PLANNING APPROVAL OF HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS: CASE STUDY OF THE CITY OF JOHANNESBURG AND TSHWANE METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITIES OF SOUTH AFRICA

Nonhlanhla Bc Buthelezi ¹ George Onatu ^2* Clinton O Aigbavboa ²

• ¹ Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
• ² University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

South Africa has broad spatial planning frameworks that have become a useful guideline for planning approvals. Housing development officials need to understand clearly these planning instruments, the economy and linkages between the urban and rural market space as well as the complexities of socioeconomic issues thereof. Various scholars have noted that some of these spatial planning policies are very weak in terms of addressing the real structure of the economy, but instead have focused on check listing and implementing the policy visions based only on the social, political, and institutional environments. Several of the planning approvals processes for housing developments have been fraught with delays, unnecessary bureaucracy and hindrances such that their contributions to rapid economic growth are negligible and invisible. South Africa is a home to 62 million people and has 3200 unplanned settlements that must be provided with basic services and may require emergency services provisions as they are prone to disasters. Planning approvals of housing developments if not concluded timely create delays in provision of basic services and hinder economic growth. The formula for calculating economic growth looks at the number of building plans completed and value of completed buildings in South Africa. The research methodology used here is a case study design that is concerned with a particular phenomenon in a given context and the approach is qualitative method based on policy content analysis and secondary data.