Economic decline and gentrification in a small town: the business sector in Aberdeen, Eastern Cape

Abstract

Small towns are a neglected topic of study but they are gaining importance in South Africa because of rapid urbanisation. This paper discusses a case study of business development and gentrification in Aberdeen, a small town in the Eastern Cape's Karoo. Although there has been a long-term decline in Aberdeen's economy, major changes are now taking place that call for more focused development policies. The findings of a 2006 business survey in Aberdeen are presented here and integrated with findings from the international literature on small town development. The paper shows that endogenous development of a small town's economy by its business sector can lead to some local economic growth; however, it needs to be assisted by judicious government investment. Aberdeen's economy will need a stronger level of municipal guidance to exploit its strengths and overcome its limitations.Small towns, local economic development, business development, Karoo, Aberdeen,

A ‘Creative Class’ in South Africa’s Arid Karoo Region

“…What Webster describes is well borne-out by a study of the business sector in Aberdeen (Atkinson 2009), and is equally applicable to any number of small Karoo towns. One indication of this is the number of 'emerging' small building contractors -mainly from the local black and coloured communities-that Atkinson reports have sprung up to take advantage of the new opportunities created by the wave of gentrification (see also Hoogendoorn et al 2009: 79-80).…”

“…To some degree then, at least where rather more affluent individuals are concerned, answers to the questions raised by Visser are in the process of revealing themselves in the form of a new social movement characterised by counterurbanisation in favour of the platteland (Atkinson 2009). This is radically revising general perceptions of the Karoo-a region which was once almost universally regarded as a desolate wasteland fit for nothing but sheep (Dobson and Mowszowski 2004;Nel and Hill 2008;Wright 1929: 135).…”

“…In view of this, and the fact that South Africa's National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP) has not identified the Karoo as a terrain with any significant economic potential (Atkinson and Marais 2007b), it is perhaps unsurprising that what white counterurbanisation there has been, has gone unremarked. But it seems undeniable that the trend makes a difference to the people who live there (Atkinson 2009;Kotze 2008: 2588). The question is: How big a difference is this, and what potentials does the advent of this class hold out for the general socio-economic upliftment of the region?…”

Towards generic interventions to stimulate growth potential in small towns of the Western Cape Province, South Africa

“…In the process, rural gentrification has 'benefited' some towns (Atkinson 2009, Donaldson 2009) while others have remained unpopular for revival. Activities and functions which were (in certain cases, exclusively) part of the metropolitan domain can also be found in the nonmetropolitan sphere.…”

The level of local development and the need for local government investment indicated by residents of selected communes in the Lublin voivodeship

“…Vranitzky (1995) noted that public investments should contribute to decreasing people's tendency to emigrate by increasing economic welfare. It can also be observed that public investment increasing the quality of infrastructure contributes to a trend towards 'reverse migration' or 'population turnaround' as a result of the renewed preference for rural living (Atkinson, 2009;Brown and Wardwell, 1980). The tendency of communes to invest is connected with expanding fixed material resources, and is therefore a benefit to the local community.…”