within the lens of SADC, centralisation occurs due to a greater role for national governments in making several policy choices which impact the lives of ordinary citizens. Moreover, this is evident in terms of the strong influence wielded by South Africa within the regional body. For instance, as per the observations of Hulse (2016), South Africa arguably exercises coercive leadership within the SADC Free Trade Area to advance its economic interests. In terms of implications for SADC with respect to multilevel governance, the relationships between subnational and supranational regionalism may also be understood in terms of attending to development matters at various spatial scales. Thus, subnational regionalism occurs due to the development Subnational regional development policy 71 disparities wrought by factors such as urbanisation, rural underdevelopment and historical inequities emanating from the apartheid era. On the other hand, supranational regionalism is created by differences in development among various countries such as South Africa, Namibia, Angola and Mozambique, which creates the need to address relevant issues at a much larger cross-national scale. As regards urban-rural linkages, subnational regionalism constitutes the basis for the overall development of SADC. Admittedly, it is much easier to conceptualise SADC at the bigger scale which involves collaborative endeavours by various national governments. This notwithstanding, the overall development of the region may also be regarded as an aggregation of efforts by various subnational actors in all the countries. Specifically, the development of individual subnational regions through better urban-rural linkages goes a long way to minimise disparities across the wider SADC region. With respect to global-local linkages, the notion of globalisation may also explain the dynamics of regionalism within and outside the ambit of the nation-state in SADC. At both the sub and supranational levels, globalisation reveals the interconnectedness of development needs in diverse spatial contexts. This implies that collaboration among interested actors serves as the foundation for minimising any negative economic ramifications associated with these interactions. Within the lens of Schmittian Grossraum theory, however, supranational regionalism represents a move away from the statist nature of subnational regions to embody a more transnational character. Due to its relatively lower level of power influence in the global political economy, the pursuit of regionalism by a nation like Namibia appears to be primarily driven by functional efficiency concerns. At the subnational scale, this serves as a strategy for attending to local development concerns. The motivation carries through to the supranational level where such crossnational collaborative endeavours are believed to generate highly localised development benefits in the form of enhanced trade, tourism, foreign direct investment and capital inflows. Besides the primary functional efficiency motivation, legitimation concerns are also important. This is due to Namibia’s aim of becoming a reliable partner in international relations. Regional collaborative efforts thus portend well for its increased global visibility. As regards intraand inter-regional planning, subnational regionalism reduces spatial inequalities within and between regions. This occurs due to targeted interventions aimed at equalising regional development outcomes. This conception from the subnational context is replicated at the wider SADC level through strategic interventions which seek to minimise spatial disparities in Southern Africa. Thus, intraand inter-regional planning serves as a building block for broader cross-national border engagements. As regards agricultural development and natural resource management, subnational regional interventions enhance food security in SADC. This is evident for instance in the reliance by South Africa on other countries in the region for agricultural products which it does not produce itself in sufficient 72 Eric Yankson quantities. Moreover, a nation such as Namibia depends on South Africa for most of its food imports. Similarly, the abundance of natural resources such as parks and conservancies in regions within individual countries has the cumulative effect of enhancing the tourism potential of the wider SADC region. Moreover, subnational regional development policy may be regarded as a micro-level strategy for attaining economic resilience in SADC. This occurs because subnational regions serve as building blocks for the promotion of industrialisation which can help to reduce the reliance of SADC on imports. Similarly, the promotion of local investments within these micro-geographies serves to reduce the vulnerability of the region to the economic vagaries and power dynamics associated with foreign direct investment. Subnational regionalism may therefore be regarded as a lynchpin for the promotion of supranational regional economic competitiveness in the global political economy. As regards the service sector, the subnational focus on tourism has evolved into cross-national border interventions within SADC to maximise the growth of this sector. This is due to the transnational nature of many of the resources which underpin tourism. For instance, the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area Treaty was signed in 2011 by the ministers of tourism, natural resources, environment and wildlife for the five countries that make up the Kavango Zambezi Basin (Republic of Namibia: Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, 2015a: 12). These comprise Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Angola. The goal of the treaty is to sustainably manage the resources of the basin, which comprises some of the most renowned ecological and tourism resources in the world. These include the Okavango Delta which is the largest Ramsar site globally. Articles 4(1) and 8(1) of the memorandum of understanding spell out the obligations of each member state towards the effective conservation of the basin (Republic of Namibia: Ministry of Lands and Resettlement, 2015a: 12). 4.6 Conclusion This chapter establishes dialectical relationships between subnational and supranational regionalism. It observes how these different scalar approaches reinforce or complement each other while synchronously representing alternative conceptualisations to the attainment of regional development goals. At the subnational scale, regionalism is a scalar bridge between the development efforts of the central government and local authorities. Moreover, it serves as a platform for addressing the development disparities associated with urbanrural linkages and dichotomies. Subnational regionalism also constitutes a collaborative platform for pooling the efforts of local authorities, communities and other actors towards promoting development. At the supranational level, national governments are motivated to cooperate with the aim of leveraging regional economic competitiveness in the global political economy. For Subnational regional development policy 73 instance, SADC is one of the most prosperous supranational regions in Africa due to the competitive edge created by the economic synergies of its member states. This is evident in terms of trade, industrial production, transport linkages and foreign direct investment. The chapter also evinces that both subnational and supranational regionalism may be undergirded by the need to address spatial development inequities. At the subnational scale in a SADC context, the colonial and apartheid legacies may be preponderant factors responsible for the situation. Moreover, at the supranational level, differences in national resource endowments coupled with varying levels of economic and political clout could account for the situation. The need therefore arises to pool efforts of relevant actors to mitigate the existing situation. Ultimately, subnational regional sector-based policies may be regarded as the simulacrum of broad-based interventions within the SADC framework. The lessons learnt from these subnational strategic interventions define the overarching SADC policies. Moreover, the inter-jurisdictional nature of resource management in sectors such as tourism creates the need for crossnational collaboration to develop more effective interventions. It is therefore evident that regionalism within and outside the boundaries of the nationstate are inherently interlinked with each other. References Balassa, B. (1961). The theory of economic integration. Homewood: Richard D. Irwin. Chatwin, M., Arku, G., & Cleave, E. (2019). Defining subnational open government: Does local context influence policy and practice? Policy Sciences, 52(3), 451–479. Crescenzi, R., & Iammarino, S. (2017). Global investments and regional development trajectories: The missing links. Regional Studies, 51(1), 97–115. Eckersley, P. (2017). A new framework for understanding subnational policy-making and local choice. Policy Studies, 38(1), 76–90. Hopwood, G. (2005). Regional councils and decentralisation at the crossroads: Analyses and views. Windhoek: Namibia Institute for Democracy. Hulse, M. (2016). Regional powers and leadership in regional institutions: Nigeria in ECOWAS and South Africa in SADC. KFG Working Paper Series. Berlin: Freie Universitat Berlin, FB Politikund Sozialwissenschaften, Otto-Suhr-Institut fur Politikwissenschaft KollegForschergruppe “The Transformative Power of Europe”. Larsen, A. (2003). Decentralisation in Namibia: A case study of the Erongo Region. The Interdisciplinary Journal of International Studies, 1, 1–16. Mabhaudhi, T., Mpandeli, S., Madhlopa, A., Modi, A. T., Backeberg, G., & Nhamo, L. (2016). Southern Africa’s water–energy nexus: Towards regional integration and development. Water, 8(235), 1–21. Mcgirr, K. (2021). Regional government in Namibia: Is decentralisation a reality? Windhoek: Institute for Public Policy Research. Mlambo, D. N. (2020). The quest for post-colonial regional integration: Examining the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Southern Africa post1992. Journal of African Foreign Affairs, 7(1), 23–48. 74 Eric Yankson Moyo, I. (2020). On decolonising borders and regional integration in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Social Sciences, 9(32), 1–12. National Planning Commission. (2017). Namibia’s fifth national development plan (NDP5). NDP5: Working together towards prosperity (2017/18–2021/2). National Planning Commission of Namibia. (1997). Regional planning development policy for Namibia of 1997. Pretorius, O. R., Drewes, J. E., & Gumbo, T. (2022). Evidence to inform resilience policy in the SADC: Current limitations and future research areas. World, 3(3), 449–469. Pretorius, O. R., Drewes, J. E., & Van Aswegen, M. (2017). Fostering a resilient regional economy in the SADC through regional integration. Regional Science Policy and Practice, 9(3), 217–228. Pretorius, O. R., Drewes, J. E., Van Aswegen, M., & Malan, G. (2021). A policy approach towards achieving regional economic resilience in developing countries: Evidence from the SADC. Sustainability, 13(2674), 1–21. Rambanapasi, C. O., & Darkoh, M. B. K. (1997/8). A general overview of regional planning in the SADC region. Journal of African Research and Development, 27/8, 1–44. Republic of Namibia. (1992a). Local authorities act 23 of 1992. Annotated Statutes. Republic of Namibia. (1992b). Regional councils act 22 of 1992. Annotated Statutes. Republic of Namibia. (2000). Decentralisation enabling act 33 of 2000. Annotated Statutes. Republic of Namibia. (2002). The constitution of Namibia. Windhoek: Ministry of Regional and Local Government and Housing, Namibia Institute for Democracy. Republic of Namibia. (2018). Urban and regional planning act 5 of 2018. Annotated Statutes. Republic of Namibia: Ministry of Lands and Resettlement. (2015a, March). Baseline report (volume 1) for the Zambezi integrated regional land use plan. Republic of Namibia: Ministry of Lands and Resettlement. (2015b, March). Integrated regional land use plan for the Kavango East Region: Baseline report (Volume 1). Republic of Namibia: Ministry of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development. (2012, March). National draft rural development policy. Republic of Namibia: Ministry of Regional, Local Government and Housing. (1997, September). A decentralization policy for the Republic of Namibia: Decentralization, democracy and development. Republic of Namibia: Ministry of Trade and Industry. (2012). Namibia’s industrial policy. Republic of Namibia: Ministry of Urban and Rural Development. (2016, June 21). Brief on the status of decentralization policy implementation. Debate in Parliament on Decentralization. Republic of Namibia: Office of the President. (2004). Namibia vision 2030: Policy framework for long-term national development. Windhoek. Republic of Namibia: The Office of the President. (2016). Harambee prosperity plan, 2016/17–2019/20: Namibian government’s action plan towards prosperity for all. Republic of Namibia: The Presidency. (2021). Harambee prosperity plan II, 2021– 2025: Action plan of the Namibian government towards economic recovery and inclusive growth. Subnational regional development policy 75 Southern African Development Commnunity. (2020, October). SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), 2020–2030. Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat. Southern African Development Community. (2012, August). Regional infrastructure development master plan: Executive summary. Summers, T. (2016). China’s ‘new silk roads’: Sub-national regions and networks of global political economy. Third World Quarterly, 37(9), 1628–1643. Talitha, T., Firman, T., & Hudalah, D. (2020). Welcoming two decades of decentralization in Indonesia: A regional development perspective. Territory, Politics, Governance, 8(5), 690–708. Tötemeyer, G. (2010). Decentralisation and state-building at the local level. In C. Keulder (Ed.), State, society and democracy: A reader in Namibian politics. Windhoek: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, 108–149. Uwazuruike, A., & Salter, M. (2017). What does regional studies study? From subnational to supra-national regional spaces or Grossraum of sovereign governance. Territory, Politics, Governance, 5(1), 92–113. Yankson, E. (2015). Globalization and inter-local cooperation: The mediating roles of local contexts in the global north and south. Doctoral dissertation. Louisville, KY: University of Louisville Institutional Repository. Yankson, E. (2021). Inter-governmental partnerships and global governance. In W. Leal Filho, A. Azul, L. Brandli, A. Lange Salvia, & T. Wall (Eds.), Partnerships for the Goals: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Cham: Springer, 1–11. Yankson, E. (2023). Regionalism in a glocal lens: A metagovernance framework. Regional and Federal Studies, 1–24. Zajontz, T. (2022). Seamless imaginaries, territorialized realities: The regional politics of corridor governance in Southern Africa. Territory, Politics, Governance, 1–22. Zimmerbauer, K. (2018). Supranational identities in planning. Regional Studies, 52(7), 911–921. 82 Andrè Brand disparities, and the mapping of economic spaces (Yeates, 1984). Primarily, the function of corridors is to connect areas (urban and rural) across regions and countries to promote trade, that is, the movement of passengers and goods. Development corridors can be viewed as a network with multisector linkages and are considered most beneficial for promoting economic development. Countries' modus operandi towards development corridors as maintained is primarily supply-driven with the notion of creating an overarching transport solution (physical or morphological connections) that will automatically translate into economic activity and growth. The creation of an overarching transport solution is arranged around a coordinated improvement of multimodal transportation systems (sea, air, rail, and road) and compromises of two networks, namely 1) a main network constituting the most important connections, i.e., preferred cities and regions; and 2) a far-reaching network covering all potential regions (EC, 2014 and Online: EC, 2022). This aligns with Brunner’s (2013) supposition that corridors do not generate significant economic benefits in isolation but rather have to be analysed as part of a network all linked together. However, Qian (2021) inferred that lessons learned signified that it has not and will not necessarily work. Brand and Drewes (2019) demonstrated that offsetting remoteness is more than just physical connections – it also provides for non-physical connections such as the sphere of influence (connectivity strength) of a region and how it can potentially be measured and interpreted. In their view, corridors should be qualified in terms of scientific reasoning. Such quantification of spatial measures provides a scientific base for objective and effective spatial targeting on a regional scale. As a consequence, development corridors have become multi-faceted. Scholars such as Friedmann (1972), Tuppen (1977), Geyer (1988), Andersen and Burnett (1998), Arvis (2011), Buiter and Rahbari (2011), Henning and Saggau (2012), Srivastava (2012), Brunner (2013), and Brand (2017) put forward various ideas and considerations of what constitutes as a development corridor, and evidence from their works revealed two prominent characteristics: 1) there is a link between nodes which provides access to different levels of economic opportunities, and 2) the intensity of economic development at nodes varies in size and dominance. Although scholars such as Geyer (1988), Chittenden (1990), and Druce (1997) distinguished conditions such as that 1) corridors must have a vibrant development centre or node at both ends, with an axis linking the two centres; and 2) the centres or nodes must be mutually dependent, to support the flow of economic activities along the axis, as fundamental attributes and properties relating to development corridors, Gottmann (1961) and Whebell (1969) initially hypothesised the term ‘corridor’. Gottmann (1961) made the argument that a corridor is a confirmation of the complex process of interaction (see Figure 5.1), be it social, economic, or administrative, between two primary development centres, which tend to augment the development process in each centre, as well as in secondary and intermediate centres on or in the proximity of the axis in between. Corridors as spatial instruments 83 Easley and Kleinberg (2010), Henning and Saggau (2012), Felipe (2012), and Brunner (2013) placed emphasis on networks displaying economic cohesiveness. According to them, the impact of development corridors is not limited to specific regions. They emphasised that it was important to measure the creation of potential corridors against the economic cohesion of high and low networks in which potential corridors are embedded. This measurement (elaborated in detail under the section quantification of development corridors) establishes three key conditions 1) the degree of development; 2) the geographical scale – local, regional, national, and continental; and 3) the status of integration. Development corridors can thus be described as axes that express development forces, i.e., an outcome of the flow of activities (goods, services, and information) between urban and regional centres, which leads to the manifestation of economic development. The functional relationships between development centres play an important and decisive role in the creation of corridors. Functional relationships are more than just physical connections, they also provide for non-physical connections such as shared economic spaces (Brand & Drewes, 2019). Aydan Sat (2018) emphasised that the functional dimension focuses on the flows amongst different centres, which gives information about their interdependencies, interrelations, and functional relationships. Therefore, one can conclude that development corridors create opportunities to strengthen partnerships and increase the Figure 5.1 The chronological development process of corridors Source: Adapted from Geyer (1988) 84 Andrè Brand spatial attractiveness of regions and cities. One can further surmise that linking regions and cities not only improves their operational and economic efficiency but also creates a myriad of new economic opportunities – more specifically, it creates integrated networks of systems supporting the flow of goods; improved infrastructure; increased and more efficient interactions; and expanded business involvement. 