Integrated Development Planning (IDP) in South Africa

How to Prepare Development Strategies, Part A

Part B

PLANNING ACTIVITY: 2/1
VISION

Purpose WHY?	To inspire, focus the attention and mobilise all residents, communities, stakeholders, politicians and officers in creating the desired future for the municipal area.
Minimum  Requirement w/r to Outputs WHAT?	A statement of the desired long-term development of the municipality based on the identified Priority Issues and related to the specific conditions in the municipal area.
w/r to Process	Involvement of the IDP Representative Forum.
Hints for  Designing  the Output	Visions should be short enough to become popular, but specific enough to refer to the characteristics, problems and potentials of the municipality. The more general visions are phrased, the less they can give guidance Visions should be phrased in a way to be understood by everybody.
Hints for  Structuring  the Process HOW?	The process for developing the Vision should include the following steps: Develop a Working Vision with the IDP Representative Forum. Popularise the Vision through public debate to inform a revised vision. Revise the Vision if necessary after the formulation of the Development Strategies.
Suggested  Institutional Arrangements/ Responsibilities WHO?	The IDP Representative Forum should formulate the Vision and its revised version. The municipality and the IDP Representative Forum should devise ways and means to popularise the Vision and facilitate debates on it.
Time Requirement (tentative) Formulating the working Vision and the working Objec- tives: 1 day Popularising, pub- lishing and debating the working Vision:  6 weeks (during stra- tegy debates) Revising the Working Vision: 1 day	Note: Despite their long-term and normative nature visions should be informed by reality. They should indicate how this municipality with its specific needs and resources should look like after 25 years. Visions and strategies may inform one another mutually. While a (Working) Vision is necessary to inform strategy decisions, the strategy debate may reveal that the Working Vision is unrealistic or too vague. There may be better ideas for phrasing a Vision at the end of the strategy debate. Therefore, there should be a possibility to rephrase the vision.

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PLANNING ACTIVITY: 2/2
DETERMINING WORKING OBJECTIVES

Purpose WHY?	Providing direction to the planning and implementation process.
Minimum  Requirement w/r to Outputs WHAT?	Decision on one objective or a set of interrelated objectives for each priority issue (time horizon: 5 years).
w/r to Process	Visioning and the decision on objectives should be one process and must be done in the Representative IDP Forum.
Hints for  Designing  the Output HOW?	Objectives should relate to the identified problems or needs of people. They should be phrased as a solution of these problems. They need to be phrased as specific as the underlying problem with regard to location and the group of people affected Objectives should clearly indicate the intended benefit for the people or the municipality If there is a range of interrelated objectives (e.g. reducing unemployment by economic investments), one may decide on a hierarchy of objectives Objectives have to be set before deciding on strategies. But they may have to be modified as a result of the strategy debate For some sectors (e.g. water, infrastructure, waste management) statements on objectives are a planning requirement (e.g. envisaged service levels, water quality).
Suggested  Institutional Arrangements/ Responsibilities WHO?	Objectives may be phrased first by the IDP Steering Committee and then be presented for discussion and decision to the IDP Representative Forum At District level, the objectives of local municipalities for each priority issue may be aligned during the strategy workshop.
Time Requirement (tentative)	Note: The objectives may be phrased in general terms at this stage and be specified after technical planning at the end of Phase 3. A discussion on strategies only makes sense if there is first a basic agreement on objectives. Development indicators for each objective will be determined after project/programme planning.

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PLANNING ACTIVITY: 2/3 A
LOCALISED SPATIAL STRATEGIC GUIDELINES

Purpose WHY?	To ensure that national spatial development principles (DFA in particular) are applied in a manner related to the specific local issues when strategies are designed and projects are planned.
Output Requirements w/r to Output WHAT?	A concise document that demonstrates the application of the DFA-principles and other spatial development guidelines, and makes them specific issues and problems of the municipality. This should be represented in 3 - 5 pages accompanied by maps Special attention should be paid to land reform issues.
Legislation/Policy Documents WHERE TO LOOK?	Development Facilitation Act, Chapter 1 The White Paper on South African Land Policy The Housing Act The Housing White Paper Green Paper on Development and Planning National Environmental Management Act
Relevant Guidelines / Principles NATIONAL INPUT	Spatial Development Principles Correction of historically distorted spatial patterns Spatial integration (rural/urban, poor/rich, black/white, housing/workplace) Diversity of land uses Discouragement of urban sprawl/densification/compact towns and cities Environmentally sustainable land development practices Spatially coordinated sectoral activities.Land Development Guidelines Provision for development of urban and rural land, existing and new settlements Discouragement of land invasions (without ignoring reality of informal land use processes) Equitable access to land Tenure security.
The Nature of Localised Strategic Guidelines LOCAL OUTPUT	Localised Spatial Strategic Guidelines should outline the way in which the national spatial principles and local development guidelines should be applied in the local context, taking into consideration the specific spatial characteristics and problems as identified in the spatial analysis (1/5). By doing so, the Localised Spatial Strategic Guidelines should Inform spatial development and restructuring strategies related to the spatial issues as identified in the Analysis Phase (1/5) Inform the locational aspects of general strategy decisions and project planning Indicate the necessity of land reform projects.The localised guidelines should focus on spatial key issues and directions rather than providing area-covering land use guidelines.

