“Smart Cities in South Africa: A Case of ‘Misplaced Priorities’” or A Guide Towards Innovative Approaches to Socio-Economic Development?

Abstract

In developing countries, planning strategies and methods are influenced by 'western knowledge'. Planners in developing countries such as South Africa have had an increasing interest in helping their cities reach their full potential to achieve 'world-class' status (Dodero, 2010). In order to reduce systematic inefficiencies in the complex system of cities, city managers have turned towards the smart city concept as a new planning approach, to help promote integrated decision-making and collaboration within the various city departments (Westraadt and Calitz; 2018). This research evaluates South Africa's understanding of the ‘smart city concept’. This is done by evaluating the Greater Lanseria Masterplan, a masterplan currently proposing the construction of a ‘smart city’ in an area falling within three municipalities, the CoJMM, the CoTMM, as well as MCLM (GAPP et.al., 2020), thus assessing how the Lanseria Masterplan leverages ICT to create new governance or service delivery models. This research aims to make use of participant observation to explore the ‘smart city concept’ and it’s interpretation in academia and in practice. This will be done through the attendance of bi-weekly project meetings by the GAPP team currently appointed by the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency, as well as through the attendance of smart city conferences and webinars. Follow-up interviews with Town Planners from the City of Johannesburg’s Development Planning department were conducted, following the initial findings from the conferences, bi-weekly meetings, and webinars. The GAPP Team was unavailable for interviews, however, were eager to allow the researcher into the bi-weekly progress meetings for their own assessment of the project. Additional attempts to contact community leaders and NGO’s operating in the Zandspruit community to establish contact were also unsuccessful, leading to the reliance on statistical data in establishing a socio economic profile for the Zandspruit community. This research methodology was instrumental in developing a sense of their application in South Africa and allow for the evaluation of the masterplan. Constructing a ‘smart city’ in South Africa requires a great deal of investment from various stakeholders who may be motivated by their own interests (Allam and Newman, 2018). To cover infrastructure investment and development costs, joint planning initiatives with all parties are essential. Additionally, the ‘cultural and historical aspects, as well as the current metabolism’ of the Greater Lanseria area, need to be considered (Allam and Newman, 2018; 6). There is a clear determination to ensure that no one is left behind or negatively affected by the Lanseria mega project. So far, the project seems to be taking necessary steps to ensure that the project is well-integrated with neighbouring cities and developments.