5.3 Quantification of development corridors Although economic corridors bring a wide range of benefits, it is much more complex than a mere road connecting two cities or regions. It involves not only the development of infrastructure but also the crafting of policies and regulations that make it easier to do business, access markets, and conduct other activities that support trade and development in a comprehensive and integrated manner (ADB, 2010). However, it seems that the rationale behind economic corridors especially in the case of SADC still revolves around morphological connectivity. SADC in their approach configured development corridors mostly starting at a seaport protruding inwards (Konstantinus, Zuidgeest, Christodoulou, Raza & Woxenius, 2019) via other types of transport infrastructure, quantifying it as less progressive. To rationalise the justification of being progressive when employing corridors to pursue strategies towards cohesion and development within RECs, the section focuses on scientific reasoning to quantify development corridors. Brand and Drewes (2021) as a measure for scientific reasoning, developed a Regional Corridor Model (RCM) to quantify corridors and is based on three key measurements: 1) the spatial distribution of the size of economies; 2) the relative strength of economies based on proximity; and 3) the integrated and supporting networks of potential spatial targeting. As articulated in the international examples (refer to Section 5.1), development corridors do provide an alternative course of action to spatially transform economic space development. This is based on the notion that cities and regions as drivers of innovation are recognised as preferred locations to promote economic space development. Cities and regions need to consider their role in local, regional, and national innovation strategies, based on areas of competitive advantage. Preferred locations involve formulating an economic agenda which builds on, and innovatively combines, existing strengths in new ways. This means identifying a city’s or a region’s competitive advantage and mobilising stakeholders and resources around a motivational aspiration for the future. Shedding light on the quantification of corridors necessitates a sequential approach focusing on four distinct measures, namely 1) merging cities constituting the corridor axis into extended development nodes, i.e., quantifying the relationship between cities based on the distance separating them; 2) quantifying the degree of economic attraction by each development node, i.e., measures the dominance each development node represents on the corridor axis (fundamental to understand efficiency); 3) quantifying the attraction Corridors as spatial instruments 85 levels (gravitational forces) between the development nodes, i.e., measures the overall strength of connectivity based on distance friction, and 4) quantifying the potential significance of development corridors, i.e., potential spatial targeting the corridor axis can provide. 5.3.1 Extended development nodes To realise the relationship between cities, one needs to consider the urban system concept. The concept of an urban system is not new; it was introduced by Doxiadis (1968) more than five decades ago. An urban system is a group of cities, which, in their evolution, become interdependent because of the many relationship networks being created that interconnect them to a greater extent. Friedmann (1966) perceived that there is a direct or indirect relationship between the interaction of cities and the distance separating them. To oversimplify, the locality of a city in relation to other cities would determine its level of interaction or synergy. According to Geyer Jr. and Geyer (2015), travelling distances between cities are used to functionally distinguish between cities within a network, i.e., to quantify the synergy between cities within a network and to distinguish development nodes. The urban system includes all cities located within a commuting distance that creates a direct or indirect level of synergy, i.e., the association of cities in close proximity to one another when quantifying their synergy. Capello and Rietveld (1998) analysed the concept of synergy and arrived at two distinct meanings, namely 1) synergy is positive when two or more cities interact, or 2) synergy is externally caused by individual cities that voluntarily, or non-voluntarily, form part of a group of cities. Therefore, as conceptualised by Meijers, Waterhout, and Zonneveld (2005), the assumption is that cities close to one another relate to each other in a synergetic way, making the whole network of cities more than the sum of its parts. This allows, through the concept of synergy, for the merging of cities into broader development nodes, meaning creating a functional network of urban centres in the context of extended economic development nodes. Creating a network of economic development nodes not only provides a more practical approach to visualising and analysing the dominant distribution of economic activities across a corridor axis but also creates the opportunity to establish the degree of economic attraction or economic output levels exerted by each development node in relation to one another. This kind of merging not only broadens the overall scope for economic development and regional integration but also creates the opportunity to establish the overall sphere of influence exerted by each development node. 5.3.2 Economic output Brand, Drewes, and Campbell (2021) perceived that the economic output exerted refers to the total population in relation to economically active populations, as well as the value of all goods and services produced in an economy 86 Andrè Brand based on Gross Domestic Product (GDP)/Gross Value Added (GVA), and is primarily used to compare the relative economic output that exists between development nodes. They also emphasised that a well-developed, multimodal transportation network system is an essential ingredient in contributing towards the nature and extent of economic development. In this regard, sea and air transportation are considered primary key gateways when unlocking a country’s economic development potential. Florida et al. (2012) asserted that although airports and seaports might seem disconnected from their locations, they are critical components of the connectivity of people and places. As such, they make important contributions to regional economic development. The main assumption is that the advancement in sea and air transportation resulted in lowering trade barriers, allowing for deeper integration of market access across the globe. Therefore, measuring the economic output exerted for each development node would require including an airand seaport factor. Besides the fact that sea and airports lower trade barriers globally, sea and airports also represent a nodal locality which is an important consideration in the hierarchical ranking of urban centres (Geyer, 1988). In short, the outcome establishes the economic output levels of the network of development nodes relative to one another across a corridor axis. It also displays which nodes ultimately control the most dominant agglomeration of economic activities distributed across the axis. As an additional measurement to verify the level of innovation for each development node, a diversification index can be applied. A diversification index measures the degree of concentration of a node or urban centre’s economy on a sector basis. A value of 0 means that all economic sectors contribute equally to GDP/GVA, whereas a value of 100 means that only one economic sector makes up the whole GDP/GVA. The assumption is that urban centres are the key drivers of innovation. Therefore, a high diversification value equals low innovation and vice versa. The diversification output ultimately establishes a corridor level of innovation and potential sustainability that can impact spatial targeting. 5.3.3 Connectivity strength Although the previous sub-sections determined the relevant economic advantages each respective development node along a corridor axis can provide, Brand et al. (2021) surmised that consideration should be given to the relative strength between development nodes to measure the potential of a corridor. A modified law of gravitation is considered because it is based on relative advantage, which is an index of link demand. According to Janelle (1969), the relative advantage of a given place attracts the centralisation and specialisation of economic activities, i.e., larger urban areas attract people, ideas, and commodities more than smaller urban areas. This is also emphasised by Johnston (1976), indicating that gravity correlates positively with the size of the economy, but negatively with distance, thereby providing a Corridors as spatial instruments 87 good fit in determining potential development corridors. Sheppard (2012) noted, that to establish the distance friction effect, which ultimately defines the attraction levels between two places, it is important to incorporate direct and indirect connectivity between locations. The assumption is that if the distance increases, the attraction levels decrease and vice versa. Direct connectivity considers the distance between two places, and indirect connectivity considers the population count and the overall economic output. The outcome ultimately establishes the overall connectivity strength of corridors. 5.3.4 Corridor potential Realising the overall strength of a corridor, the potential of the most predominant, prominent, and significant segments that comprise a corridor axis is determined by employing a corridor segment index. This allows us to discern the degree of integrated linkages (connectivity strengths) and the potential of spatial targeting upon which economic policies and mutual spatial development initiatives can be contrived (Brand et al., 2021). The above measures provide a scientific base for objective and effective spatial targeting on a regional level. As surmised in the introduction, development corridors are primarily linked to well-developed transportation routes, which means that corridors were not necessarily qualified in terms of relevant datasets or scientific reasoning. According to Brand and Drewes (2023a), without a supportive scientific basis to confirm spatial targeting initiatives, it would run a significant risk to restrict spatial targeting on a regional scale. 5.4 A scientific interpretation: The SADC case This section will focus on why economic and cross-country integration for the SADC member countries matters. The SADC’s member countries include small, isolated economies with island states, a mix of lowand middleincome countries, and larger countries with potentially large economies. The economic geography reinforces the importance of economic integration to create a larger market and greater economic opportunities (Ranganathan & Foster, 2011). Concerning economic integration, the SADC propagates the development of regional connecting infrastructure, or ‘development corridors’, that ensure increased access between member countries for better trade and factor (labour, capital, or land) movements (SADC, 2013). The SADC corridors were first established in the 1980s due to the many landlocked countries in the regions. Still, the particular motivation was to bypass South Africa in rejection of the apartheid government at the time. SADC’s approach to regional development was based on well-maintained and operated infrastructure and the provision of seamless transport services. SADC in their approach configured development corridors into ‘clusters’, that is, a grouping of countries served by a set of corridors, which share ports (sea) and or other types of transport infrastructure. The corridors were mostly identified starting from a seaport and developed protruding inwards towards 88 Andrè Brand landlocked countries. The reason is that transport infrastructure throughout Southern Africa is more established. Most member states of SADC maintain dedicated road agencies. In comparison to other international initiatives, the SADC corridors are deemed successful. Attributes that institute them as successful include common political objectives, similar road and rail design and operational standards, cooperation amongst member states, and establishment of corridor-specific secretariats (Makumbe, 2012; Bowland & Otto, 2012; Konstantinus et al., 2019). Ranganathan and Foster (2011) asserted that with SADC’s relatively small and isolated economies, including island states, its economic geography is challenging. Currently, half a dozen of the SADC’s member countries’ economies are perceived as large or potentially large, with the economy of South Africa exerting the strongest influence on the region, serving as an economic anchor for the rest. Knitting these emerging economies more closely together and linking them to markets in South Africa would help to create a larger market and greater economic opportunities in the region. They argued that cross-country integration is the only likely way to overcome existing constraints and allow the SADC member countries to participate in the global economy. One potential way to overcome existing constraints is to assess basic needs, which include the formation of economic development corridors amongst landlocked countries and ports, as well as between major cities within a given country or region. In consideration, SADC introduced its Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020–2030 (refer to Chapter 2), which is a coherent and comprehensive framework for the implementation of economic integration. It lays out, incrementally, concrete steps and milestones to be achieved in the journey towards Vision 2050. The Vision is anchored on three key pillars, namely 1) Industrial Development and Market Integration; 2) Infrastructure Development in Support of Regional Integration; and 3) Social and Human Capital Development. Economic development corridors in relation to the Vision are anchored on having quality interconnected regional infrastructure and networks that can facilitate the movement of people, goods, services, and knowledge (SADC, 2020). Integrating infrastructure is considered both a precursor to and an enabler of deeper economic integration, thereby helping countries to gain scale economies and harness regional public goods (Ranganathan & Foster, 2011). This signifies that the SADC member countries still associate development corridors with an effective intermodal transport system coupled with physical infrastructure and do not evaluate spatial measures that can put forward a scientific basis for objective and effective spatial targeting. In hindsight, SADC lacks scientific reasoning to enable an effective spatial targeted strategy. The transport sector entails road, rail, air, and sea characterised by a coastline spanning 14,700 km and a total road network spanning approximately 900,000 km, of which 100,000 km are primary roads that connect major cities. Furthermore, it has more than 14,000 interconnected national Corridors as spatial instruments 89 railway networks, which span 10,000 km and connect major ports of various regions (Konstantinus et al., 2019). As previously stated, SADC configured development corridors into ‘clusters’ that share seaports and or other types of transport infrastructure and were mostly identified starting from a seaport and developed protruding inwards towards landlocked countries. The ‘corridor cluster’ is exploited as a vehicle that addresses the basic needs shared by member countries (SADC, 2013). The ‘corridor clusters’ established in SADC are presented in Table 5.1. One can perceive that not only seaports but also an integrated infrastructure network (well-developed transportation routes) played a determining role in the establishment of the SADC development corridor strategy. Table 5.1 SADC corridor clusters Corridor Port Member states Western cluster Lobito/Benguela Lobito Angola, DR Congo, Zambia Bas-Congo Matadi/Banana DR Congo, Angola Malange Luanda Angola, DR Congo Namibe Namibe Angola, Namibia Trans Cunene Walvis Bay Namibia, Angola, South Africa Walvis Bay–Ndola–Lubumbashi (Trans Caprivi) Walvis Bay Namibia, Zambia, DR Congo Trans Kalahari Walvis Bay Botswana, Namibia, South Africa Trans Orange Cape Town Namibia, South Africa Easter cluster Dar es Salaam Corridor Dar es Salaam DR Congo, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia Mtwara Development Corridor Mtwara Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia Nacala Development Corridor Nacala Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia Beira Development Corridor Beira Mozambique, Zimbabwe Limpopo Development Corridor Maputo Mozambique, Zimbabwe Southern cluster Maputo Development Corridor Maputo Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa Manzini–Durban Durban Swaziland, South Africa Maseru–Durban Durban Lesotho and South Africa Phalaborwa–Richards