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PLANNING ACTIVITY: 2/3 C
LOCALISED STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL GUIDELINES

Purpose WHY?	Providing direction to the planning and implementation process.
Minimum  Requirement w/r to Outputs WHAT?	Decision on one objective or a set of interrelated objectives for each priority issue (time horizon: 5 years).
w/r to Process	Visioning and the decision on objectives should be one process and must be done in the Representative IDP Forum.
Hints for  Designing  the Output HOW?	Objectives should relate to the identified problems or needs of people. They should be phrased as a solution of these problems. They need to be phrased as specific as the underlying problem with regard to location and the group of people affected Objectives should clearly indicate the intended benefit for the people or the municipality If there is a range of interrelated objectives (e.g. reducing unemployment by economic investments), one may decide on a hierarchy of objectives Objectives have to be set before deciding on strategies. But they may have to be modified as a result of the strategy debate For some sectors (e.g. water, infrastructure, waste management) statements on objectives are a planning requirement (e.g. envisaged service levels, water quality).
Suggested  Institutional Arrangements/ Responsibilities WHO?	Objectives may be phrased first by the IDP Steering Committee and then be presented for discussion and decision to the IDP Representative Forum At District level, the objectives of local municipalities for each priority issue may be aligned during the strategy workshop.
Time Requirement (tentative)	Note: The objectives may be phrased in general terms at this stage and be specified after technical planning at the end of Phase 3. A discussion on strategies only makes sense if there is first a basic agreement on objectives. Development indicators for each objective will be determined after project/programme planning.

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PLANNING ACTIVITY: 2/3 A
LOCALISED SPATIAL STRATEGIC GUIDELINES

Purpose WHY?	To ensure that the principles of Chapter 1 of the National Environmental Management Act of 1998 are applied when strategies are designed and projects are planned.
Minimum Output Requirements WHAT?	A concise document that demonstrates the application of the NEMA principles and Local Agenda 21, which gives effect to the NEMA principles, and makes them specific to the municipality. This should be represented in 3 - 5 pages accompanied by a diagram/plan.
Legislation/Policy Documents WHERE TO LOOK?	Principles of Chapter 1 of the National Environmental Management Act Local Agenda 21 National Environmental Management Plans Provincial Environmental Implementation Plans.
Relevant Guidelines / Principles NATIONAL INPUT	Municipal strategies and projects have to comply with the principle of an ecologically sustainable development process meaning that any utilisation of natural resources should not negatively affect the possibility of present and future generations to satisfy their needs. This relates to the following aspects of the environment avoiding pollution and degradation of the environment avoiding waste, ensuring recycling or disposal in a responsible manner minimising and remedying negative impacts on the environment and on people's environmental right considering the consequences of the exploitation of non-renewable natural resources avoiding jeopardising renewable resources and ecosystems paying specific attention to sensitive, vulnerable, highly dynamic or stressed ecosystems minimising loss of biological diversity; and- avoiding disturbance to cultural heritage sites Attempts to consider such principles in development planning need to be aware of the limits of current knowledge about the consequences of decisions and actions.
The Nature of Localised Strategic Guidelines LOCAL OUTPUT	Localised Strategic Guidelines have to indicate which of these general environmental principles are relevant to which types of resource utilisation and to which locations. Only by being sufficiently focused and specific in that regard environmental guidelines can adequately inform strategy decisions and project designs. The guidelines may include a list of especially endangered or degraded resources a list of locations which may require restrictions for utilisation a list of economic activities which needs special attention with regard toenvironmental impact; and- risks of environmental disasters.

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PLANNING ACTIVITY: 2/3 D
LOCALISED STRATEGIC GUIDELINES FOR LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (LED)

Purpose WHY?	To ensure that economic development aspects in general and LED strategies in particular are taken into consideration when strategies are defined and projects are planned.
Minimum Output Requirements WHAT?	A concise (3 - 5 pages) document that provides a framework for any economic promotion measures (direct or indirect) by the municipality.The localised guidelines result from an application of general LED/economic promotion strategies to the specific local conditions.
Legislation/Policy Documents WHERE TO LOOK?	There is a constitutional mandate for municipalities to promote social and economic development The White Paper on Local Government encourages municipalities to address unemployment and to promote LED Employment generation based on economic growth and competitiveness is a major goal of the GEAR (Growth, Employment and Redistribution) Programme.
Relevant Guidelines / Principles NATIONAL INPUT	LED aims at creating employment opportunities and redistribution of economic resources and opportunities for the benefit of all residents (thereby contributing to alleviation of poverty) through economic growth and development based primarily on local resources. Local government is supposed to play a crucial role in promoting LED IDP is considered to be the tool to plan LED support programmes, assuming that some of the socio-economic needs (i.e. Priority Issues) will be best addressed through LED initiatives. In addition, IDP has to ensure the proper consideration of LED objectives in other strategies and initiatives (e.g. infrastructure) There is a wide range of sector-specific or location-specific economic development guidelines which do not necessarily apply to all municipalities, such as Spatial Development Initiatives (SDI), agricultural development policies, tourism development strategies etc. Any promotion efforts in these fields should be planned in the context of the IDP process to arrive at well coordinated economic promotion in a municipal area.
The Nature of Localised Strategic Guidelines LOCAL OUTPUT	Localised Strategic Guidelines for LED should inform Specific LED strategies and employment generation strategies which all those municipalities will have to design where unemployment and lack of income sources are Priority Issues (which is likely to be the case everywhere) Strategies and the design of project proposals in other fields, which may have an impact on local economic development (e.g. labour-intensive means of construction, procurement approaches) Localised Strategic Guidelines for LED should include Focal economic sectors for promotion (e.g. tourism, agro-based industries, processing industries) Basic principles of promotion (e.g. focus on labour-intensive techniques, viability, sustainability) Major instruments of promotion Major target groups (type of enterprises) and intended beneficiaries (e.g. women, school leavers) Focal geographic areas.

 

Part B

More about the Roles and Responsibilities of District and Local Municipalities, Planning Approach and Methodology, and Public Participation in the IDP approach

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 case studies

Latin America
Africa
Asia
Europe /
North America