Planning Capacity in the Public Service
WTPD 2011: Liveable Cities Conference
Podium Block, Cape Town Civic Centre
11 November 2011
Nthato Minyuku-Gobodo
1
Urbanization in Africa
What
Spatial
Planning
ought to
enable
• Inclusive economic growth
• Spatial justice and efficiency
• Holistic and integrated development
• Mediation of various development interests
• Sustainable human settlements
• Optimal Land Use & Land Values
• Productive towns and cities
• Mutually reinforcing urban-rural dynamics
2
Africa’s Megacities
t
EGYPT
GDP:
Unemployment:
GDP per capita:
Cairo: population:
$431.9 billion
10.1%
$5,400.00
15.3 million
NIGERIA
GDP
Unemployment:
GDP per capital:
Lagos population:
$294.8 billion
5.8%
$2,200.00
12.5million
SOUTH AFRICA
GDP:
$467.6 billion
Unemployment:
30%
GDP per capita:
$10,600.00
Johannesburg population 10 million
3
Population Densities & Slums
Managing
overpopulation
Overpopulated slums exhibit high rates of disease due to
unsanitary conditions, malnutrition, crime and violence, and
lack of basic health care. Informal settlements are often well
located but poorly linked to the formal economy. Residents
face environmental risks.
Slum
upgrading for
human dev &
economic
productivity
Scaling up of slum-upgrading programs, including backyarders,
reducing the infrastructure gap & providing services to the
urban poor i.e. water and sanitation, solid waste management,
electricity, and transportation infrastructure.
Communitydriven
upgrading &
secure
tenure
Prioritizing investments with higher impact through and ownrevenue mobilization. Regularized property rights and other
measures to allow low-income groups to buy, rent, and build
good-quality housing on safe sites.
4
Leveraging Economic Growth
Benefit from
rapid urban
expansion
(e.g. Asian
Tigers)
Creating favourable business climates, including a local
government that can mobilize revenue and deliver reliable
services and infrastructure (roads, drainage, water, sanitation,
solid waste).
Urbanization
jump-starts
industrializat
ion
With appropriate interventions, density and urbanization can
yield high productivity and growth. Well managed urban
infrastructure and services could increase competitiveness and
employment
Key
Challenges
Municipalities lack capacity to absorb & leverage growth.
Existing housing and land markets reproduce poverty within
unregulated, un-serviced urban settlements. African urban
economies lack competitiveness and have relatively high costs
of doing business
5
Advance Climate Change Agenda
Reducing
carbon
emissions
An estimated 70% of greenhouse gases emissions come from
cities. In 2007, South Africa alone had the highest CO2
emissions in Africa i.e. 4,133.173 metric tons vs Comoros - 121
metric tons
Vulnerability
of people
and places
Pollution, resource depletion and eco-system degradation.
Increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events.
Likely eco-migration from flood and drought prone localities.
Depletion of agricultural zones supplying urban food market.
Key
Challenges
Lack of dense, compact, energy efficient cities. Lack of
affordable public transport also increases commuter time and
cost. Poor peri-urban interface with rural hinterland. Poor
understanding of how to leverage green economy incl.
Municipal services
6
Towards Planning Activism
2010 Planning African Conference (Durban):
Evolving
African
“voice”
in global,
regional and
local policy
making and
dev
discourse
Building professional planning capacity for managing
urbanization and developmental trends within diminishing
resource envelop:
•Planning across scales ad juristic boundaries
• Engagement with market –driven dynamics: land market,
urbanization, rural-urban migration, informality etc.
• Closing the implementation and delivery loop
• Reform of planning education and practice
• Gendered and youth dimension
• Innovative replicable practice and planning tools
• investment in young professional pipeline
• Regional professional networks e.g. APA, AAPS, ACC
7
Professional Planning Ratios
USA
1 :7 800
(38 400 planners, expected to grow 19% by 2018)
UK
1: 3 500
(23 000 planning professionals)
France
1: 92 307 (60m ppl)*
(650 known planning professionals)
Nigeria
1: 85 940
(1800 members of Institute)
South
Africa
1: 12 121
(3300 – SAPI/SACPLAN etc)
Estimated capacity gap - 3000 planners = reaching USA level to meet needs of current high requirements of Spatial Planning8 and
Land Use legislation
The Nature of the Challenge
• Skills
Individual
• Competencies
• Experience
• Behaviours
• Regulator
• Stability &
excellence
•Work place culture
• Professionalism
• Performance and
accountability
• Career path
• Mentorship
•Learnerships
Organisation
Environment
(SACPLAN)
• Regulations
• Systems
• Education
•Professional
bodies
(SAPI,
ACTRP)
• Sociopolitical
conditions
and culture
9
Organisational and Environmental Challenges
• Global shortage of Planners: loss of local planners lost Commonwealth
• High mobility – “job hopping’’: diiffering salary scales, structures and work conditions
• No clear job delineation: common view that “anyone can do planning” (lawyers, engineers,
surveyors etc) compromises professional integrity.
• Separate from other Built Environment professions: location in DRDLR vs DTPW. Planning often
subordinate to other disciplines in public service/municipalities
• Capacity of planning schools: accreditation, Not attracting high calibre students.