Bay Richards Bay South Africa, Swaziland North–South cluster North–South Corridor Durban DRC, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe Source: SADC (2013) 90 Andrè Brand In facilitating the ‘corridor clusters’ and infrastructure development that balance the needs of SADC regions, SADC released its Regional Infrastructure Development Plan (SADC, 2012). The plan follows the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa designating key areas of focus that have the greatest potential benefits to regions. In moving forward, transport infrastructure is more established than other infrastructural sectors. The region’s infrastructure is high for Africa, and the road network is well-developed (Ranganathan & Foster, 2011). Considering that most member countries maintain dedicated road agencies, three corridors in particular – the North–South corridor; the Maputo corridor; and the Dar es Salaam corridor – are a focus since these corridors connect seaports to areas of industrial productivity (Online: SADC, 2022). These development corridors align with Ranganathan and Foster’s (2011) assessment (GDP per 100km²) that there are two bands of intense economic activity, namely 1) the first and more intense band runs from Durban (eThekwini) in South Africa northward up through Gauteng, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and into Zambia encompassing both the North–South and Maputo corridors; and 2) the second and less intense band runs from northern Angola across the southern Democratic Republic of Congo and through Tanzania encompassing most of the Dar es Salaam corridor. Outside these areas, economic density trails off. This gives effect to the notion of how spatial measures can put forward a scientific base for objective and effective spatial targeting that signifies development corridors as multi-facet. The question remains: does this imply that traditional infrastructure, which promotes connectivity, lacks the prospect of making economic integration more viable? Although roads are still prevalent and remain popular, in the view of Qian (2021), lessons learned signified that it has not and will not necessarily work, hence the reason why Asia introduced spatial as the starting unit and in hindsight placed functional connectivity above morphological connectivity. Ranganathan and Foster (2011) revealed that the volume of goods carried on Southern African corridors per kilometre is significantly higher than all other parts of Africa; as much as three times higher than West Africa, the region with the second largest traffic volumes. This suggests that the SADC region benefits from scale economies (saving in costs gained by an increased level of production) in regional road freight transportation to a greater extent than is the case in other parts of Africa. Brand and Drewes (2023a) validate the scientific basis as outlined in the section quantification of development corridors also affirming the strategic shift introduced by Asia. In their view, the quantification of spatial measures provides for more compelling reasoning or interpretation when promoting spatial targeting. This is demonstrated by measuring two prominent case studies namely, 1) the Durban–Free State–Gauteng corridor, which is vital in facilitating economic growth for South Africa as well as the Southern African region, i.e., the corridor composes the most southern section of the North– South corridor controlling the bulk of regional road freight transportation, Corridors as spatial instruments 91 and 2) the Southern Economic Corridors traversing between Thailand and Cambodia, which aim to promote sustainable development and increase competitiveness and connectivity with neighbouring countries. Although development corridors are primarily linked to well-developed transportation routes, the analysis of the mentioned case studies showed that although development corridors do exhibit high potential for spatial targeting that can unlock inherent economic potential, they also exhibit low potential for spatial targeting (see Figures 5.2 and 5.3). It is surmised that development corridors linked to well-developed transportation routes are limited in promoting spatial targeting when consideration is given to the following: 1) Integration between cities on a variety of spatial scales is recognised as an important driver of urban performance and economic growth. Leading preferred locations, which dominate in number of inhabitants, economic activities, innovation, investments, and cultural and other aspects, illustrate a monocentric characteristic that validates certain development nodes at the expense of others, i.e., limit integration between cities. 2) The role of innovation in developing competitive cities lies at the heart of policy and framework strategies for developing a sustainable competitive city, as cities are the place where innovation is initiated, accelerated, Figure 5.2 Durban–Free State–Gauteng corridor Source: Brand and Drewes, 2023a 98 Andrè Brand Transport and Development Corridors: Progress and Status Report. 16th October 2013, Zimbabwe. Southern African Development Community (SADC). 2020. Regional indicative strategic. Development Plan 2020–2030 [Online]. Available at: <https://www .sadc .int /pillars /regional -indicative -strategic -development -plan -2020 -2030> [Accessed: 10 January 2023]. Southern African Development Community (SADC). 2022. Towards a common future. Transport [Online]. Available at: <https://www .sadc .int /pillars /transport> [Accessed: 16 November 2022]. Sheppard, E. 2012. Trade, Globalization and Uneven Developments of Geographical Political Economy. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. Srivastava, P. 2012. Regional Corridors Development: A Framework. ADB Economics Working Paper No. 258. Manila: Asian Development Bank (ADB). Tuppen, J.N. 1977. Axial Regions: An Appraisal of Their Formation, Evolution, and Definition. Discussion Paper in Geography, No. 4. Salford: University of Salford. Whebell, C.F.J. 1969. Corridors: A theory of urban systems. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 59(1): 1–26. Yeates, M. 1984. The Windsor-Quebec City axis: Basic characteristics. Journal of Geography, 83(5): 240–249. 6 6.1 Introduction The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) is undergoing rapid urbanisation. Since SADC’s establishment in 1980, the population has surged from 127 million to 363 million in 2020, with urban populations expanding by 133 million (UN-Habitat, 2022). As of 2023, urban dwellers constitute 47.6% of the region’s population, and this proportion will likely exceed 50% within the next five years (Le Roux, 2023). By mid-century, approximately 60% of the population will reside in urban areas, emphasising the escalating significance of these evolving spaces. Cities will be instrumental in shaping the region’s economic and social fabric and will become central to development and integration. However, they will also be the epicentres of inequality and climate change impacts (van Niekerk & Le Roux, 2017). The current trajectory suggests that urban areas will likely witness escalating poverty, inequality, and service delivery challenges (Le Roux & Napier, 2022). Swift political, economic, and social transformations will influence the dynamics between major financial and governance hubs and smaller cities and towns (UN-Habitat, 2014: 29). While the traditional concept of ‘growth poles’ has become outdated, cities and settlements play diverse roles as economic gateways and service providers, closely interacting with their surrounding rural areas (Wisner, 2015: 156). This chapter underscores the importance and benefits of establishing a regional settlement profile for SADC. It is divided into three sections: the first examines the development trends influencing the region’s settlement patterns; the second emphasises the significance of cities and discusses the need for a shared regional settlement profile, using the South African settlement typology as an example; and the third offers an analytical profile that utilises combined datasets to analyse the evolving settlement landscape in SADC. The SADC is rapidly urbanising. Since its 1980 inception, the population has ballooned from 127 million to 363 million by 2020. Urban populations saw a 133 million surge. As of 2023, 47.6% of the region’s inhabitants live in urban settings. This figure is projected to cross 50% in the next five years (Le Roux, 2023). By 2050, urban areas will house about 60% of the populace, spotlighting their increasing relevance. These cities will mould the 6 SADC’s settlement hierarchy and networks in support of crossborder regional development Johan Maritz, Alize Le Roux and Elsona van Huyssteen DOI: 10.4324/9781003379379-8 This chapter has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND license. 10.4324/9781003379379-8 100 Maritz, Le Roux, and van Huyssteen SADC’s settlement hierarchy and networks regional socio-economic landscape, pivotal for development and integration. Yet, they’re poised to become hotbeds of inequality and climate change consequences (van Niekerk & Le Roux, 2017). Urban trajectories hint at rising poverty, inequality, and service delivery issues (Le Roux & Napier, 2022). Political, economic, and social shifts will redefine interactions between financial and governance epicentres and smaller urban clusters (UN-Habitat, 2014: 29). Though ‘growth poles’ as a concept may be passe, urban centres remain critical as economic conduits and service hubs, connecting intricately with neighbouring rural regions (Wisner, 2015: 156). This chapter emphasises the merit of creating a SADC regional settlement profile. It unfolds in three segments: • Review of regional settlement development trends; • Spotlight on urban significance and the imperative of a shared settlement profile, with South African typologies as a case study; and • An analytical outline leveraging collective datasets to dissect SADC’s evolving settlement terrain. 6.2 Key development trends shaping SADC’s urban spaces The SADC region represents diverse countries regarding wealth, income, population size, and development challenges. The region includes Africa’s only high-income country (Seychelles) and four of the continent’s seven upper-middle-income nations (South Africa, Botswana, Mauritius, and Namibia). While the region’s per capita income is far above the continent’s average, it also contains some of its poorest and least developed nations. Four low-income countries (Malawi, DR Congo, Madagascar, and Mozambique) and seven lower-middleincome countries (Angola, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) are also located in the region (Le Roux, 2023). SADC has witnessed several dramatic development shifts since its establishment in 1980. Changes in regional integration and cooperation, democratisation, political stability, economic growth, infrastructure development, health-related challenges, repeated climate disasters, and peace and security challenges have all contributed to transforming the region’s economic, social, and political landscape. A notable trend is the explosive growth of urban settlements (Le Roux & Napier, 2022). 6.2.1 Urbanisation and population growth The SADC region is experiencing rapid urbanisation, putting immense strain on infrastructure, housing, and service delivery due to city authorities’ inability to accommodate this growth sustainably. The slow response of governments in allocating land for housing has contributed to the rise of informal housing, as depicted in Table 6.1 (Le Roux & Napier, 2022). In 2000, 43 million people lived in urban slums in SADC, which doubled to 86 million by 2020 (World Bank, 2018). SADC’s settlement hierarchy and networks 101 The region’s population is projected to grow from 391 million in 2023 to 614 million by 2043, with 72% of this growth occurring in urban areas. This underscores the importance of developing, managing, and enhancing the resilience of cities and towns (Mo Ibrahim Foundation, 2015 and United Nations, 2022). The Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Tanzania, South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar, Malawi, and Zambia are all countries forecasted to see significant urban growth pressure (Figure 6.1). Urban spaces within these eight countries will drastically change as cities expand and land uses change to accommodate the growing populations. The Democratic Republic of Congo hosts 37% of the region’s informal urban dwellers. 6.2.2 Demographic structure More than 40% of the population in the region is younger than 15 years, placing a high burden on providing educational and health services. Except for South Africa, Mauritius, and Seychelles, all countries are still to enter their first demographic dividend. There is some promising development as the region is edging closer to joining this dividend, with countries such as Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, and Eswatini set to enter their demographic dividend within the following decade. 6.2.3 Economic dynamics and poverty prevalence The economy of SADC hinges on service industries, supplemented by sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, energy, ICT, and materials. South Africa’s Table 6.1 Percentage of urban dwellers living in informality in SADC SADC countries Percentage of urban dwellers living in informality Number of urban slum dwellers Democratic Republic of Congo 78 32.009,767 Comoros 69 174,930 Madagascar 67 7,193,894 Angola 63 13,732,533 Mozambique 55 6,583,219 Malawi 50 1,759,801 Zambia 48 4,022,981 United Republic of Tanzania 41 9,040,045 Namibia 41 547,722 Botswana 40 678,036 Lesotho 26 172,252 South Africa 24 9,571,315 Zimbabwe 22 1,229,487 Eswatini 11 37,601 Data source: Urban Indicators Database (United Nations, 2023) and World Development Indicators Database (World Bank, 2018). 102 Maritz, Le Roux, and van Huyssteen economy is more mature, while countries like Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Angola lean on agriculture. Although SADC’s GDP per capita outpaces other African regions, it trails globally. Notably, SADC holds the highest global inequalities (Cilliers, 2023b). Poverty is pervasive, with countries such as Madagascar, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, and Zambia recording above 50% poverty levels in 2023. The interplay of high informality, poverty rates, and population growth could escalate informality in cities, except for South Africa. SADC’s economy primarily depends on service industries, complemented by sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture, energy, ICT, and materials. While South Africa boasts a mature economy, nations like Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Angola rely heavily on agriculture. Although SADC’s GDP per capita surpasses that of other African regions, it lags on a global scale. It’s noteworthy that SADC registers the highest global inequalities (Cilliers, 2023b). Poverty remains rife, with countries like Madagascar, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, and Zambia reporting poverty rates over 50% in 2023. A mix of high informality, poverty rates, and population growth might further boost informality in cities, excluding South Africa. 6.2.4 Rural–urban migration Given significant rural-to-urban migration, strategies to guide urban growth are essential. Several SADC nations have successfully enforced policies promoting sustainable urbanisation. For instance, the 2006 Malawi Growth and SADC countries 2023 -2043 Growth in urban dwellers ('mil) 2043 Percentage Urban 2023-2043 Average populaon growth rate Malawi 3.787 23.96 2.13 Eswani0.105 26.03 1.24 Zimbabwe 1.941 31.25 1.76 Comoros0.187 33.54 1.96 Lesotho0.274 38.56 0.58 Maurius -0.005 40.7 -0.09 Mozambique 13.75 48.94 2.42 Tanzania 28.42 49.52 2.47 Madagascar 12.26 53.51 2.16 Zambia 9.016 56.33 2.48 DR Congo 50.99 57.32 2.74 Namibia1.03 68.3 1.52 Seychelles0.012 69.45 0.19 Angola 25.2274.93.08 South Africa 12.26 76.33 0.77 Botswana 0.812 81.35 1.32 Figure 6.1 Forecasts for the growth of urban dwellers in SADC Data source: Forecasts generated by Ifs v 7.84 and available on the African Futures portal (ISS African Futures, 2023) SADC’s settlement hierarchy and networks 103 Development Strategy slowed urbanisation rates through heavy rural investment. Similarly, countries like Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa have implemented policies, each carrying unique triumphs and challenges. A more extreme example of retaining people within rural areas includes the 2006 Malawi Growth and Development Strategy, which resulted in slower urbanisation rates. This pro-rural policy saw the government investing heavily in rural spaces and their economies (agriculture), giving rise to the lowest urbanisation rate in SADC. Other countries such as Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa have also implemented various urbanisation and migration policies to manage rural– urban migration, each with its successes and challenges. Urban policies in the region have been focused on addressing the challenges of rapid urban migration and growth in a sustainable developmental manner. 6.2.5 Conflict in the region While SADC is relatively stable compared to other African regions, it has encountered conflict and instability, significantly affecting urban spaces’ development. Civil wars in Mozambique and Angola, political instability in Lesotho and Zimbabwe, endemic conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the recent emergence of a jihadist insurgency in Mozambique, the struggle for democracy in South Africa, and violent political protests are just some of the events that have contributed to the instability of the region. The conflict has also profoundly impacted the development of urban spaces in SADC. Conflicts can redirect essential resources, change spending priorities, and inhibit new development. For instance, conflict in the Cabo Delgado region of Northern Mozambique led to a significant urban influx of internally displaced persons, burdening authorities and infrastructure. Conflict also impacts extractive economies (e.g., mining) and agricultural production and trade, impacting people’s livelihoods in rural regions, forcing many to seek alternative means of income and adding to urbanisation. 