Cultural Clusters as a Local Economic Development Strategy in Rural Small-Town Areas: Sarah Baartman District in South Africa

Abstract

Theory suggests that cultural and creative industries (CCIs) cluster in cities where levels of socio-economic development are higher and where they can take advantage of the city’s hard and soft infrastructure. However, some South African rural areas and small towns have identified CCIs as potential economic drivers. This paper investigates the relationship between the presence of CCIs in non-metropolitan spaces and levels of socio-economic development using a municipal level socio-economic status index and GIS mapping. The results show a positive relationship between larger numbers of CCIs and higher levels of development. It is suggested that a threshold level of development must be met before CCIs will cluster in an area and become a viable option for promoting local economic development.

Appraising the local village leaders' response to the challenges faced by rural households during the corona virus 2019 national lock-down in South Africa

“…Apparently, the social economic challenges (such as lack of basic information about the virus itself, lack of basic amenities such as roads, food, water, health facilities and other welfare services) which the households at Tswinga village faced are not significantly different from those faced by communities in similar rural communities, during the COVID-19 pandemic (Arndt et al, 2020;Drummond & Snowball, 2019;Emenike et al, 2017;Fransman & Yu, 2019;Iwara et al, 2020;World Bank, 2020, Gabriel & Robinson, 2020. However, because the interpretations of the challenges have been local, community-oriented and intrinsically drawn from the community's systems of beliefs, different strategies introduced by the local leaders have followed a unique different path.…”

“…Друштвено-економски изазови у селу Тсвинга (као што су недостатак основног знања о самом вирусу, недостатак основних објеката и услуга као што су путеви, храна, вода, здравствене установе итд.) очигледно се не разликују драстично од изазова са којима се суочавају остале сеоске заједнице током пандемије COVID-19 pandemic (Arndt et al, 2020;Drummond & Snowball, 2019;Emenike et al, 2017;Fransman & Yu, 2019;Iwara et al, 2020;World Bank, 2020, Gabriel & Robinson, 2020. Ипак, зато што су изазови тумачени на локалном нивоу и зато што су усмерени на заједницу и проистекли из система уверења дате заједнице, различите стратегије које су увеле локалне вође имале су јединствену путању.…”

Using Municipal Tourism Assets for Leveraging Local Economic Development in South Africa

“…South Africa is one country in the global South which has seen the recent emergence of some writings and debates which are probing questions surrounding tourism and place-based development (Rogerson, 2014;Dlomo and Tseane-Gumbi, 2017;Lawrence and Rogerson, 2018;Drummond and Snowball, 2019;Kontsiwe and Visser, 2019;Rogerson and Collins, 2019;Rogerson, 2019a, 2019b;Rogerson and Visser, 2020). The 1996 Constitution of South Africa assigned a dynamic role for local governments to overcome serious development challenges and catalyse local economic and social development (Nel and Rogerson, 2016a;Venter, 2020).…”

The variety of industrial towns in Slovenia: a typology of their economic performance

“…Some authors noted that the reduction of "smoke-stack industries" will lead to replacement by services and "sunrise" industries (Lever, 1991: 995). Culture-led revitalisation and development became a focus of research and policy-making, not only in larger cities but also in smaller towns (see Drummond and Snowball, 2019;Lorentzen and Heur, 2012;Środa-Murawska et al, 2017;Waitt and Gibson, 2009). Deindustrialisation and strengthening of the service economy was particularly noticed in larger metropolitan cities, while smaller towns retained more industrial employment (Henderson, 2010).…”