• Unskilled, young planners in senior positions – no appointment criteria and/or mentorship
systems from technical to professional. Average LG planning experience is 6 years
• Instability in municipalities: insecure and unpleasant work environment. Undue and
inappropriate political interference in processing & approval of development applications
• Complex and uncertain legislative framework: SPLUMB still outstanding and current version
may exacerbate capacity gap due to conventional approach to town planning that relies on
unnecessary and high level of requirements.
10
Quality and Experience Gap
•
•
•
•
•
Understanding and experience of
Market, Politics and Society
Economics determines spatial and
settlement patterns and arrangements
within settlements
Planning is a JIPSA-identified scarce
skill essential to ensuring effective and
fast-tracked service delivery
Effective planning necessary to correct
historical spatial imbalances and
ensure space is used to best
advantage of inclusive growth and
development agenda
Effective municipal planning
(development control) directly linked
to increased revenue of municipality
and therefore ability of municipality to
fulfill its mandate
National Supply of Planners:
• 3300 planners
• 34.7% (1147) are registered
• 354 firms are registered
• Capacity gap: 300 according to LGSETA and
MDB but may be as high as 3000
• Declining students registrations
• Low student through-put rates
• Average number of graduates produced
annually - about 200
• Professional attrition: 30 – 50%
• 13% IDP managers are planners
• 31% municipal planning depts heads are
planners
• 8% headed by a matriculant
• 11% with no manager
Reference: Adapted from Ovens & Assoc (2007) and
Municipal Demarcation Board Capacity Assessment (2006)
11
Distribution of Planning Capacity
•
•
•
Level of municipal planning capacity
vary: depends on type of
municipality, understanding of
planning functions as well as
qualifications and experience of local
planners
Uneven distribution of planners
across provinces: lowest h/h to
planner ratios are in provinces with
planning schools and concentration
of property development.
Supply doesn’t necessarily match
demand for skills and may negatively
impact planning, service delivery and
land use practices in high priority
areas.
Province
Eastern C ape
Total
Households
Total
Planning
Firms
Firm to HH ratio
1512664
17
1:88980
733304
20
1:36665
Gauteng (43%)
2651243
153
1:17328
Kwazulu Natal (11%)
2086251
40
1:52156
Limpopo
1179963
13
1:90766
733129
9
1:81459
Northern Cape
206843
None
recorded
on Council
website
North West
929007
17
1:54647
1173304
85
1:13804
Free State
Mpumalanga
Western Cape (24%)
Reference: Ovens & Assoc (2007)
12
Planning Education & Training
Reference: Ovens & Assoc (2007)
13
JIPSA 2006 Recommendations?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Strengthen SACPLAN to fully implement and monitor the Planning Professions Act
(2002)
Fast-track the definition of planning competencies : “work reservation” (SACPLAN
SGB process)
Review quality of Planning Education: appropriate criteria for accreditation and
curriculum reform
Efficient registration of planners (SACPLAN mandate)
CPD: improvement of professional skills (SACPLAN policy) and funding
Mentoring of graduates/young planners
Establish a bursary fund: to enhance output of planning students
Include planning on the National Research Foundation’s list of scarce skills.
Encourage HEIs to focus resources on planning programmes in terms of staff and
facilities.
Marketing and profiling of profession to promote to school-leavers.
Establish partnerships between Government (especially municipalities), HEIs, and
Professional bodies to promote industry-relevant practical experience and skills .
14
Driving Professionalization
Start with entrenching Planning Profession within the Public Sector :
• fill vacant posts with registered planners and ensure skills retention
• Utilise registered professional service providers
• Ensure Development Applications are submitted and assessed by
registered professional planners
• Use of registered planners in forward planning activities and/or facilitation
of planning processes
• Share capacity within the public sector where skills shortages exist but
enforce professionalization
• Establish mentorship and placement of experienced planners in low
capacity municipalities
15
Planning Landscape in the Public Service
Professional
facilitation (multidisciplinary)
Recommended
•Constitution
•Policies
•Legislation
•Electoral mandate
•Public participation
•Stakeholder input
•Research and data
•Expert advice
Registered Urban &
Regional Planners
Reserved
Spatial
Development
Plans/Frameworks
• Various scales
(national, provincial,
local)
Development Plans
• Territorial
•Sectoral
•Cross-cutting
•Spatial dimension
(National Plan, PGDS,
IDPs, Water sector
plan, energy,
infrastructure plans
etc)
Reserved
Land-Use Planning/
Community
•Layout
•Urban design
• Sub-municipal
•Precinct
•Neighbourhood
•Local area
•Ward level
Institutional/
Organisational/
Departmental
• Strategic plans
•Business plans
•Annual plans
•Budgets
Reserved
Land use
management
• Schemes
• Development
Applications
•Township establishment
•Zoning
• By-laws
•Building plans
• Facilitation &
Enforcement 16
THANK YOU
Contact
Ms Nthato Minyuku-Gobodo
sapi@worldonline.co.za / nthatogobodo@gmail.com
17