6.2.6 Lack of critical infrastructure The infrastructure backlog across Africa is exceptionally high. In 2019, electricity access was below 54%, and improved sanitation access reached 57% (Cilliers, 2023a). SADC’s aggregate electricity access rate stood at 39% in 2019, while access to rural roads was below 55% (Le Roux, 2023). This lack of infrastructure can contribute to slum formation. Insufficient access to sanitation services, roads, and housing can lead to health threats and limit public transportation, impeding mobility and access to vital services. Often shelter and land are occupied in unsafe high-risk areas exposing these vulnerable communities to natural hazards such as floods, wildfires, and landslides. The lack of access to critical health services, amplified by the high disease burden, is evident in the region’s high infant and maternal mortality rates. Poor road access and limited public transportation limit mobility within and between urban spaces and impede access to critical services. Often these 104 Maritz, Le Roux, and van Huyssteen cities need to be better connected to their rural hinterlands. A considerable infrastructure deficit plagues Africa. In 2019, only 54% had access to electricity and 57% had improved sanitation (Cilliers, 2023a). SADC’s combined electricity access rate was just 39% in the same year, with rural road access even lower at 55% (Le Roux, 2023). 6.2.7 The impact of climate change Despite minimal contributions to climate change, Southern Africa illustrates the intricate interplay between the physical climate and human systems. Over the past four decades, SADC has reported 36% of all weather-related disasters in Africa (Mbiyozo & Le Roux, 2021), causing substantial human and infrastructural losses. Dense urban areas in SADC are especially vulnerable to climate change effects, impacting significant populations and urban economies (Engelbrecht et al., 2022). Climate change will likely exacerbate many of SADC’s existing challenges, leading to increased disaster losses (Le Roux, 2021). 6.3 The need for a shared regional settlement profile Cities and towns are increasingly recognised for their significant role in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals and global climate change challenges (Parnell, 2015; Sassen, 2015; Aerni, 2016). The SADC region’s development intertwines with the dynamics, opportunities, and risks within its cities, towns, settlements, and their hinterlands. These locations act as hubs for economic activities and are essential for service provision, including healthcare, education, water, and sanitation. Ensuring access to these services in urban areas is crucial for reducing vulnerabilities and inequalities (SADC, 2019; UNDESA, 2020). The subsequent section delves into the need for a shared regional settlement profile. 6.3.1 The importance of cities and network of settlements in SADC development The SADC’s Vision 2050 stresses the centrality of cities to economic activity and the provision of essential services. However, unchecked urbanisation can lead to challenges, including urban sprawl, the rise of informal settlements, and environmental degradation. Cities need to be resilient, well-prepared to address vulnerabilities, and capable of recovering from setbacks (SADC, 2020; UNDESA, 2020; Poelmann, 2014). In the SADC region, enhancing regional connectivity, primarily through infrastructure, is essential for promoting regional integration and enabling sustained economic growth. Improved connectivity facilitates trade, increases accessibility, and consequently reduces disparities in rural areas. Strengthening the ties between urban and rural areas is vital to counter regional inequalities, ensuring development benefits are widespread across the region (SADC, 2012; AU, 2021). Collaborations at the city level can spur the creation of local solutions and accelerate knowledge transfer and best practices (OECD, 2022). SADC’s settlement hierarchy and networks 105 Table 6.2 Defining urban for countries in SADC Country Considerations Angola Geographic areas with a high population density and concentrated population groups with a high level of infrastructure. Botswana Agglomerations of 5,000 inhabitants or more where at least 75% of the economic activity is non-agricultural. Comoros Administrative centres of prefectures and localities with 5,000 inhabitants or more. Congo For 1984 and later, six communes: Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, Dolisie/Loubomo, Nkayi, Ouesso, and Mossendjo. Eswatini (Swaziland) Localities officially designated as urban. Lesotho District headquarters and other settlements with rapid population growth and with facilities that tend to encourage people to engage in non-agricultural economic activities. Malawi Townships, town planning areas, and district centres. Mauritius Towns with proclaimed legal limits. Madagascar Centres with 5,000 inhabitants or more. Mozambique For 1997 and 2007: 23 cities and 68 towns/villages. For 1980, 12 cities: Maputo, nine provincial capitals, and the cities of Nacala-Porto and Chokwe. For 1950 to 1970, Conselho of Maputo and Beira. Estimates prior to 1980 were adjusted to take into account other urban settlements. Namibia The district headquarters and other settlements of rapid population growth with facilities that encourage people to engage in nonagricultural activities. United Republic of Tanzania For 1978 and later, all regional and district headquarters and wards with urban characteristics (i.e., exceeding certain minimal level of size-density criteria and/or with many of their inhabitants in non-agricultural occupations). No specific numerical values of size and density are identified, and wards are defined as urban based on the decision of the District/Regional Census Committees. For 1957 and 1967, 16 gazetted townships. Seychelles No official definition is available. In the present publication, prior to 1971, Victoria city proper (capital). For 1971 and later, the greater Victoria agglomeration plus districts with at least 1,500 inhabitants per inhabited square kilometre in 2002 (Cascades, Pointe Larue, Anse aux Pins). South Africa A classification based on dominant settlement type and land use. Cities, towns, townships, suburbs, etc., are typical urban settlements. Enumeration areas comprising informal settlements, hostels, institutions, industrial and recreational areas, and smallholdings within or adjacent to any formal urban settlement are classified as urban. The 1996 estimate was adjusted to comply with the 2001 census definition. Estimates for 1980, 1985, and 1991 were adjusted to account Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei populations. Zambia Localities with 5,000 inhabitants or more and with a majority of the labour force not in agricultural activities. Zimbabwe Places officially designated as urban, as well as places with 2,500 inhabitants or more whose population resides in a compact settlement pattern and where more than 50% of the employed persons are engaged in non-agricultural occupations. (Source: Extracted from (WorldPop, 2023)) 106 Maritz, Le Roux, and van Huyssteen Table 6.3 Comparative classification criteria for urban concentrations in Africa Categories Description Criteria for categorisation Examples as used in respective typologies Metacity and megacity regions Rapidly growing urban clusters or regions of more than 20 million (m), formed due to expansion, growth, and geographical convergence of more than one metropolitan area/other agglomerations Criteria related to size and geographical area Gauteng City Region Megacities and Large Cities Megacities: 10 million people or more Description and criteria related to size Cairo (19 m); Lagos (13 m); Kinshasa (12 m) Large cities: 5–10 million people Description and criteria related to size Abidjan (5 m); Dares Salam (5.4 m); Khartoum (5.3 m); Johannesburg (9.6 m); Luanda (5.7 m); Nairobi (4.1m) Large cities Large cities and medium cities: 1–5 million people. Typically includes cities that functioned as colonial and regional administrative capitals, either characterised by government service or more specialised functions, for example, mining or tourism Description and criteria related to size Casablanca (3.5); Cape Town (3.7 m); Dakar (3.7 m); Ouagadougou (2.9 m) Small and new cities Small cities: 0.5–1million Description and criteria related to size Bangui (0.81 m); Benghazi (0.76 m); Liberville (0.72 m); Tamale (0.51 m) Small and new cities About 100,000–500,000 Description and criteria related to size Calabar (0.49 m); Windhoek (0.38 m); Zinder (0.39 m); satellite cities e.g. Eko Atlantic, Waterfall, Konza (Continued ) SADC’s settlement hierarchy and networks 107 6.3.2 The need for comparable information on SADC cities and settlements Given this backdrop, there’s an urgent call for a shared comprehension of the distribution of population, infrastructure, economic undertakings, and vulnerabilities within the SADC region. This shared understanding is essential to craft impactful regional development strategies. Mr. Charles Mushota underscored the importance of having a harmonised definition of cities for local urban SDGs and New Urban Agenda (NUA) indicators, and for monitoring and reporting on the Africa 2063 agenda at the 2019 SADC Regional Workshop in Lusaka. In a similar vein, Mr. Thomas Chiramba of UN-Habitat emphasised the value of such harmonisation for the sake of data comparison, agenda monitoring, and informed decision-making processes on sustainable urbanisation (UN-Habitat, 2019). This collective understanding is paramount for various reasons: • Identifying areas where populations and economic activities are concentrated to allocate resources effectively and target infrastructure Table 6.3 (Continued) Categories Description Criteria for categorisation Examples as used in respective typologies Small urban towns and settlements Fewer than 300,000 people Description and criteria related to size Urban Services & Regional and district headquarters; morphology; areas where there is a concentration of houses and institutions [sic], police stations, post offices, health centres, and streets Administrative functions and morphology Tanzania Settlements of at least 5,000 inhabitants Size, morphology Ghana Administrative headquarters with at least 2,000 inhabitants Administrative functions and size Cameroon Urban municipalities Official urban municipalities/urban administrative units recognised as such by law Administrative functions Rwanda, South Africa **Source: Authors. (Adapted from Slavova, 2016: 217; European Commission, 2014; Wisner, 2015; UNDESA, 2020; Paterson et al., 2017: 109 and Angelou, 2015) 114 Maritz, Le Roux, and van Huyssteen illumination. This illumination emanates from sources like streetlights, industrial infrastructures, and commercial establishments. The rising prominence of this data reflects either the absence or the perceived imprecision of traditional economic statistics (Gibson et al., 2020). Additionally, the Africapolis dataset provides details on settlements spanning large metropolitan areas to Figure 6.3b SADC (Africa) settlement landscape(a) and largest growing settlements 2000–2015(b) Sources: WorldPop (2023) and Africapolis (2022) SADC’s settlement hierarchy and networks 115 smaller towns with a minimum of 10,000 inhabitants (Africapolis, 2022). Given the variable granularity of these datasets, a spatial framework was imperative for their integration. Due to this information’s differing grain and scale, a spatial framework was required where these items could be integrated. A hexagon tessellation was created extending over the SADC countries on the African continent. This tessellation is small, with a hexagon side length of 5 km (hexagon area of 65 km2). The WorldPop and Night light data items were converted to point features and then summarised onto the hexagon tessellation. The spatial footprint areas from the Afripolis data were also related to the hexagon base to reflect identified settlements. Settlement areas extracted from this base were sorted based on population and economic proxy totals. A six-level categorisation was developed using the South African Functional Town Typology as a guide. Table 6.4 lists the population as well as night light categorisations. Night lights data was sourced from the Defense Meteorological Program (DMSP) Operational Line-Scan System (OLS), which produced cloud-free composites (Earth Observation Group, 2023). The intensity of light per 500-metre pixel was related to the hexagon tessellation. The derived combined unit scores per settlement were used to gauge the extent or magnitude of potential economic activity. Similar to the population ‘size’, a 5-level categorisation was also derived for the economic proxy (Table 6.4). It is acknowledged that the development level of countries across the region differs. Consequently, some would not have the large cities and city regions that, for example, are present in South Africa. It does, however, help to have a comparative measure across the region. Combining the population and economic proxy grouping results in a six-level typology (Table 6.5). Table 6.4 Population and economic proxy classes. Population class Population number Economic proxy Night light units Very large population Above 1,000,000 Large economic production Above 10,000 Large population 300,000–1,000,000 Medium economic production 5,000–10,000 Medium to large population 100,000–300,000 Low economic production 1,000–5,000 Medium population 20,000–100,000 Limited economic Production Less than 1,000 Small population Less than 20,000 Unknown No data Source: Compiled by authors, 2023 116 Maritz, Le Roux, and van Huyssteen Table 6.5 Africa SADC region settlement typology. Town order Description Population ranges Economic proxy ranges 1 City regions Very large population (Above 100,0000) Large economic production 2 Cities and large regional centres Large population (100,000–300,000) Large to medium Economic production 3 Regional centres Medium to large population Range from large economic production to unknown if the population exceeds 100,000 4 Service town Large to medium population (100,000–20,000) Range from low to limited economic production 5 Small service town Small population (10,000–20,000) Range from low to limited economic production 6 Small town or local service town Small population (Less than 10,000) Range from unknown, low to limited economic production Source: Compiled by authors, 2023. Figure 6.4 reflects the spatial presentation of the settlement typology. When comparing the typology to the overall population distribution, the typology is a fair reflection of the spread and concentration of people across the region. Settlement patterns vary regionally, depending on differences in ecology, economy, and communication routes and on the distribution of natural resources and trading centres. With low production levels in most parts of the region, the observed general pattern is that of rural settlements where agriculture production and lifestyle still dominate (World Culture Encyclopedia, 2023). However, not part of the SADC region, Rwanda and Burundi are almost encapsulated by SADC member countries. When considering their small size, many settlements and their population [13462000 and 12551000, respectively (WorldData.Info, 2023)], they form a significant settlement area bordering DRC and Tanzania. The main road network is more developed along the region’s eastern part with fewer east-west road and rail connections. 6.4.3 Main settlement nodes in the SADC region To identify the dominant settlement clusters within the SADC region, the hexagon settlement base was employed alongside the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic. The resultant analysis spotlighted locations with dense populations neighboured SADC’s settlement hierarchy and networks 117 by similarly populous settlements. Figure 6.5 visualises these population hotspots, emphasising only the most significant regional settlement clusters. When overlaying the primary road and rail networks with these settlement clusters, certain infrastructure gaps become evident. Although various road categories exist, the emphasis here remains on the principal road network, which is notably underdeveloped in countries like Angola and the DRC. Figure 6.4 Settlement typology for the Africa SADC region (not including island nations) 118 Maritz, Le Roux, and van Huyssteen Figure 6.5 Main population centres based on hotspot analysis 6.5 Conclusion It is evident that developing an integrated urban/settlement profile and/or categorisation for the SADC region has several benefits: • It enables the comparison of different urban and settlement areas within the SADC region, which is crucial for policy-making and development planning. SADC’s settlement hierarchy and networks 119 • It supports understanding the unique characteristics of different urban and settlement areas and will help tailor policies and interventions specific to each area. • An integrated typology or categorisation aids in the collection and analysis of data, which is essential for evidence-based decision-making. • It can foster cooperation and collaboration amongst various stakeholders, including governments, non-governmental organisations, and the private sector, to address common challenges. Spatial and regional comparisons are also critical for understanding and managing shared hazards, particularly given the transboundary nature of some hazards in the SADC region. This chapter accentuates the criticality of developing a cohesive regional settlement profile for the SADC. Such a profile fosters a shared comprehension of the distribution of people, infrastructure, economy, and vulnerabilities within the SADC. This understanding is pivotal for crafting and executing efficacious regional development policies and strategies, and guiding investments. The potential to replicate and refine the typology baseline exists, but integrating more detailed economic data can substantially elevate its precision and validity. Exploring interconnections between urban areas, towns, and settlements and discerning their interdependencies can spotlight gaps in regional functionality. On a regional canvas, a settlement typology facilitates cross-country comparisons, enriching the strategic planning process for the SADC region. References Aerni, P. (2016). Coping with Migration-Induced Urban Growth: Addressing the Blind Spot of UN Habitat. Sustainability, 8(800). https://doi .org /10 .3390 /su8080800 African Union. (2021). African Integration Report 2021: Putting Free Movement of Persons at the Centre of Continental Integration. Retrieved June 6, 2023, from https://au .int /sites /default /files /documents /41587 -doc -african _integration _report _2021__final _design .pdf Africapolis. (2022). About Africapolis. Retrieved from Africapolis - Produced by the Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC) in Collaboration with e -geopolis .o rg: https:// africapolis .org /en /about Angeloulo, G. (2015). 