Speech by Minister Jeff Radebe, Minister in The Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, on the occasion of the 52nd ISOCARP Congress - Gala Dinner and Awards at the ICC in Durban
Programme Directors, Vukani Cele and Thando Zungu;
MEC for Human Settlements and Public Works, Mr Ravi Pillay;
Representative of the Mayor of the EThekwini Metropolitan Municipality;
Vice President of ISOCARP Congresses and Events Slawomir Ledwon;
Vice President of ISOCARP Young Planning Professionals, Piotr Lorens;
Chairperson of the LOC, Mr Martin Lewis;
University of KwaZulu Natal School Academic Leaders, Dr Sthembiso Myeni;
Members of the ISOCARP EXCO and Members of the LOC;
Sponsors of this event;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen.
It gives me great pleasure to address this Gala Dinner and award ceremony. There are not many independent professional organisations that can maintain the momentum of putting together an internationally supported, relevant and stimulating annual event for 52 consecutive years.
I would therefore like to congratulate the International Society of City and Regional Planners for proving that it is possible to steadfastly pursue a noble cause, and for adapting with the times from the very European beginnings, towards the inclusive international society that it is today.
Since the establishment of this congress 52 years ago, planning has evolved into a coherent multidisciplinary approach. Through planning, we are able to integrate multiple competing demands into coherent programmes that comprehensively address socio-economic development. This we do as we always seek to strike a balance between responding to day-to-day urgencies and planning for the future.
In the planet we live in, with the population explosion that reached very high figures in the last and current centuries, the need to balance the capacity of the natural resources of the earth and human needs require even greater balancing acts to ensure sustainability. Planning is therefore vital for our sustainable development both from the environmental and socioeconomic perspectives.
Significant advancement in technology, big data and many areas allow us to get a better sense of trade-offs, choices and how people feel about those. However, it is still the tough task of planners to understand people, their hopes, dreams and aspirations and work with many experts from various development fields to jointly shape a world that we and future generations can sustainably live in.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the contributors to this conference for taking the time to make presentations and for their participation in this event. With a third of the papers presented coming from South African contributors, I would like to thank you for making the time to present at a forum where international professionals can also share their views on our approaches to dealing with our challenges, thereby enriching our work.
I think it was appropriate that whilst your agenda is global, you take stock of the local development scene as case in point on the challenges you are seized with. I understand from your programme you visited various municipalities to make assessment on how real development scenarios conjure up with your noble agenda on city and regional planning.
I would also like to commend the organisation on the vision of starting the young professionals programme twenty five years ago. In South Africa, we are battling with significant levels of youth unemployment, as well as unemployed and under-employed graduates. This is a global phenomenon, and it is good to see how organisations create opportunities for young people to transition from education into careers, and then to grow to become future leaders in their fields, and maintain the discipline of the programme over an extended period of time.
I have been told that the Young Professional’s Programme included 38 South African participants and 33 participants from 19 other countries this year. We hope that young South African planning professionals will continue to participate in the Young Professionals’ programme in the future even when the Congress is not hosted in South Africa.
Ladies and gentlemen,
You will recall that about a year ago, the United Nations agreed to a new series of commitments in the form of the Sustainable Development Goals, where Goal 11 sets out how to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Whilst cities have enabled people to advance socially and economically, however, many challenges exist to maintain cities with respect to job creation and the prosperity for all.
All such development must take place without unduly straining land and other natural resources. The sustainable development goal notes that the future we want includes cities of opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transport and more. Your work is therefore not only critical but also central towards the attainment of national, regional and global development goals.
In South Africa we adopted in 2012 the National Development Plan Vision 2030 (NDP) which spells out goals and targets that our country must achieve. The NDP highlights the importance of contributions not only from government, but crucially also from the private sector as civil society. This is premised on the fact that both our national and global economies are dominated by the activities of the private sector in particular, hence there cannot be mapping of a broad long term agenda on sustainable development without its critical role.
The National Development Plan presents our broad vision for dealing with transformation of human settlements and the national economy and sets out key principles around spatial justice, spatial sustainability, spatial resilience, spatial quality and spatial efficiency. The NDP also notes the importance of innovation and new approaches to ensure that we progress as a nation.
To this end, we have done work in partnership with the Gauteng Provincial Government, where we appointed a group of young researchers to write up innovative approaches to urban challenges of their choice. We have committed ourselves towards concluding a formal edited publication with those case studies during this financial year. It will indeed be great to also work through the case studies that the young professionals forming part of this congress have come up with in conceptualising future phases of our work around urban innovation.
Next month, governments from around the world will participate in the third Habitat Conference in Quito, Ecuador to adopt, among other resolutions, the UN guide on Urban and Territorial Development, planning approach to assist different spheres of government in working towards the cities we want.
The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) is currently doing some work around institutionalisation of long term planning and have drawn extensively from the guide in setting out proposals to strengthen the linkages between government strategic planning and spatial planning initiatives. This must also help differentiate the roles of different spheres in an integrated planning system that embraces the principle of subsidiarity.
The clear distinction in the guide between the roles of different spheres of government, as well as contributions from professional bodies and civil society groupings is in line with the notion in the National Development Plan that policy clarity and clarity of responsibility will result in development. We are happy to work with all sectors of society towards the implementation of these guides in working towards the cities we want, as well as our broader national goals and objectives.
Background research in support of the institutionalisation of long term planning pointed to challenges in our planning system which must address weaknesses in developing a system that is truly societal in its reach. This compliance focus is also viewed as a barrier for public servants across all spheres to experiment with new ideas and embrace innovation. We therefore welcome international awards that place innovation at the centre of problem-solving, as well as case studies in collaborative work with emphasis on transformative development.
I have been made aware that a number of awards will be issued at this event which will include the recognition of the municipalities that hosted the pre-conference workshops, the two Rutledge awards to young professionals for their posters, the Dean’s award to the young professional group who presented the best project during the programme as well as the four awards of excellence in innovation to individuals and organisations operating in the city and regional planning space.
These awards and recognition of continued work in city and regional planning will further popularise the critical work that must be done to improve not just the lives of our generation but posterity as our legacy and gift to them. We too have those whom today rest in their graves for the infrastructure we enjoy. It is up to us to take the baton further in the selfless endeavours of city and regional planning. In essence this work is not just about today but critically about tomorrow even when we will not be there, hence it is selfless and foresighted in its very nature.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all participants for their efforts and congratulate the various winners on their achievements. I would also like to encourage all participants to continue thinking about better ways to address our challenges and continued attention to innovative ways of thinking and working.
Let us work today as we embrace tomorrow to attain the cities and regions we need!
I thank you!
Enquiries:
Tshegofatso Modubu
Cell: 083 276 0786
Email: Tshegofatso.Modubu@dpme.gov.za
Mmabatho Ramompi
Cell: 076 480 3513
Email: Mmabatho.Ramompi@dpme.gov.za
