Culture and Rural–Urban Revitalisation in South Africa

Indigenous Knowledge, Policies, and Planning

Modimowabarwa Kanyane author Giulio Verdini author Modimowabarwa Kanyane editor Giulio Verdini editor Mziwoxolo Sirayi editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:15th Jun '21

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Culture and Rural–Urban Revitalisation in South Africa cover

This book captures ground-breaking attempts to utilise culture in territorial development and regeneration processes in the context of South Africa and our 'new normal' brought by COVID-19, the fourth industrial revolution, and climate change the world over.

The importance of culture in rural-urban revitalisation has been underestimated in South Africa and the African continent at large. Despite some cultural initiatives that are still at developmental stages in big cities, such as Johannesburg, eThekwini and Cape Town, there is concern about the absence of sustainable policies and plans to support culture, creativity, and indigenous knowledge at national and municipal levels. Showcasing alternative strategies for making culture central to development, this book discusses opportunities to shift culture and indigenous knowledge from the peripheries and place them at the epicentre of sustainable development and the mainstream of cultural planning, which can then be applied in the contexts of Africa and the Global South.

Governmental institutions, research councils, civil society organisations, private sector, and higher education institutions come together in a joint effort to explain the nexus between culture, economic development, rural-urban linkages, grassroots and technological innovations. Culture and Rural-Urban Revitalization in South Africa is an ideal read for those interested in rural and urban planning, cultural policy, indigenous knowledge and smart rural village model.

"In recent years, China has moved towards a new agenda of urban sustainability focused on quality urbanisation, rural revitalization and culturally sensitive policies, and other emerging countries of the Global South are now following a similar trend. This book shows the original contribution of South Africa to this global discourse, with the potential to strengthen south-south policy learning and cooperation."

Li Zhang, Associate Professor and Assistant Head of the Department of Urban Planning, Tongji University; Secretary general of the 'Small Towns Planning Academic Board' of the Chinese Urban Planning Society.

"This book is an acknowledgement of local cultures and indigenous knowledge as a crucial ingredient for rural-urban development. It is written by authors with a cultural conscience. They question, they answer. They question the urban embodiment of unequal cultural relations embedded in western-centric urban theory of planning and development. They contest this with a riveting critique of the current practice of culture-led urban development.

With a temperament of a post-colonial perspective, the authors aim at challenging the western-centric notion of cultural planning and urban biased forms of development. They advance an appeal for experimentation with more inclusionary culture-led approaches that use innovative traditional indigenous knowledge systems in the development of both rural and urban environments."

Prof Mfaniseni Fana Sihlongonyane, School of Architecture and Planning, Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa

ISBN: 9780367703684

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 508g

235 pages