2015 MasterCard African Cities Growth Index: Crosscurrents of Growth. Knowledge Leadership. MasterCard 2015. Baltic Scope. (2015). Land-Based Spatial Planning and the Added Value of CrossBorder Cooperation: Background Paper. Retrieved September 23, 2017, from http://www .balticscope .eu /content /up loads /2016 /11 /Lan d -based -spatial -planning -and -the -added -value -of -cross -border -cooperation .Final_ .Nov09 .pdf Cilliers, J. (2023a). Large Infrastructure. Published online at futures .issafrica .o rg. Retrieved from https://futures .issafrica .org /thematic /11 -large -infrastructure/ Cilliers, J. (2023b). Africa’s Current Development Path. Published online at futures .issafrica .o rg. Retrieved from https://futures .issafrica .org /thematic /01 -africas -current -path/ 120 Maritz, Le Roux, and van Huyssteen Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (South Africa). 2023. National Spatial Development Framework. (Notice 1594 of 2023). Government Gazette, 47999: (100), 1 February Earth Observation Group. (2023). Where Nighttime Lights Begin. Retrieved from Earth Observation Group: https://eogdata .mines .edu /products /dmsp/ Engelbrecht, F., le Roux, A., Vogel, C., & Mbiyozo, A. (2022). Is Climate Change to Blame for Kwa-Zulu-Natal’s Flood Damage? https://issafrica .org /iss -today /is -climate -change -to -blame -for -kwazulu -natals -flood -damage European Commission. (2016). Rurban Africa: Africa Rural-City Connections. European Commission. Gibson, J., Olivia, S., & Boe-Gibson, G. (2020). Night Lights in Economics: Sources and Uses. LICOS Discussion Paper, No. 419. ISS African Futures. (2023). Forecasts Generated by Ifs v 7.84 and available on the African Futures Portal. Retrieved from African Futures & Innovation Programme: https://futures .issafrica .org/ Le Roux, A. (2021). Urban South Africa Is Il-Prepared for the Coming Climate Change Storm. Retrieved June 2023, from Iss Today: https://issafrica .org /iss -today /urban -south -africa -is -ill -prepared -for -the -coming -climate -change -storm Le Roux, A. (2023). SADC. Retrieved May 23, 2023, from Iss African Futures: https://futures .issafrica .org /geographic /recs /sadc Le Roux, A., & Napier, M. (2022). Southern Africa Must Embrace Informality in Its Towns and Cities. Retrieved May 23, 2023, from Iss Today: from https://issafrica .org /iss -today /southern -africa -must -embrace -informality -in -its -towns -and - cities Mans, G., Maritz, J., McKelly, D., Le Roux, A., Ngidi, M., van Huyssteen, E., & Green, C. (2018). Spatial Indicators. Retrieved May 20, 2023, from http:// stepsatest .csir .co .za /socio _econ .html Mbiyozo, A., & le Roux, A. (2021). Climate Finance Isn’t Reaching Southern Africa’s Most Vulnerable. https://issafrica .org /iss -today /climate -finance -isnt -reaching -southern -africas -most -vulnerable Mo Ibrahim Foundation. (2015). African Urban Dynamics: Facts and Figures 2015. Retrieved June 14, 2023, from https://mo.ibrahim.foundation/sites/default/ files/2021-06/2015 -facts -figures _african -urban -dynami cs .pdf Moles, R., Kelly, R., O’Regan, B., Ravetz, J., & Mcevoy, D. (2002). Methodologies for the Estimation of Sustainable Settlement Size. Synthesis Report. Wexford, Ireland: Environmental Protection Agency. OECD/UN, & ECA/AfDB. (2022). Africa’s Urbanisation Dynamics 2022: The Economic Power of Africa’s Cities, West African Studies. Paris: OECD Publishing. doi:10.1787/3834ed5b-en. Retrieved June 14, 2023, from https://www .afdb .org /sites /default /files /documents /publications /africa _urbanization _dynamics -economic _power _of _africa _cities -en .pdf Parnell, S. (2015). Defining a Global Urban Development Agenda. World Development, 78, pp. 529–540. Poelman, L. D. (2014). A Harmonised Definition of Cities and Rural Areas: The New Degree of Urbanisation. Regional Working Paper. United Nations, DirectorateGeneral for Regional and Urban Policy. Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy. United Nations. SADC’s settlement hierarchy and networks 121 Paterson, S. K., Pelling, M., Nunes, L. H., & de Araujo Moreira, F. (2017). Size Does Matter: City Scale and the Asymmetries of Climate Change Adaptation in Three Coastal Towns. Geoforum, 81, pp. 109–119. SADC. (2012). Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan: Energy Sector Plan. Prepared for Southern African Development Community Secretariat. SADC. (2019). Regional Infrastructure Development: Short Term Action Plan Assessment 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2023, from file:///D:/R&D%20W ork/2 022_2 023%2 0Regi onal% 20Plo icy%2 0SADE C/SAD C _Reg ional _Infr astru ture_ Devel op men t .pdf SADC. (2020). Vision 2050. Gaborone, Botswana. www .sadc .int /sites /default /files /2021 -08 /SADC _Vision _2050. .pdf Sassen, S. (2015). Bringing Cities into the Global Climate Change Framework. In Johnson, C., Toly, N., & Schroeder, H. (Eds.), The Urban Climate Challenge: Rethinking the Role of Cities in the Global Climate Regime. New York: Taylor and Frances, pp. 24–35. Schmidt, I., & Du Plessis, D. (2013). A Critical Evaluation of the Operational Application of Various Settlement Typologies in South Africa. Town and Regional Planning , 63: 12-23. Slavova, M. A. (2016). African Smart Cities Strategies for Agenda 2063. Africa Journal of Management, 2(2), pp. 210–229. https://doi .org /10 .1080 /23322373 .2016 .1175266 UN-Habitat. (2014). The State of African Cities 2014: Re-imagining Sustainable Urban Transitions. United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). UN-Habitat. (2019). A New City Classification Method Shows Southern African Countries More Urbanised than Thought. Retrieved June 13, 2023, from https:// unhabitat .org /a -new -city -classification -method -shows -southern -african -countries -more -urbanized -than -thought United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). (2020). World Social Report 2020. New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Population Division. United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). (2022). Regional Assessment on Urban Vulnerability and Resilience in Southern African Development Community Member States. Strengthening Capacities for Reducing Urban Vulnerability and Building Resilience in Southern Africa. Retrieved June 6, 2023, from https://unhabitat .org /sites /default /files /2022 /05 /roaf__sadc _regional _assessment _final1 .pdf United Nations. (2023). Unban Indicators Database. Retrieved from UN habitat: https://data .unhabitat .org /pages /housing -slums -and -informal -settlements Van Huyssteen, E., Green, C., Sogoni, Z., Maritz, J., & McKelly, D. (2018). CSIR Typology. Retrieved May 7, 2023, from Spatial and Temporal Evidence for South Africa: http://stepsa .csir .co .za /pdf /2018 _csir _town _typology .pdf Van Niekerk, W., Pieterse, A., & Le Roux, A. (2020). Introducing the Green Book: A Practical Planning Tool for Adapting South African Settlements to Climate Change. Town and Regional Planning, 77, pp. 103–119. https://doi .org /10 .18820 /2415 -0495 /trp77i1.8 Wisner, B. P., Pelling, M., Mascarenhas, A., Holloway, A., Ndong, B., Faye, P., Ribot, J., & Simon, D. (2015). Small Cities and Towns in Africa: Insights into Adaptation Challenges and Potentials. In S. Pauleit (Ed.), Urban Vulnerability and Climate 122 Maritz, Le Roux, and van Huyssteen Change in Africa. Future City (Vol. 4). Cham: Springer. https://doi .org /10 .1007 /978 -3 -319 -03982 -4_5 World Bank. (2018). World Development Indicators: World Bank Staff Estimates Based on the United Nations Population Division’s World Urbanization Prospects: 2018 Revision. Retrieved May 24, 2023, from World Bank: https://databank .worldbank .org /source /world -development -indicators World Culture Encyclopedia. (2023). Introduction to Africa - Patterns of Settlement. Retrieved from World Culture Encyclopedia: https://www .everyculture .com WorldData.Info. (2023, May 29). Country Comparison. Retrieved from WorldData: https://www .worlddata .info /country -comparison .php ?country1 =BDI &country2 =RWA WorldPop. (2023). WorldPop Open Population Repository. Retrieved from https:// wopr .worldpop .org/. 7 7.1 Introduction With 15 nations, including large countries, small and isolated economies, and island states, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has recorded over the recent years important milestones and achievements in different domains, namely institutional, social, economic, and peace and security. In particular, the SADC’s Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020–2030 in line with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 aimed at achieving inclusive and sustainable development across all SADC countries via deeper and enhanced regional integration. Deepening regional integration in the region raises the potential for higher growth and development for member nations. The greater the level of integration across SADC countries, the higher the market size will be, along with greater trading and investment opportunities and the improvement of resource allocation across countries (Fall & Gasealahwe, 2017). Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9 focuses on the role of infrastructure to promote inclusive and sustainable development. In particular, SDG 9.1 emphasises the importance of developing regional and international infrastructure to achieve this objective. Regional integration can be promoted via efficient, cost-effective, and integrated cross-border infrastructure networks and services. Infrastructural development englobes regional transport and communications systems and adequate energy, water, meteorology, and sanitation infrastructures. Good infrastructural development is a predominant channel in boosting regional trade and in promoting economic development. Both hard and soft infrastructures are key in facilitating the movement of goods, services, and people across countries within the SADC region. While the region has made significant progress in regional infrastructural development, it still faces an important infrastructure deficit. This infrastructure gap is characterised by expensive and unpredictable transport and logistic services, in particular for landlocked countries and small and remote states; lack of low-cost access to information and communication technologies; insufficient energy supply; inadequate water supply, sanitation, and reticulation systems; and inadequate and expensive broadband networks. Small islands, 7 The role of infrastructure in regional trade in the SADC region Verena Tandrayen–Ragoobur DOI: 10.4324/9781003379379-9 This chapter has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND license. 10.4324/9781003379379-9 130 Verena Tandrayen-Ragoobur Multidimensional Regional Integration Index (ARMII) was launched by the African Union to cover emerging areas like migration and the environment in line with Agenda 2063 (African Union Commission, 2020). AMRII consists of eight dimensions and 33 indicators. The pillars are split into the free movement of persons, environmental integration, financial integration, infrastructure integration, political and institution integration, monetary integration, social integration, and trade integration. 7.4 Infrastructural development in SADC Under the SADC’s Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020– 2030, one priority area encompasses the development of cost-effective and efficient transnational infrastructural development to promote regional integration and economic development, which can help in the alleviation of poverty in the region. Over the years, there has been a greater involvement of the private sector in regional integration and as such the need to modernise and harmonised regulatory frameworks, policies, and strategies for the development of efficient and technology-driven cross-border infrastructure services, enhanced integrated infrastructure, and networks to support and facilitate deeper regional integration. There have been significant improvements over the past decades in the development of key infrastructure such as rail and ports, road networks, ICT and telecommunications, access to energy, water, and sanitation, to name a few. From 1995 to 2005, improvements in infrastructure boosted growth in SADC by 1.2 percent per capita per year (World Bank, 2010). This has been attributed mainly to mobile telephony. It was also estimated that if infrastructural developments matched those of Mauritius, this would increase SADC’s overall growth performance by 3 percent. Infrastructure development in the SADC region is analysed using the AIDI (African Development Bank, 2023) and the Logistics Performance Index (World Bank, 2023). 7.4.1 Hard infrastructures in the SADC region The AIDI is a weighted average of nine indicators measuring four dimensions of infrastructure, namely electricity, ICT, transport, and water and sanitation. The AIDI focuses mainly on hard infrastructure rather than soft infrastructure. The AIDI values for all 16 SADC countries and the average for the SADC region from 2005 to 2022 are shown in Table 7.1. The figures show that Seychelles (98.88), South Africa (81.67), and Mauritius (81.44) are the top three countries with the highest AIDI value in 2022. Mauritius and Seychelles, being island nations, have relatively higher infrastructure development compared to many countries within the SADC region. Several factors can contribute to this outperformance, namely the fact that both have relatively stable economies and sustained economic growth over the past decades. This economic, political, and social stability has allowed significant investment in infrastructural development. In The role of infrastructure 131 addition, both island nations have shown effective, efficient, and transparent governance and strategic planning in their development initiatives. Good institutions and governance have helped in the adequate use of resources and smoother implementation of projects. Mauritius and Seychelles have also actively sought international partnerships and foreign investment. Mauritius, for instance, has been actively seeking the support of India and China. These partnerships have brought in expertise, technology, and funding for infrastructure projects. Moreover, both island nations have been very active in promoting sustainable development practices including projects in waste management, renewable energy, and environmentally friendly infrastructure projects. The geographical locations of Mauritius and Seychelles make them well-positioned for international trade and connectivity. This has encouraged investments in transportation infrastructure. Both islands have recognised the role of infrastructure in stimulating economic growth. Improved transportation networks, communication systems, and utilities attract businesses and have helped create jobs and enhance overall economic activity in both countries. In contrast, countries with low AIDI are Mozambique (13.68), Madagascar (11.89), and the DRC (9.69). The latter has been facing the most daunting infrastructure challenge on the African continent due to conflicts that have seriously damaged its infrastructure. Its vast geography, low population density, extensive forestlands, and crisscrossing rivers make the development of new networks in DRC more complicated (. In the case of Mozambique, the Table 7.1 The Africa Infrastructure Development Index (AIDI) from 2005–2022 for SADC countries Country 2005 2008 2011 2014 2017 2020 2021 2022 Angola 7.96 9.41 12.58 16.39 17.48 20.07 20.20 20.65 Botswana 28.45 28.98 31.89 34.76 36.61 37.50 37.90 39.02 Comoros 18.49 19.57 20.26 21.64 22.15 24.13 24.40 25.09 DRC 4.27 5.06 6.46 7.57 8.17 8.64 9.34 9.69 Lesotho 13.16 13.75 14.40 15.46 15.68 16.33 19.10 19.90 Madagascar 3.46 4.09 5.79 7.47 8.47 11.29 11.45 11.89 Malawi 12.24 13.32 14.81 17.14 18.44 21.79 21.92 22.84 Mauritius 44.51 48.75 58.92 71.21 75.49 79.12 79.87 80.44 Mozambique 6.84 7.48 8.95 11.20 12.30 12.60 12.62 13.68 Namibia 24.70 26.29 28.88 28.27 28.64 29.98 30.11 30.53 Seychelles 50.86 63.54 73.82 89.57 94.11 96.73 98.45 98.88 South Africa 46.78 51.70 55.96 73.81 79.63 79.34 80.19 81.67 eSwatini 14.78 16.32 19.34 23.40 25.43 28.21 28.42 29.12 Tanzania 5.27 6.40 8.42 11.12 12.24 14.89 15.28 16.22 Zambia 15.03 16.31 18.07 20.87 22.12 23.97 25.05 26.04 Zimbabwe 20.15 21.85 21.81 23.86 24.43 25.54 26.23 26.65 Mean-SADC 19.90 22.22 25.34 30.14 31.95 33.73 34.41 34.52 Source: Compilation and computation from the African Development Bank Database (AfDB, 2023) 132 Verena Tandrayen-Ragoobur country is progressing steadily after two decades of debilitating civil war. It faces an important infrastructure deficit, but there has been a drive from government and development partners to improve infrastructure investment planning that allows for a maximisation of benefits from investments. Similarly, Madagascar has accumulated a significant capital shortfall by regional standards due to poor economic management and political instability, which have impacted infrastructural development. Madagascar, being an island nation, has over the years faced economic challenges, including periods of political instability, corruption, and mismanagement. These factors have hindered the allocation of resources towards long-term infrastructure development projects. Unlike Seychelles and Mauritius, Madagascar is a larger country with a more diverse geography. Its size and resource distribution make it more challenging to develop and maintain infrastructure across the entire country. The average index for the SADC seems to have improved from 19.9 in 2005 to 34.52 in 2022, showing that infrastructural improvement has taken place across most SADC countries. It is however important to analyse in which sector infrastructural development has taken place. The AIDI is further split to analyse where SADC countries stand in terms of infrastructural development in transport, ICT, electricity, and water and sanitation (see Table 7.2). The data compares the four dimensions of the AIDI in 2005 and 2022. One noticeable improvement over the years has been in ICT and telecommunications. The ICT index for all SADC countries has progressed from zero in many cases to more than 50. In 2022, Seychelles tops up the list with an index value of 55.60 followed by Mauritius with a value of 50.84, while both islands had an average value of only 0.023 in 2005. Seychelles and Mauritius have recognised the importance of ICT for economic growth, service delivery, and social development. Their efforts to establish advanced ICT infrastructure and promote digital literacy have contributed to their reputation as countries with well-developed ICT sectors in the region. Botswana and South Africa have also made significant progress over the period. Many SADC member states have established cross-border transmission links using fibre technology. In addition, countries like South Africa, Botswana, and Tanzania for instance, have already achieved the 2025 SADC broadband target of providing 80 percent of the population with access to broadband services (SADC, 2020). Regional infrastructure is