The long-term viability of Elim mall as a growth point in Makhado Municipality

Abstract

Spatial fragmentation is a deeply entrenched feature of the south African space economy. Little progress has been made in reversing this after more than 25 years of enlightened, post-apartheid, spatial planning. A key element of regional development is the location of economic activities (Glasson & Marshall, 2007:4). In many countries across the world, growth centre strategies have been adopted in an attempt to reduce regional inequalities. These have had varying degrees of success and there are many examples of failure. One crucial measure of success is the degree to which the local and regional space economy is becoming more or less well integrated as a result of a development or planning intervention. The purpose of this research is to investigate the extent to which a node, Elim, in South Africa’s Limpopo province, has and could in the future, contribute towards greater integration of the space economy and thereby make some progress in addressing spatial fragmentation. The methods used in this research followed a quantitative approach. A sample of 390 participants was used. The research concluded that shopping centre nodes like the Elim node are capable of transforming the spatial economy and structure of localities and eventually transform the spatial fragmentation that exist in South African settlements.