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B O O K REVIEWS

Development, Employment and the New South Africa

E.P. BEUKES, W.J. DAVIES, R.J.W. VAN DER KOOY & L.A.VAN WYK (EDS) Development Society of Southern Africa, Innesdale, 1991.

Development, Employment and the New South Africa is a collection of twenty selected papers which were initially presented at the fourth conference of the Development Society of Southern Africa, held in Johannesburg in September 1990. The individual authors were responsible for preparing their manuscripts for publication while the role of the book editors was limited to selecting 20 chapters for inclusion from the original 45 conference papers, and writing the preface. As the book editors themselves admit 'this somewhat unorthodox approach made it possible to publish this book with a m in im um of effort. The disadvantage is that the structures of the chapters, referencing, footnotes, etc, have not been standardised'. Perhaps in the heady days of 1990 the editors felt these sacrifices were justified in order to push these papers out as quickly as possible. The papers themselves vary greatly in quality and some could do with substantial editing. Many of the contributors are deve lopment 'practitioners" whose style of writing is perhaps influenced by the preparation of policy documents and reports. The book therefore is not an 'academic' text, and its usefulness as a teaching resource is probably limited to the undergraduate level.

The book is structured in four sections. The first of these, subtitled 'The Development Scene' contains five chapters which offer a broad review of the pos t -apar the id deve lopmen t challenges facing employment . The valuable contributions of Vale and Cross outline lessons from the African and broader international experience, while the other chapters focus on the potential for, and inherent problems to, the South African economy delivering a sufficient number of jobs.

The next four chapters are g r o u p e d together u n d e r the theme 'Some Prerequisites', and here the contributors provide some stimulating reading. This constitutes the most coherent part of the book. Hagg sheds light on the often neglected area of art and culture in a well researched paper on the role of the arts centre in communi ty development and employment provision. Hopeful ly this work will stimulate further research, for example, on the impact of the 'Mmabana ' cultural centres which have been developed in Bophuthatswana. The issue of the delivery of non-racial health and education services in a democratic South Africa is raised by Donaldson, who elucidates the hard practical realities

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which will face policy makers seeking to bring about greater equity and efficiency in th~se sectors. The third chapter in this section, by Claassen, explores the role of local governments in local economic development. This paper briefly reviews the North American experience and then turns to an examination of the efforts of South African municipalities to promote development. With the reformulation of regional development policies in South Africa, local economic deve lopment is assuming greater importance and research into this phenomenon is likely to increase. Claassen's paper provides a useful introduction for those wishing to investigate the debate. The next chapter details strategies for economic co-operation and development in Southern Africa. Vink and Van Rooyen argue the case for agricultural deve lopment and regional integration between the countries of Southern Africa. Viewed from the perspect ive of 1993 and the successful distribution of maize imports throughout Southern Africa to alleviate the effects of the 1992 drought, their work seems remarkably prescient.

The third and fourth sections of the book group six chapters under the heading of 'Some Urban Initiatives' and five chapters headed 'Some Rural Initiatives'. Due to space constraints it is not possible to review these chapters individually. The urban papers review important debates concerning employment generation. Industrial policies are analysed in papers on inward industrialisation and industrial decentralisation, while important topics such as basic needs, co-operatives and women ' s employment are covered in individual chapters. The papers on rural employment are generally well researched and together constitute a very useful resource for introducing students and researchers to the South African literature and experience of rural employment. One minor criticism of both of these sections however is that they could have offered more extensive literature reviews. Overall the book offers a wide ranging set of papers on the theme of employment and development in South Africa. However, coherent and careful edit ing would have greatly enhanced the final product.

James Drummond Department of Geography

University of Bophuthatswana

Urban and Regional Planning

PETER HALL Routledge, London, 1992.

