Towards accommodationist planning in South Africa's secondary centres: The case of hawker deregulation

International development agencies are devoting increased attention to the role of secondary or intermediate cities in national urban development strategies. In planning the development of intermediate‐sized centres, stress is placed on the need to support indigenous enterprise, including the informal sector. Against a background review of literature concerning the informal sector within secondary cities, this paper examines the extent to which a group of South Africa's intermediate‐sized cities are pursuing programmes supporting the informal sector. The question of policies towards hawking is investigated within the settings of East London, Kimberley, Bloemfontein, Pietersburg and Pietermaritzburg. It is concluded that accommodationist planning is being undertaken on only a limited scale in these secondary centres.

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Junior Research Fellow, Department of Geography, University of the Witwatersrand

Associate Professor and Reader in Human Geography, Department of Geography, University of the Witwatersrand.