important across SADC countries, as regional optic fibre links have allowed to connect landlocked countries within the region. In terms of energy, the electricity composite index has also improved with significant progress being noted for countries like Seychelles, Mauritius, Botswana, and Eswatini. Island nations like Seychelles and Mauritius have high rates of electricity access, as they are relatively small countries with concentrated populations, which in essence make it easier compared to larger and more geographically dispersed nations. In fact, the SADC Regional Energy Access and Strategic Action Plan 2010–2020 has encouraged member states to embrace universal energy access and to halve the number of people without access to energy by 2020 (SADC, 2020). There The role of infrastructure 133 Table 7.2 Different dimensions of the AIDI in 2005 and 2021 for SADC Transport composite index Electricity composite index ICT composite index WSS composite index Transport composite index Electricity composite index ICT composite index WSS composite index 2005 2021 Angola 2.49 1.64 0.001 46.01 4.41 5.81 12.82 61.43 Botswana 25.79 8.18 0.007 78.64 25.28 20.20 31.30 91.60 Comoros 17.42 0.85 0.001 61.20 14.66 1.52 8.73 72.07 DRC 1.83 1.93 0.000 34.77 1.48 2.12 6.89 40.44 Lesotho 7.75 2.52 0.002 44.49 7.27 4.29 16.88 72.89 Madagascar 3.58 0.72 0.001 14.55 2.87 1.57 6.28 35.81 Malawi 6.24 1.78 0.000 45.46 3.73 2.51 8.09 67.94 Mauritius 37.15 27.01 0.022 98.56 36.62 42.96 50.84 99.80 Mozambique 2.19 11.24 0.001 7.68 2.05 9.70 8.55 52.30 Namibia 25.10 12.82 0.004 58.62 17.34 10.45 21.38 71.53 Seychelles 36.31 40.61 0.024 93.17 51.68 84.47 55.60 97.58 South Africa 13.74 73.22 0.023 79.87 22.30 76.73 35.32 93.98 eSwatini 9.24 4.54 0.003 57.65 13.08 13.94 16.53 78.31 Tanzania 3.29 1.28 0.001 13.25 3.34 2.09 13.86 56.75 Zambia 8.82 12.34 0.001 35.19 6.64 12.52 14.27 56.23 Zimbabwe 13.22 11.93 0.007 68.10 12.09 9.14 16.13 67.30 Source: Compilation and computation from the African Development Bank Database (AfDB, 2023) 134 Verena Tandrayen-Ragoobur has also been increased emphasis on affordable and clean energy (SDG 7) with various initiatives to ensure universal access to reliable, convenient, affordable, and safe electricity. With regards to the transport composite index, it is still on the low side for many countries, and many nations have even seen a decline in the value of the index, apart from Seychelles, South Africa, Eswatini, and Tanzania. However, there have been developments regionally in terms of three main corridors, namely the North-South Corridor running north from Durban, South Africa; the Maputo Corridor running through Mozambique, and the Dar es Salaam Corridor in Tanzania (SADC, 2020). Similarly, the establishment of One-Stop Border Posts (OSBP) at the Chirundu border between Zambia and Zimbabwe and the Nakonde-Tunduma border between Tanzania and Zambia have helped in reducing transaction costs for crossing borders. There remain still many challenges like financial and technical constraints for maintaining and rehabilitating the region’s roads, railways, ports, and airports. Seychelles and Mauritius’ smaller geographic areas make it more manageable for them to develop and maintain transport networks compared to larger mainland countries. Owing to their dependence on tourism and international trade, both countries have established strong air and sea connections with various destinations, facilitating the movement of passengers and goods. The governments of Mauritius and Seychelles have prioritised the maintenance of their transport infrastructure, leading to better longevity and functionality. In contrast, the water and sanitation composite index has improved significantly across all SADC countries, with Mauritius having the highest score of 99.80 followed by Seychelles (97.58), South Africa (93.98), and Botswana (91.60). There has been important development in transboundary water supply and sanitation infrastructure. For instance, four transboundary water supply and sanitation projects are underway: the Kunene (Angola and Zambia) and Lomahasha/Namaacha (Eswatini and Mozambique) water projects, as well as the Chirundu Cross-Border Water Supply and Sanitation (Zambia and Zimbabwe) and Kazungula Water Supply and Sanitation Project (Zambia). In addition, islands like Mauritius and Seychelles have limited freshwater resources, and there has been a great emphasis on efficient water management and conservation efforts. Hence, investment in water and sanitation has been a priority for the authorities. Likewise, island states tend to be highly vulnerable to public health risks so the authorities have been prioritising safe water and sanitation systems to prevent waterborne diseases. 7.4.2 Soft Infrastructures in the SADC region In addition to hard infrastructures, soft infrastructural development plays a key role in boosting regional trade. Soft infrastructure is measured by the Logistics Performance Index, which is based on various factors such as infrastructure, customs efficiency, ease of arranging shipments, quality of logistics services, tracking and tracing capabilities, and timeliness. Table 7.3 computes The role of infrastructure 135 the average Logistics Performance Index from 2010 to 2022 for the SADC region. It can be observed that the overall index declined from 2.607 in 2010 to 2.604 in 2022. This can be attributed to several factors, namely important infrastructure deficiencies, including inadequate road networks, ports, airports, and railways. Poor infrastructure can lead to delays, increased transportation costs, and inefficiencies in the movement of goods. In addition, many Southern African countries are characterised by lengthy and complicated customs procedures that hinder the smooth flow of goods across borders. Delays in customs clearance lead to increased costs and unpredictability in supply chains. This is supported by the index whereby the efficiency of the customs clearance process has the lowest values over the years. Cumbersome regulatory processes and administrative red tape further slow down logistics operations and increase transaction costs for businesses. Another factor is the lack of access to technology and information such as tracking and tracing systems or electronic documentation that hinders logistics efficiency. 7.5 Intra-regional trade in Africa and the SADC The study first compares the degree of regional integration across different Regional Economic Communities (RECs) across the African continent. The Africa Multidimensional Regional Integration Index (AMRII) is used (see Table 7.4). The value of the AMRII based on the arithmetic mean methodology of the scores in the eight dimensions is on a scale of 0 to 1. The score for the integration process across Africa is 0.62. Amongst the RECs, the Table 7.3 Soft infrastructures in the SADC region from 2010 to 2022 Logistics performance index 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2022 Ability to track and trace consignments (1=low to 5=high) 2.602 2.584 2.588 2.576 2.577 2.589 Competence and quality of logistics services (1=low to 5=high) 2.561 2.560 2.568 2.565 2.563 2.568 Ease of arranging competitively priced shipments (1=low to 5=high) 2.602 2.605 2.605 2.592 2.587 2.592 Efficiency of customs clearance process (1=low to 5=high) 2.427 2.431 2.423 2.417 2.420 2.431 Frequency with which shipments reach consignee within scheduled or expected time (1=low to 5=high) 2.978 2.978 2.984 2.968 2.965 2.969 Quality of trade and transportrelated infrastructure (1=low to 5=high) _ 2.445 2.441 2.443 2.437 2.447 Overall (1=low to 5=high) 2.607 2.606 2.607 2.599 2.597 2.604 Source: Compilation and computation from the World Development Indicators (World Bank, 2023) 136 Verena Tandrayen-Ragoobur Table 7.4 Africa Multidimensional Regional Integration Index (AMRII), 2021 across Regional Economic Communities (RECs) Overall index – AMRII Free movement of persons Social integration Trade integration Financial integration Monetary integration Infrastructure integration Environmental integration Political and institutional integration AMU 0.52 0.62 0.48 0.51 0.44 0.56 0.58 0.47 0.52 CENSAD 0.54 0.53 0.41 0.50 0.51 0.62 0.66 0.51 0.55 COMESA 0.68 0.67 0.60 0.79 0.73 0.60 0.66 0.62 0.73 EAC 0.73 0.96 0.79 0.85 0.66 0.65 0.70 0.58 0.77 ECCAS 0.62 0.62 0.58 0.64 0.55 0.58 0.62 0.75 0.6 ECOWAS 0.74 1.00 0.79 0.84 0.60 0.56 0.53 0.67 0.93 IGAD 0.53 0.56 0.42 0.49 0.46 0.63 0.61 0.65 0.53 SADC 0.61 0.58 0.59 0.67 0.81 0.65 0.70 0.67 0.46 Mean for all African RECs 0.62 0.68 0.57 0.66 0.60 0.61 0.63 0.60 0.64 Source: Compilation and computation from the African Integration Report 2021 (African Union Commission, 2022) where AMU – Arab Maghreb Union (Union du Maghreb Arabe); CENSAD – Community of Sahel-Saharan States (Communauté des États Sahélo-Sahariens); COMESA – Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa; EAC – East African Community; ECCAS – Economic Community of Central African States (Communauté Économique des États de l’Afrique Centrale); ECOWAS – Economic Community of West African States (Communauté Économique des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest), and IGAD – Intergovernmental Authority on Development. The role of infrastructure 137 average score across all eight pillars varies from the highest value of 0.74 for ECOWAS to the lowest score of 0.52 for AMU. The scores reflect the efforts made by each of the RECs, and it can be observed that ECOWAS fares well in three dimensions, which are the free movement of persons (AMRII has a value of 1), political and institutional integration (score of 0.93), and social integration (0.79). SADC does well compared to other RECs in financial integration (0.81), monetary integration (0.65), and infrastructure integration (0.70). SADC has, however, achieved less in terms of free movement and social, institutional, and political integration, with scores below 0.60. In contrast, EAC performs relatively well in four pillars, namely trade integration (0.85), social integration (0.79), monetary integration (0.65), and infrastructure integration (0.70). ECOWAS, EAC, COMESA, and SADC seem to have been making considerable efforts, as all of their eight indices are above the average value of 0.5. Other RECs lagging behind are IGAD, CENSAD, and AMU. When RECs do not have defined plans or programmes in some dimensions of regional integration like free movement of persons and financial and monetary integration, this may negatively affect their overall performance and ability to integrate deeper within the continent (African Union Commission 2020,). At the regional infrastructural level, SADC and EAC outperform the other RECs with a score of 0.70, followed by COMESA and CENSAD. However, infrastructure remains a problem for many groups and for the continent as a whole, as the current level of infrastructural development fails to support effectively the integration process. Financial constraints in funding infrastructural projects, poor quality of current infrastructures in different parts of Africa, and the slow progress made in the implementation of regional infrastructural projects are some of the key factors that explain the low levels of infrastructural integration (AUC-UNECA, 2022). Probing further into the different dimensions across SADC member states, the study uses the ARII 2022 (African Union-UNECA, 2022).1 The analysis further investigates the level of integration across SADC countries and the factors that hinder intra-trade within the region. SADC average score for regional integration stands at 0.35 with countries like Angola, Eswatini, Madagascar, Malawi, and Zambia having low scores below 0.3, showing that the level of integration is quite low amongst these countries within the region (see Table 7.5). The only country that stands out in this group is South Africa, with an overall regional integration index of 0.625. Apart from South Africa and Mauritius (score is 0.424), the score of the overall ARII for the remaining SADC countries is below 0.4, which shows low levels of regional integration. The overall score on regional integration tends to be pulled down by the index for regional infrastructure, which appears on the low side for most SADC countries. While South Africa performs well with an index of 0.898, Seychelles and Mauritius score far below with score values of 0.531 and 0.487, respectively. The bottom five performers are DRC, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, and Tanzania scoring near zero. It can be noted that the four islands in the SADC region do not perform well in both 138 Verena Tandrayen-Ragoobur Table 7.5 The different dimensions of the African Regional Integration Index for all SADC countries, 2021 Overall score Scores and ranks by dimensions Country Regional integration R Trade integration R Productive integration R Macroeconomic integration R Infrastructural integration R Free movement of people R Angola 0.238 16 0.308 14 0.340 2 0.077 16 0.149 10 0.388 11 Botswana 0.302 11 0.496 6 0.245 5 0.342 9 0.242 6 0.105 13 Comoros 0.350 6 0.200 16 0.141 11 0.410 5 0.166 9 1.000 1 Eswatini 0.288 13 0.730 1 0.097 14 0.280 13 0.124 15 0.105 13 Madagascar 0.296 12 0.305 15 0.120 13 0.352 7 0.126 14 0.655 3 Malawi 0.282 15 0.369 10 0.174 9 0.219 14 0.148 11 0.580 5 Mauritius 0.424 2 0.348 12 0.169 10 0.633 1 0.487 3 0.426 9 Mozambique 0.380 5 0.411 9 0.239 6 0.320 10 0.141 12 0.944 2 Namibia 0.337 7 0.715 2 0.271 4 0.301 11 0.215 7 0.080 16 Lesotho 0.308 10 0.655 3 0.052 15 0.297 12 0.080 16 0.444 8 Rep. of the Congo 0.317 8 0.448 7 0.049 16 0.462 2 0.140 13 0.475 7 Seychelles 0.393 3 0.352 11 0.129 12 0.347 8 0.531 2 0.655 3 South Africa 0.625 1 0.627 4 1.000 1 0.423 3 0.898 1 0.093 15 Tanzania 0.312 9 0.323 13 0.205 8 0.422 4 0.197 8 0.420 10 Zambia 0.287 14 0.431 8 0.324 3 0.185 15 0.258 5 0.229 12 Zimbabwe 0.387 4 0.550 5 0.221 7 0.357 6 0.261 4 0.574 6 Source: Compilation and computation from the African Integration Regional Index Database (African Union Commission, 2022) The role of infrastructure 139 the trade integration and productive integration indicators, as they are geographically isolated from mainland countries. This physical separation can pose challenges to the efficient and cost-effective transportation of goods. Being smaller economies, they have limited scale of production and demand, influencing severely on the volume and scope of trade. Further, their economies depend primarily on sectors such as tourism, agriculture, and fishing. Trade diversification is not as extensive, limiting the range of products available for export or import. Next, the Pearson correlation between the regional integration index and the trade integration index with the other dimensions including the infrastructure development pillar is calculated. This is depicted in Table 7.6. The Pearson correlation coefficient between ARII and infrastructural integration is as high as 0.836 and significant at 1 percent. This strong and statistically significant coefficient confirms the need for infrastructural integration to promote regional trade. The correlation coefficient is also positive and statistically significant between trade integration and infrastructural integration. The value stands at 0.252 and is significant at 5 percent. Infrastructure seems to play an important role in the SADC area, especially with respect to promoting trade flows in the region. With respect to the other dimensions, productive integration as well as macroeconomic integration appear to be positively related to trade integration. Macroeconomic integration is generally pursued to enhance economic cooperation and efficiency amongst countries. It facilitates economic cooperation and promotes mutual benefits amongst member countries. By reducing Table 7.6 Pearson Correlation Coefficient between regional trade integration and infrastructure integration for all SADC countries, 2021 Productive integration Macroeconomic integration Infrastructural integration Free movement of people Overall ARII Pearson Correlation Coefficient 0.778 0.561 0.836 –0.067 T-Statistics 2.424** –2.242** 3.254*** –2.359** Trade Integration Index Pearson Correlation Coefficient 0.431 –0.118 0.252 -0.595 T-Statistics 1.836** –1.220 2.015** –1.65* Source: Compilation and computation from the African Integration Regional Index Database (African Union Commission, 2022) Part 4 Future perspective 12 12.1 Introduction Regional policy in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) could influence the supranational and subnational locational decisions of government and industry by offering inducements to investors through tax incentives, grants, subsidies, regional employment premiums, and so on. Therefore, developing and implementing a supranational regional policy could be considered a step towards modernising and restructuring the economic foundation of this peripheral region by encouraging a shift towards a more sustainable and efficient production model, while also ensuring that it remains consistent with the underlying subnational objectives. A threefold regional policy analysis was relevant throughout this book, i.e., (i) analysing policies that currently follow a silo approach in an integrated manner, (ii) the investigation of said policy guidelines through the determination of functional planning instruments in the form of physical infrastructure, and iii) evaluating existing and potential trade and economic interactions among the member states of the SADC. This concluding chapter aims to integrate spatial and sectoral policy frameworks and practically apply the goals and objectives through the appropriate and timely application of spatial targeting instruments within the SADC as a developing region. Proposals for the determination of regional development policy for the SADC, coupled with an implementation agency to facilitate progressive integration and interaction, are provided. 12.2 Synthesis The preceding chapters highlight the crucial role of regional planning and explicit regional policy for the SADC. A theme that was visible throughout the three parts of the book and its individual chapters is that of implicit regional planning policies, coupled with a lack of cross-border visions, hampering the ideal of more balanced and robust regional development. The first part of the book (Chapters 2, 3, and 4) focused on regional policy and spatial planning in general, concluding in Chapter 2 that countries (and the regional economic bloc), without explicit regional policies, will 12 A regional policy approach for the SADC Mariske van Aswegen and J. Ernst Drewes DOI: 10.4324/9781003379379-16 This chapter has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND license. 