If local economic development is about finding local solutions to local problems then there is no ideal example that presents itself as a one-size-fits-all panacea. It is possible to find inspiration in how others have succeeded, and also valuable lessons in how they have failed.

I have been lucky to work with all sorts of stakeholders looking to make their local economies more competitive and create an environment conducive to job creation. It’s a worthwhile game, even though the stakes are high and the returns often fragile. Municipalities are well-placed to play the facilitation role as representatives of the public good, free from any direct profit motive. Here are three examples that may be of interest:

The Good

A secondary city with a declining central business district decided to do something about the fact that its main downtown city strip was a congested, unsafe and unappealing place to work or play. Established businesses had long since moved to the suburban periphery in the typical doughnut development which we see all over South Africa. Architecturally significant buildings had been left to deteriorate as tenants moved out. Ground floors were given over to low-end retail with second stories and above being used merely for storage. At night the area was deserted and unsafe, with no facilities to draw people into the centre (such as restaurants, cinema’s etc).

An urban campus of a local university went into partnership with the municipality to regenerate this part of the city and make it more user-friendly for students wanting to live and be entertained near to their place of study. The project set out to pedestrianise the main street, reclaiming space back from motorized vehicle traffic and green the city centre with public squares and gardens. More formalized market zones for informal traders were designed, and owners of buildings offered rates rebates to paint and upgrade their buildings. New safety measures were developed to attract people back into the city, and improved cleansing services showed a commitment to changing the public face of the city.

The Bad

A rural municipality had an ailing citrus project which had been initiated by a local politician in an area that turned out to be unsuitable for the production of citrus. Soil tests and environmental research carried out by agricultural technicians revealed the poor suitability of the area for citrus only after the first phase of project implementation showed signs of distress. No feasibility study or scientific trails had been done to establish the viability of the project prior to the granting of government funds. By then considerable resources had gone into planting the trees, and setting local people up as communal farmers on the land. Instead of abandoning what was clearly a loosing battle and re-strategising for an appropriate use of the land based on its poven potential, the municipality insisted on spending more money to try and prop up the unviable project. The community working the land could not understand why their hard work was not providing the yields they had come to expect, and were being asked to continue their futile struggle against the elements so that the authorities could avoid embarrassment in the short-term.

The Ugly

A small town initiated a strategy to link and market small businesses serving the tourism sector into an organized tourism route, thereby attracting more visitors and creating local employment. The local tourism association took the lead and made numerous improvements in branding and marketing the area to tourists, building tourism skills among disadvantaged youth as well as expanding and initiating diversified enterprises to improve the tourism pull and spend within the locality. After successfully attracting funding for numerous creative tourism start-up businesses, factions within the area started questioning the benefits of the project and accused certain interest groups of monopolizing the funds. Instead of encouraging the growth in the tourism sector and building on the successes, they started undermining and sidelining the project, even questioning its legitimacy to the funders.

LED can only work when stakeholders become partners. Working with people and diverse interests is always a challenge. Uniting, transparent leadership is one of the key ingredients in successful LED. Every project needs a champion, and every champion needs supporters.

Lu Heideman