Uneven development at urban, national and international scales is an intrinsic feature of capitalist societies. Peter Hall 's book Urban and Regional Planning is about the interventions by planners in Britain, Western Europe and the United States to spread development more evenly at all of these scales. However, it is unlike many conventional p lanning texts in that it focuses on the historical evolution of planning and the most important thinkers in the deve lopment of

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planning. Hall also critically examines the process of planning. In the first part of the book he traces the evolution of ideas and philosophies in urban and regional planning in Britain, and to a lesser extent in the United States and Western Europe. An interesting aspect is his discussion of the way in which the major shifts in planning paradigms are periodised and situated within particular social and economic regimes. In a logical progression from this, Hall then deals with the most important writers and thinkers who influenced planning in Europe, Britain and North America. These included 'seers' like Howard, Unwin and Parker, Geddes and Abercrombie and, of course, Le Corbusier. Even though their work varied enormousl3r Hall is able to situate their work "within a particular genre which was characterised by a rigid blueprint and lacked a formal approach to planning.

Most of the remainder of the book is devoted to planning in Britain from the 1940s to the present. It traces the attempts by planners and the state to respond to uneven development at various scales from after World War II to the 1990s. Hall then considers in somewhat less detail, planning in Western Europe and the United States. The final chapter is rather more abstract and examines the planning process as a conceptual exercise. This is a useful discussion which distils many of the issues raised in conventional planning texts.

Given the focus of the book, how applicable is it to South African s tudents and planners? Hall himself acknowledges that another book would be required on the 'developing world' . Indeed, the way in which the book is s tructured suggests that the development of ideas and concepts in planning mus t be seen within particular contexts. The challenges facing city planners in the United States, Britain and Europe were markedly different and required unique solutions. In spite of this reservation on the applicability of Hall's work to planners in a post-apartheid South Africa, his final message to the planning community appears to have wider significance: planning should be "...exploratory and instructive. It should aim to help communit ies think clearly and logically about resolving their problems, and in particular some of the more subtle under ly ing issues that concern such matters as equity or growth. It should try to examine alternative courses of action and trace-through, as far as possible, the consequences of each of these for different groups of people in different places' (p. 209).

Finally, while the book is very comprehensive on questions of urban and regional planning and breaks new ground with its critical assessment of planners and the people who influenced them, it seems a pity that Hall did not consider the role of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). These systems are spreading rapidly into planning agencies at all levels in North America, Europe and South Africa. With his extensive experience in planning theory and practice, a critical evaluation of the role of GIS - which is being heralded by some as the 'new spatial science' - would have been welcome.

Charles Mather University of Bophuthatswana

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R e s o r t C i t y i n the S u n b e l t - Las V e g a s , 1930-1970

EUGENE P. MOEHRING University of Nevada Press, Reno and Las Vegas, 1989.

In this book Moehring attempts to situate the urban development of Las Vegas and its suburbs not as anomalous to the American landscape, but as a typical resort city. Instead of attributing the growth of Las Vegas solely to its gambling economy or Sunbelt status, Moehring presents a holistic approach.

He traces the rise of Las Vegas from its roots as a Mormon settler camp in the 1850s to a railway desert town at the beginning of the nineteenth century. He argues that the town's t r iumph as a world resort was never assured. In the 1920s few wou ld have expected the town to become a metropolis. Federal government spending, however, triggered the rise of modern Las Vegas. The construction of Hoover Dam during the late 1930s precipitated an influx of money and people. Once it was completed, the dam attracted thousands of visitors annually. The influx of tourists boosted the resorts and casinos. During the 1950s the spectacular development of the Las Vegas Strip took place. The book explores the investments that boosted the growth of hotels and resorts, including the vast amounts spent on attracting famous performers, and the organised crime that sprang up.