10.4324/9781003379379-16 246 Mariske van Aswegen and J. Ernst Drewes A regional policy approach for the SADC continue to lag and not reach their inherent potential. It was highlighted that regional planning in the SADC is oversimplified, not considering the multiple complexities, interactions, and complementarities that exist or could be exposed. The focus should therefore be on enhancing regional connectivity and attaining a more balanced economic bloc through interregional projects and policies. The concept of peripherality, its associated characteristics, and its implications for regional resilience was the focus of Chapter 3. This chapter highlighted that economic growth and development within the SADC is largely determined and hampered by its peripheral locality, i.e., location and spatial dynamics. A foundation for understanding the SADC’s position in the global context was established, and explanations for lagging growth were offered. The chapter highlighted that the development and growth of regions are closely tied to their spatial characteristics, whether driven by internal factors (endogenous growth) or external influences (exogenous influences), which are in turn interlinked with the spatial characteristics of each of the other SADC countries. It is subsequently proposed that through a thrust towards more robust internal interactions, impelled by concentration and clustering, a more resilient region could be established. Resilience was underlined to hinge on a threefold approach involving institutions, infrastructure, and targeted investments. This supports the region in being more adaptable to external factors. A closely knit integrated and inward-focused SADC will strengthen the individual countries, as well as the economic bloc in its entirety, transforming it into an adaptable and outward-looking region. Chapter 4 delved into the intricate, mutually dependent and often dialectic relationships between subnational and supranational regionalism. Each of these levels endeavours to address inequalities due to historical (i.e., colonial and apartheid legacies) and resource imbalances, with the subnational policy informing and strengthening the supranational level due to their interconnected nature. On the supranational level, the type and level of political influence impact greatly on the disparities among member states. It is further exacerbated by differences in national resource endowments. The chapter proposes collaborative efforts between subnational and supranational levels to mitigate these inequalities. On the subnational level, regionalism establishes stronger relationships between local communities and government programmes as well as attends to urban-rural divides. A focus on regional sector-based policies spanning multiple levels of governance, i.e., tourism, will strengthen both national and supranational interventions through increased collaboration. On the supranational level, it was recognised that economic synergies among member states could benefit the global competitiveness of the larger regional bloc. The second part of the book (Chapters 5, 6, and 7) was focused on the physical and structural aspects of regional development within the SADC. The initial focus of Chapter 5 was on development corridors as spatial planning instruments to promote cohesion and sustainable development within RECs. The main contribution of development corridors to spatial planning A regional policy approach for the SADC 247 is the focus on balanced development through the distribution of economic functions across the identified corridor in a network approach, reinforcing the distribution of economic opportunities where agglomeration economies will thrive. Policymakers and governments have the opportunity to adjust and synchronise national as well as regional frameworks and policies with a renewed focus on these connective ribbons of focused development spanning across national borders. The explicit spatial targeting and geographical application of such transformative corridors, through scientific reasoning, form the main message of this chapter. This will allow policymakers to achieve a unique and often elusive balance between political goals and sound spatial targeting. In response to the agglomeration economies focus of Chapter 5, the subsequent chapter, Chapter 6, was focused on establishing a settlement profile for the entire SADC region, leveraging the hexagon settlement base, and applying the Getis-Ord Gi* statistic. The establishment of this novel settlement profile for the SADC provides an understanding of the distribution of population, economic nodes, as well as social and physical infrastructure. The comparative settlement typology provides perceptions regarding the interactions within the urban system hierarchy as well as identifies vulnerabilities and disparities in a supranational region. The identification of both economically vulnerable and significant areas provides a unique opportunity for shaping regional development policies and investment strategies in the SADC. Continuing the focus on physical and structural development, the final chapter in this section, Chapter 7, focused on the significant relationship between regional infrastructure and trade in the economic bloc. It was established that both hard and soft infrastructure play a crucial role in trade enhancement and regional integration. The focus on the island states of Mauritius and Seychelles provides a unique perspective on the complex interplay between infrastructure development and trade integration. Both these island nations exhibit advanced infrastructure development in comparison to other SADC countries but lag in trade integration due to their geographic isolation and sectoral dependencies, typical of peripheral regions. The chapter established the need for a dynamic focus on enhancing integration through large-scale infrastructure projects by means of regulatory reforms, foreign direct investment (FDI), international collaboration (especially among member states), regional development banks, and public-private partnerships. Conclusively a call is made for improved coordination between members of the SADC with a focus on coherent regional infrastructure plans, resource pooling, and more active international partnerships. Such a holistic approach to regional policy can foster economic growth and sustainable development in the SADC, as well as address infrastructure shortages. Having focused on both the policy environment and the hard infrastructure of the SADC, the third part of the book (Chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11) was dedicated to understanding the existing trade relations and economic intricacies of this economic bloc. Chapter 8 elucidated that while global trends suggest that industrial location might be less important due to globalisation 248 Mariske van Aswegen and J. Ernst Drewes and technological advancements, practical evidence suggests otherwise. The focus of the chapter was on establishing the critical role of industrial location and the impact it has on the competitiveness of industries within the SADC. Numerous factors impacting the competitiveness of industries were identified, including technological advances, political stability, human resources, hard and soft infrastructure, agglomeration effects, and being land-locked or sea-locked. Based on the aforementioned factors, each location is recognised to have a unique competitive advantage, which could be explored through improved transport infrastructure, addressing border challenges and related corruption, and recognising the variety each of the member states has to offer. The chapter recommends creating a productivity-enhancing regional system and technology-based ecological ambition to boost regional competitiveness. The subsequent chapter, Chapter 9, explored in detail the untapped potential of intra-regional trade in the SADC. Policy constraints and historical challenges are indicated as impeding the economic progress in the economic bloc. Numerous opportunities on an importer-product-export level for intra-regional trade, encouraging network interaction and opening new markets, are discussed. The results reveal over 4,000 high-value untapped trade opportunities in sectors such as transportation, machinery, textiles, and clothing products. The authors proposed that these findings inform the prioritisation of development strategies and infrastructure development for deeper economic and spatial integration. It is affirmed that, over time, these untapped opportunities could provide the solution towards industrialisation and increased international competitiveness of the SADC and the continent. Keeping with the trade perspective, Chapter 10 conducted a comparative evaluation of regional integration and industrialisation. The chapter highlighted numerous challenges faced by the SADC, i.e., primary sector dependence, constrained diversification, confined commodity export, and limited value addition. The urgency of departing from the heavy dependence of all member states on the primary sector and commodity exports is continuously emphasised, as this focus hinders long-term growth and global competitiveness. A visible link with previous chapters’ appeals for prioritisation of economic and spatial integration, improved trade infrastructure, and trade liberalisation is apparent. Further, a focus on strengthened resource-based industrialisation (RBI) through synergised regional value chains to leverage competitive advantages, acquiring and transferring technology for industrial production, labour productivity, and policy harmonisation through supranational institutions are pertinent proposals emanating from the analysis. Taking a case-study approach, the concluding chapter, Chapter 11, deliberated on artisanal mining as a significant contributor to livelihoods in the SADC, with a focus on South Africa. However, its informal and unsustainable practices have negative consequences such as environmental degradation, social inequalities, and economic instability, leading to conflicts and undermining regional policy goals. The chapter drew attention to the importance of formalising artisanal mining through improved standards, conflict A regional policy approach for the SADC 249 management, and increased safety regulations in this sector. Numerous proposals became evident through a detailed analysis of the Kimberley (South Africa) case study, which could be transferred to many of the member states grappling with this challenge. These proposals include strengthening legal and regulatory frameworks, simplifying licensing procedures, raising awareness, providing training, facilitating access to finance, promoting cooperative mining, enhancing monitoring and enforcement, engaging with local communities, and fostering cross-border cooperation. 12.3 A future policy perspective for the SADC Similar to the synthesis and the book’s overall approach, the subsequent section will be dealt with in terms of the three main perspectives as identified, i.e., policy, structural, and economic and trade perspectives. 12.3.1 Regional policy approach The first three chapters of the book provided an analysis of regional policy, or the lack thereof, as well as the existing approaches thereto in the SADC. A twofold approach to establish a more robust SADC became evident throughout the preceding chapters. Firstly, an endogenous approach (inward focus) on strengthening the bloc as a REC is proposed, and secondly, an exogenous (adaptability) focus on a network approach with advanced economies will be highlighted. This builds on the dialectic relationship between subnational and supranational regionalism in attaining regional goals. I. Endogenous focus: From this, it is acknowledged that an explicit policy focus on regional integration should form the basis of the economic bloc moving forward into a state of local industrialism. In identifying the regional imbalances and addressing these in a progressive and focused regional policy, economies of scale and effects of cumulative causation will be enabled. Regional policy is advocated as a de-locking mechanism focusing on stronger and more effective institutions, spatially targeted interventions, and large-scale infrastructure investments (refer to Section 12.3.2). It is proposed that the subnational regional sector-based policies inform the broad-based interventions of the SADC but also that individual national approaches note supranational projects and investments in their individual policy and strategic planning frameworks. Furthering an endogenous focus, indigenous creation is proposed with a focus on local regional technologies and industries’ experiences (Martin & Sunley, 2006). Regional economic diversity should be promoted (refer to Section 12.3.3) emphasising the value of heterogeneity and the positive effects associated with related variety in economic industries (Martin & Sunley, 2006). It is furthermore identified that the overarching regional policy must support and promote value addition to bolster local employment 250 Mariske van Aswegen and J. Ernst Drewes and labour productivity through enhanced industrial production. Lastly, radical industrialisation focusing on local endowments should drive the SADC into a more advanced era. II. Exogenous openness: As a peripheral lagging region globally, the integration with and investment from leading regions deserves a strong focus. It is upheld that exogenous assistance is crucial for breaking barriers on the global scale. Active measures should be identified to include the SADC in the world order through the strategic development of external networks and linkages (Lagendijk & Lorentzen, 2007), which in turn leads to reorientation and renewal of the region. Strategic coupling (Manning & Richter, 2022) is a core approach for the SADC, whereby linkages with leading global firms will establish a symbiotic relationship with local actors in a knowledge exchange approach to empower peripheral regions to upgrade into higher-level market capabilities. Furthermore, South-South relations as a basis to strengthen import substitution is pertinent in this network approach. Such a focus will lessen historical economic and structural dependence on the developed world (Inotai, 1991). Additionally, a transfer to modern technologies, appropriate institutional arrangements and organisational structures, and innovative ideas from elsewhere (Castaldi et al., 2004) could further add to a groundbreaking approach for regional integration of the SADC. This twofold approach to policy formulation aims to establish an increased connectivity through investments within the trade bloc and with global markets, stressing that regionalism from within and outside the borders of a single nation is intrinsically linked to each other. Carlsson et al. (2014) maintain that the complex relationship between endogenous and exogenous approaches, and more so, balancing strategies of endogenous and exogenous development, will lead to an increase in both adaptation and adaptability of any region, establishing a more resilient SADC. Subsequently, more detailed proposals on a structural level will follow. 12.3.2 Structural approach The proposals emanating from the second section of the book are underscored by the importance of establishing an appropriate and comparative regional settlement profile (refer to Chapter 6) for the economic bloc. This settlement profile is proposed to be used as the basis for a regional strategic framework, as it enables the comparison of multinational settlements, which is the fundamental step in spatial policy-making and development planning. This enables evidence-based and informed policies and interventions on a place-specific basis, and fosters collaboration across national borders. Other structural components as part of a regional bloc approach include that of general infrastructure, and specifically the innovative use of development corridors. It was established that spatially targeted development A regional policy approach for the SADC 251 corridors, supported by scientific reasoning, are pivotal in establishing and strengthening cohesion in the SADC, as has occurred elsewhere in the world. Development corridors linking geographically remote areas require harmonised regulations and procedures across levels of government, and further cohesion among member states. Additionally, greater and strategically prioritised investment in infrastructure projects is pivotal in fostering trade in the SADC. Investment from various sources is proposed, including public and private sectors, FDI, as well as regional development banks and international trade organisations. This should be centrally (SADC) coordinated to align infrastructure development priorities, prevent duplication, and share costs where applicable. A regional approach to infrastructure, through collaboration and multilateral institutions, will lessen the current deficits and establish new markets between member states. 12.3.3 Economic and trade approach The lack of competitiveness of the SADC should be addressed by a regional industrialisation agenda, focused on a productivity-enhancing regional system, and supported through a technology-based ecological objective. More specifically, a focus on enhanced transportation infrastructure, streamlined border procedures, and addressing delays and corruption is proposed. This could be further strengthened through the beneficiation of natural resources in a drive towards increased, but appropriate, industrialisation. Furthering industrialisation and regional competitiveness, a renewed focus on intraregional trade is proposed to be supported through the identified untapped regional trade opportunities in sectors such as transportation and machinery, and numerous opportunities in textiles and clothing products among the member states. This will enhance the region’s competitiveness and support new networking interactions, deeper cooperation among member states, technology transfer, knowledge exchange, reducing regional disparities, better resource allocation and efficiency, increased competitiveness, a larger market, and economies of scale. Subsequently, a focus on combining regional integration and industrialisation is proposed to be attained in a targeted manner through deeper spatial and economic integration. Practically, this will include harmonised trade policies, providing supportive infrastructure, and eliminating trade barriers among member states. The regional policy should furthermore set out to bolster external trade relations (outside of the member states). Simultaneously, focusing on gaining access to international markets through the digital economy will strengthen global integration. A SADC Regional Development Fund as an umbrella organisation could potentially address these practicalities and assist each member country in identifying and enhancing their unique specialisation sectors. Moreover, it is proposed that all member states formally commit to supporting a supranational umbrella organisation through adequate financial and human resources, which will 258 Index formalisation 237–238; artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) 223–224, 234–237; Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) 227– 228, 231–234 free movement of people 129 free trade agreement (FTA) 195, 206–207; African Continental FreeTrade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) 1, 207 freight transportation 94 FTA see free trade agreement functional connectivity 94 functional lock-in 38 functional relationships, between development centres 83 funding 253 Gauteng province (South Africa) 148 GCI see Global Competitiveness Index GDP see Gross Domestic Product Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 151 Global South 32–33 globalisation 20; competition 161 global-local linkages 71; Namibia 67 global-local synergies 65 GMS programme see Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) programme governance structure and regulations, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) 233 Great Depression (1930s) 15 Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) programme 79 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 86 Gross Value Added (GVA) 86 growth 16; for intra-regional trade 170–171; of population 100–101; regional economic growth and industrialisation 194–195; unbalanced growth 16; of urban dwellers in SADC 102 growth poles 99–100 growth-pole theory 4 GVA see Gross Value Added (GVA) Harambee Prosperity Plans (HPPs) 63 hard infrastructure 125–128, 130–134 Harmonization of Mining Policies, Standards, Legislative, and Regulatory Frameworks Project 222 Herfindahl-Hirschmann-index (HHI) 174 hotspot analysis, population centres 118 HPPs see Harambee Prosperity Plans human capital, locational factors influencing competitiveness 156 ICA see institutional collective action ICT see information communication technology illegal mining, and conflict 218–220 illegal mining reduction 224 import demand: evaluating 173– 175; matching 176; unrealised potential179 import tariffs 201 industrial competitiveness 147, 149– 154, 161–163 industrial location 8, 147–154, 161–163, 248; factors influencing competitiveness 154–161 industrial sector 205; productivity 194 industrial value-add 200 industrialisation 9, 193, 251; Namibia 68–69; and regional economic growth 194–195; and regional integration 196–197 industrialisation comparative analysis 199–200 industrialising, regional integration 195–196 information communication technology (ICT) 207 infrastructure 7, 123–124, 141, 247, 251; hard infrastructure 125–128; information communication technology (ICT) 207; lack of 103–104; locational factors influencing competitiveness 156–157; non-physical infrastructure 195, 204; physical infrastructure 195; regional infrastructure 132; soft infrastructure 126–128, 134–135; telecommunication infrastructure 124, 127; trade link and 124–125 infrastructure development, hard infrastructure 130–134 infrastructure development policy 27–28 innovation 86; development corridors 93; development nodes 86 institution focused policies 46 institutional collective action (ICA) 48 institutional transparency 128 institutions of SADC 207–208 institutions-trade nexus 127–128 Index 259 Integrated Urban Development Framework (IUDF) 110 integration 32, 123; economic and spatial integration 202–204; macroeconomics integration 129, 139; productive integration 129, 139; trade integration 129; see also intraregional trade International Development Strategy 33 International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP) 28 inter-regional policy 45 interventions policy instruments 46 intra-regional planning 71; Namibia 68 intra-regional trade 135–140, 166, 168–169, 248; barriers to 203; comparative analysis 200–202; growth 170–171; research process flow see research process flow; results of study 177–186; untapped potential 177–188 ISOCARP see International Society of City and Regional Planners IUDF see Integrated Urban Development Framework Kavango East 69 Kazungula Water Supply and Sanitation Project 134 Kigali Free Movement of Persons Protocol 129 Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) 219, 224–227, 238n5; formalisation 227–228, 231–232; labour 229–230 knowledge spill-overs 159–160 knowledge transfer 48 KPCS see Kimberley Process Certification Scheme Kunene (Angola and Zambia) and Lomahasha/Namaacha (Eswatini and Mozambique) water projects 134 labour: artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) 229–231, 233; Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) 229–230 labour productivity 194, 200 lack of critical infrastructure 103–104 land-locked/sea-locked, locational factors influencing competitiveness155 large cities 106 leadership 58 least developed countries 44 Lesotho: intra-regional trade 137; untapped potential 180 linear integration models, intra-regional trade 169 local industrial dynamism 38 local labour, Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) 229–230 location see industrial location locational factors influencing competitiveness 154–155; agglomeration 159–160; economic and political stability 158; human capital 156; infrastructure 156–157; land-locked/sea-locked 155; marketrelated factors 158–159; regional integration 160–161; resources 155–156; technology 157 lock-ins 38–39, 45 Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 202 macroeconomic indicators and variables150 macroeconomics integration 129, 139 Madagascar: African Infrastructure Development Index (AIDI) 131–132; intra-regional trade 137 main settlement nodes 116–118 Malawi: 2006 Malawi Growth and Development Strategy 102–103; economic growth 151; untapped potential 180 manufacturing sector 195 Maputo Corridor 134 marginality 37–38 market concentration 174 market-related factors, locational factors influencing competitiveness 158–159 matching import demand and export supply 176 Mauritius 247; African Infrastructure Development Index (AIDI) 130–132, 134; intra-regional trade 137; unrealised potential exports 178; untapped potential 180 MDGs see Millennium Development Goals megacities 106 member states of Southern African Development Community 2–3 Mercado Común del Sur (MERCOSUR) 198, 200, 202 260 Index migration, rural-urban migration 102–103 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 33 Mineral Sector Programme 222 mining see artisanal mining MMDA see Model Mining Development Agreement mobility during formalisation process, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) 230 Model Mining Development Agreement (MMDA) 222 Mozambique: African Infrastructure Development Index (AIDI) 131–132; conflict 103; economic growth 151; untapped potential 180 M-type corridors 79 multilevel governance 70–71 multimodal transportation systems 80 Namibia 152; global-local linkages 67; industrialisation 68–69; intraregional planning 68; political rescaling 66; regional cooperation 66; regional councils 63, 67; Regional Councils Act 63; regional planning 63–64; regional policy 65; regionalism 62; subnational regional development policy 64–69; subnational regionalism 61–64; untapped potential 180; Urban and Regional Planning Act 67; Vision 2030 63; Windhoek 112 National Development Plans (NDPs) 63 National Spatial Development Framework 110 natural resource management 71–72 NDPs see National Development Plans neopatrimonial interests 58–59 NEPAD see New Partnership for African Development network of settlements, importance of 104–107 networks 160; development corridors 83 new cities 106 new colonialism 37 new economic geography 16, 41 new economics geography theory 154 New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) 22–23 New Regionalism 16, 192 new town strategies (UK) 16 new trade theory 167 New Urban Agenda (NUA) 107 night lights data 113–115 nodal regions 19 non-equilibrium resilience 39 non-physical infrastructure 195, 204 North-South corridor 90, 134 NUA see New Urban Agenda OECD see Organisation for Economic Coordination and Development offsetting remoteness 82 One-Stop Border Posts (OSBP) 134 Organisation for Economic Coordination and Development (OECD) 27 OSBP see One-Stop Border Posts Pan-African Agenda 22 Pearson correlation 139 peripheral regions: attributes of 37–40; dependency view 36–37; peripheral view 34–35; resilience 41; systems view 35–36; three-pronged approach to intervention 47 peripherality 246; de-locking mechanisms towards dynamic stability 44–48 physical infrastructure 195; see also infrastructure planning see regional planning polarisation reversal 21 polarised regions 19 policy drivers 59 policy environment, artisanal and smallscale mining (ASM) 220–222 policy fields 46 policy initiatives 25; Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 25–27; Regional Infrastructure Development Masterplan 27–28 policy options 59 policy response 47 policymaking 46 political lock-in 39 political rescaling 65, 70; Namibia 66 political stability, locational factors influencing competitiveness 158 population, and economic proxy classes115 population centres, hotspot analysis 118 population growth 100–101 positive lock-in 38 Index 261 poverty 38, 101–102 power 58–59 primary city phase 20 Principal Component Analysis 129 productive integration 129, 139 productivity 194; labour productivity200 Protocol on Mining 221 public transportation 103 quantification of development corridors 84–87 quantitative analysis 197; variables, data, and databases 198 ranking: in industrialisation variables 199–200; in regional integration variables 201 RBI see resource-based industrialisation RCA see Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index RDA see regional development authority RDF see Regional Development Fund recommendations for SADC, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) 235–236 RECs see Regional Economic Communities region settlement typology 116 regional balance 16 regional connectivity 246 regional cooperation: Namibia 66; Southern African Development Community (SADC) 70 regional councils, Namibia 63, 67 Regional Councils Act, Namibia 63 regional development authority 252 regional development corridors 79 Regional Development Fund (RDF) 26, 251–253 regional development policy 5 Regional Economic Communities (RECs) 135, 137, 166; linear integration models 169 regional economic growth, and industrialisation 194–195 regional economic integration 32 regional economic resilience 61 Regional Energy Access and Strategic Action Plan 2010–2020 132 regional freight transportation 94 Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 25–28, 88, 196, 221; infrastructure development policy 130 regional infrastructure 7, 132; see also infrastructure Regional Infrastructure Development Masterplan (RIDMP) 27–28, 108,204 Regional Infrastructure Development Plan 90 Regional Infrastructure Investment Master Plan 222 regional integration 9, 123, 168–170, 193, 209, 248; comparative analysis 200–202; and industrialisation 196– 197; locational factors influencing competitiveness 160–161; response to challenges of industrialising 195–196; role of trade in 166–168 regional integration variables, rankings201 regional lock-in 38 regional markets 195 regional planning 15–17; in Namibia 63–64 regional policy 3–4, 11, 17–18, 209; as de-locking mechanism 45–47; endogenous focus 249–250; exogenous openness 250; Namibia 65; policy approaches in peripheral regions, best practices 49; in SADC 59; supranational regional policy 245; urban systems 19–22 regional policy interventions 203–204,206 regional power behaviour 58–59 regional problem 3, 17 regional resilience 39, 41–42, 44–45 regional settlement profiles 7, 99, 250; challenges for comparable profiling 108–109; comparable information on SADC cities and settlements 107–108; importance of cities and network of settlements 104–107; settlement hierarchy 111–112; settlement typology practice lesson 109–111 regional trade: results of study 177–186; transport sector 182–183; see also trade regional trade opportunities, textiles and clothing sector 184–185 regional value chains (RVCs) 196; and resource-based industrialisation 204–208 262 Index regionalisation 28, 192 regionalism 246; in Namibia 62; in SADC 59–61; subnational regionalism 57–59; supranational regionalism 57–59 regional-rural development model 111 regulatory barriers, eliminating 169 remoteness, offsetting 82 research process flow 172; analysis of export supply 175–176; evaluating import demand 173–175; evaluating utilisation of bilateral export opportunities 176–177; matching import demand and export supply176 resilience 41–42, 60–61, 246; nonequilibrium resilience 39 resource-based industrialisation (RBI) 10, 204–208 resources, locational factors influencing competitiveness 155–156 responsible mining practices 223 Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) index 175 RIDMP see Regional Infrastructure Development Masterplan RISDP see Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan road freight transportation 90–91, 94 roads 90, 103; trade flow 127; see also transport Rural Development Service Guidelines110 rural-urban migration 102–103 RVCs see regional value chains SAARC see South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation SACU see Southern African Customs Union SADCC see Southern African Development Coordination Conference SADC-EU EPA 206 SADC-RDA 252–254 sanitation products 134 scalar policies, Namibia 65–66 scale economies 90 SCDS see Spatial Corridor Development Strategy Schmittian Grossraum theory 58, 60 scientific interpretation of development corridors 87–93 SDGs see Sustainable Development Goals sea-locked, locational factors influencing competitiveness 155 sector distribution of untapped regional trade opportunities 180–181 Sectoral and Cluster Ministerial Committees 197 sectoral policies, Namibia 68–69 sectoral transformation 195 semi-periphery 35–36 settlement hierarchy 6–7, 110–112; main settlement nodes 116–118; settlement landscape 112; settlement typology 112–116 settlement landscape 112–113 settlement theory 19 settlement typology 112–117; practice lesson 109–111 settlements see regional settlement profiles Seychelles 247; African Infrastructure Development Index (AIDI) 130–132, 134; economic growth 151; intraregional trade 137 Simplified Trade Regime (STR) 204 slum dwellers 101 small cities 106 small urban towns and settlements 107 small-scale mining (SSM) 217–218 social overhead capital (SOC) 48 soft infrastructure 126–128, 134–135 South Africa 60; African Infrastructure Development Index (AIDI) 130, 134; artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) 219; Competitive Industrial Performance Index (CIPI) 152; economic growth 151; industrial location 148; intra-regional trade 137; Kimberley Process Certification Scheme see Kimberley Process Certification Scheme; untapped potential 180 South African settlement typology 111 South Asian Association for RegionalCooperation (SAARC) 198,200 Southern African Customs Union (SACU) 24, 60 Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) 23–24 Southern Economic Corridors 91–92 Index 263 South-South relationships 254 spatial attractiveness 81, 84 spatial connectivity 156 Spatial Corridor Development Strategy (SCDS) 196–197 spatial integration 1, 202–204 spatial policies, Namibia 67–68 spatial targeting 253 spatial transformation corridors 79 spill-overs 159–160 Standard Competition Ranking System197 static equilibrium approaches 19 STR see Simplified Trade Regime strategic coupling 254 S-type corridors 79–80 subnational regional development policy, Namibia 64–69 subnational regional policy 253 subnational regionalism 57–59, 69–72; in Namibia 61–64 subnational regions 56 sugar cane 162 super-blocs 1 supranational development agency 252 supranational regional policy 245, 253 supranational regionalism 57–59 supranational regions 56 surplus products, vent-for-surplus theory 34–35 sustainable development 221 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 33, 123; artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) 223 synergy 85, 196 systems theory 18–19 systems view 42 Tanzania: economic growth 151; intraregional trade 137 tariff reduction 169, 195 tariffs, import tariffs 201 technology 161; locational factors influencing competitiveness 157; spill-overs 159–160 telecommunication infrastructure 124,127 temporal provenance 59 Tennessee Valley Authority programme (US) 16 TEN-T see Trans-European Transport Networks tertiary activities 194 textiles and clothing sector, regional trade opportunities 184–185 TFTA see Tripartite Free Trade Area trade 160–161, 251–252; free trade agreement (FTA) 195; infrastructure and 125–128; intra-regional trade 135–140; role in regional integration 166–168; see also intra-regional trade trade agreements 8–9, 206; see also free trade agreements trade corridors 79 trade facilitation 128 trade flow: institutional transparency 128; roads 127 trade integration 129 trade link, infrastructure and 124–125 trade openness 201 Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) 80 transport 129; see also roads transport composite index 134 transport corridors 79 transport costs 126 transport sector: development corridors 88–89; regional trade opportunities 182–183; untapped potential 181 transportation infrastructure 251 tri-modal structure 35 Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) 24,206 unbalanced growth 16 undocumented labour, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) 229–231 United Kingdom, new town strategies (UK) 16 United Nations World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) 128 United States, Tennessee Valley Authority programme (US) 16 unrealised potential exports 177–178 untapped export opportunities 183 untapped trade potential 186–187; regional export potential 178; regional import demand potential 179 unutilised/untapped bilateral trade opportunities 177–178 Urban and Regional Planning Act, Namibia 67 urban areas 99; comparative classification critieria for 106–107; defining for countries in SADC 105; see also cities 264 Index urban centres 19 urban dwellers: growth of 102; living in informality in SADC 101 urban municipalities 107 urban networks 19 urban systems 18–22 urbanisation 6, 17, 99–101; infrastructure 124 urban-rural linkages 65, 71; Namibia 67 vent-for-surplus theory 34–35 Vision 2030, Namibia 63 Vision 2050 88, 104, 196 WAEMU see West African Economic and Monetary Union water supply 134 WEF see World Economic Forum West African Economic and MonetaryUnion (WAEMU) 127,198 Western Cape province (South Africa)148 World Economic Forum (WEF) 151 world systems theory 35 WorldPop database 112–113 ‘Zama Zama’ 228, 238–239n6 Zambia: artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) 234; economic growth151 Zimbabwe 60; economic growth 151