By the 1960s Las Vegas had developed metropoli tan status, relying not only on tourism and gambling, but also a secure industrial sector to support its economy. Rapid suburbanisat ion eventuated in a consolidation of neighbouring cities. As a result, Las Vegas was dogged by political and administrative fragmentat ion where portions of the metropoli tan area were controlled by Las Vegas, Nor th Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City and Clark County. Instead of one city government for the entire metropolitan area, there were four cities and one county gove rnmen t for adminis tered police, fire, p lanning and other gove rnmen t functions. The book explores the problems experienced by Las Vegas th rough the duplicat ion of services and inefficiency in service provision. The 1970s, however, witnessed serious efforts by city and county authorities to co-operate on issues concerning the provision of services and the process of metropol i tan co-operation was set in motion. The book concentrates on the process of city- building and details the provision of services, peri-urban development, industry, financial concerns and the influence of local and federal politics.

The most interesting chapter concerns the civil rights movement in Las Vegas. With an increasing influx of blacks dur ing the 1930s and 1940s, segregation became more evident in city planning. War-time industry drew an increasing number of black labourers and the provision of housing did not keep pace with the number of workers. The white suburb of Westside was t ransformed into a black ghetto and little effort was made by the city to enforce health s tandards or provide basic services. Lack of housing forced workers and their families to live in cars, tents and shacks. The chapter describes the gradual provision of

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services to the ghet to dur ing the 1950s and 1960s, the increasing calls for segregation from whites and the rise of the civil rights movement in the city. As far as the tourist industry was concerned, casinos welcomed black gamblers. But when Las Vegas began attracting a larger white clientele from the south and east, segregationist barriers rose. Top black performers were forced to rent rooms on the Westside instead of living at hotels. The chapter shows how the hotels and resorts became key targets for struggles over racial discrimination. For example, the Moulin Rouge hotel became the target of black boycotts and sit-ins because it charged blacks more for drinks than whites.

This book provides a systematic and thorough exploration of the urban deve lopment of Las Vegas as a resort city. Readers who are interested in the role played by roads, sewer systems and water lines in shaping urban growth will find this an enjoyable read. However, with the exception of the chapter on the civil rights movement in Las Vegas, many of the issues are lost sight of in the overwhelming attention to detail.

Cecile Badenhorst Queen's University, Kingston

Ontario

Geographic Information Systems and their Socioeconomic Implications

DAVID MARTIN Routledge, London and New York, 1991

Geographic Information Systems and their Socioeconomic Applications is a concise and non-technical review of the deve lopment and present applications of GIS technology. Martin has also provided a general introduction to the field of GIS with a specific focus on how such a tool can be used for socioeconomic applications. Socioeconomic data analysis, including populat ion data, has recently become a popular application field that can be used to enhance the applicability of GIS.

The organisation of the chapters is logical and most are suppor ted by clearly annota ted , s imple diagrams. The book contains 10 chapters, inc luding an introductory chapter that sketches the background to GIS and chapters on GIS development, applications and theories containing practical information on data collection, storage manipulat ion and output .

The author has provided clear explanations of various facets of GIS including aspects of the hardware of a GIS. He avoids sl ipping into the presentation of a mere list of computer jargon. In this regard a glossary of commonly used GIS terms and acronyms is particularly useful for the novice.

The section on socioeconomic appl ica t ions is un fo r tuna te ly too shor t adequately to illustrate the number of uses that GIS could have for those working in related fields. While more than three-quarters of the book is given to the

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explanation of the workings of GIS, only one chapter picks up on this central theme. Notable case studies, problems and benefits of using GIS and a detailed exposition of socioeconomic applications, would have sharpened the education and teaching focus of the book. Notwithstanding this oversight, attempts are made to show where GIS has been used in socioeconomic applications but these tend, unfortunately, to become lost in other technical details.

The book complements other texts focusing on biophysical aspects of GIS. The concise presentation and clarity of the diagrams should greatly assist those, particularly students, who are endeavouring to use GIS as a tool to handle and portray vast data sets in a useful and informative manner.

C. Vogel University of the Witwatersrand

Johannesburg