76 education levels. The LED initiatives discussed above are similar to the LED initiatives that are initiated in South Africa, and the challenge indicated in the literature is that some of these initiatives are globally ineffective and they are not sustainable hence they are failing to respond to issues of poverty and unemployment. As stated by Saito et al. (2018), tourism’s economic impacts are considerable for many developing countries yet those most in need often benefit little from the tourism sector. As such, Pro Poor Tourism (PPT) has been advocated as a means of contributing to poverty alleviation. However, it is acknowledged that such projects may not succeed and this often occurs when PPT projects are not properly managed or when they are implemented without, among other things, appropriate community engagement and mechanisms for capacity development.
Arguably, the consultant has an important role; not only do they act as the intermediary between the PPT funding agencies and the local community, but they carry out the funding agency’s directives with regard to community engagement. Moreover, their article indicates inefficient frameworks and strategies for engagement and a lack of political will to meaningfully engage local communities on PPT projects.
Zeng (2018) advocates that tourism assisting the poor has been an important approach in the anti-poverty strategy. Studies suggest that the conventional tourism model fails to generate benefits for the poor and to some extent increases the gap between the poor and the rich, which subsequently causes more social problems. Pro-poor tourism (PPT) is regarded as an alternative model. Precisely targeted assistance to the poor is the key to initiating this model, while the institutional change and implementation mechanism are essential to run it successfully and sustainably. Social entrepreneurship focusing on social values while adopting modern business philosophy has been introduced recently as an instrument in helping disadvantage populations. Moreover, Zeng explores the role of social entrepreneurship and social enterprises in PPT development and the implications for the anti-poverty practice in other regions including ethnic areas in China.
77 concentrated on place marketing, recruitment of cheap labour and investment attraction.
The main goal initially was to improve equity and increase demand. Furthermore, in North America and Western Europe, since the early 1980s Local Economic Development has emerged as a major scholarly and policy research issue. Cox (1995) stipulates that globally, economic growth issues are increasingly dominating the agenda of urban politics and planning, and local government has shifted towards the adoption of entrepreneurial economic development strategies. Kantemeridou et al. (2013) stipulates that it is the duty of the state to create opportunities for citizens to have access to employment and a satisfactory quality of life, with respect for the environment and the sustainable management of natural resources. As regards employment, it is necessary to have participatory planning with the stakeholders and accordingly adapt employment policies, both on a regional and local level. This will result in promoting local forms of employment depending on the characteristics of each area, by linking it to local production units and the local labour market.
In this way, a dynamic relationship is formulated that continuously shifts depending on the labour supply and demand, which is affected by the national and global productive environment. Participatory processes must be designed in a way that makes citizens realize that their input can have an effect. This can be achieved by creating a relationship of trust and mutual understanding. Moreover, citizens feel discouraged when they are asked to participate, after having witnessed other processes where they have had no impact on the final decision. A determinant for effective participation is education, since it makes citizens feel self-confident and aware, and helps them channel their efforts towards a specific goal, instead of remaining impassive and simply expressing complaints about problems that concern them. The participation of a well-informed, aware public increases the capacity of citizens and local communities to address current and future environmental problems and safeguard democracy.
Robinson (2004) states that one example of the growing application of local economic development planning in developed countries is the case of post-apartheid South Africa in parallel with the experiences of Western Europe and North America. This recognises the scope of LED that is distinguishable in developed countries and developing countries, where African countries are developing and the North American continent including Western European countries are developed. Binns and Nel (1999) note that the dual nature of LED comes from the international scope stating that in a world where post-
78 modern thinking encourages a rejection of all-encompassing models and a greater focus on local uniqueness, this indicates that LED is clearly an expression of a broader paradigm shift in both the social sciences and global realities. The broadening scope of LED enables one to see a different perspective of economic development in developing countries. This is highlighted by Nel (2005) who argues that development strategies in Africa need to focus more on local self-help and community self-reliance. Nel further highlights that structural adjustment, drought, war, civil strife and the failure of top-down development schemes have forced many rural Africans to look inward at their own resources and skills to cope with the harsh realities of the global economy. The above studies reveal that there is a close equivalent between the fundamental principles of local economic development and ideas advocated by anti-development theorists, namely that future development initiatives should focus on strengthening local social movement, rather than encouraging alien, or imposed, Western development theories, and this was also supported by Binns and Nel (1999).
It is of this nature that the context of Local Economic Development has gained broader perspectives and ideologies that differ in terms of region and functioning in order to address socio-economic challenges. Judd and Parkinson (1990) study the Northern aspect of Local Economic Development and stated that the North tends to focus more on issues of investment, big-business support and large project development undertaken by relatively well-resourced local agencies. On the other hand, Taylor and Mackenzie (1992), commenting in the literature on LED in the South, point out that LED in the South relies more on community-based initiatives, utilizing indigenous skills and seeking primary resources to ensure the survival of the community.
Moreover, Cunningham and Meyer-Stamer (2005) state that urban planning has influenced Local Economic Development in Africa and it is informed by experiences with urban planning in industrialised countries. Nel (2005) states that LED has pursued a welfare approach and the country’s embracing of neo-liberalism has also encouraged greater levels of local economic action and entrepreneurialism on the part of the private sector with certain local governments responding to perceived market opportunities. On the other hand, urban planning leads to building structures, creating latitude, and limits social structures and processes. The act of planning and development has proven to be beneficial as it has been stimulated by a fundamental critique of government and planner- driven approaches, and thus promotes participatory approaches to urban planning,
79 involving various stakeholders and local communities. Swinburn et al., (2006) indicates that well planned LED is gradually used by communities to strengthen the local economic capacity of an area, improve the investment climate, and increase the productivity and competitiveness of local businesses, entrepreneurs and workers. The ability of communities to improve their quality of life, create new economic opportunities and fight poverty depends on them being able to understand the processes of LED, and act strategically in the changing and increasingly competitive market economy. Local government has a role to play with regard to assisting the community members to understand LED processes. The above highlights good practice in local economic development strategic planning and implementation.
LED strategies are increasingly being recommended as an alternative to, or complementing traditional development strategies. However, beyond a limited number of areas where best practices have been identified, there has been little systematic monitoring of whether LED really works. Rodriguez-Pose and Tijmstra (2007) investigated whether seven different components of LED have delivered greater human development across Mexican local governments; these are a development plan, sustainability, entrepreneurship, capacity building, participation mechanisms, development links and autonomy. Their study revealed that municipalities engaging in LED during the last two decades have witnessed significant improvements in human development, relative to those which have overlooked LED strategies. Furthermore, their findings indicate that the increase in social development has been extreme for those local authorities that have pursued capacity building and the establishment of additional development links and which have drafted a development plan. Their study concluded by indicating that engaging in LED leads to greater local development both socially and economically.
Mensah et al. (2013) maintain that local economic development involves identifying and using primarily local resources, ideas and skills to stimulate economic growth and development, with the aim of creating employment opportunities, reducing poverty, and redistributing resources and opportunities to the benefit of local residents. Mensah et al.
(2013) examine the effects of policy and institutional frameworks on local economic development in Ghana and indicated that growth and development cannot take place in an institutional and legal vacuum. Local development and growth require an institutional and legal framework that allows development to take place in an orderly manner and in
80 which agents know that the decisions they take and the contracts they make will be protected by law and enforced. His findings indicate that over the years several institutions and policies have been put in place to help improve development at the local level.
It is therefore important to build local capacity and strengthen the institutions to be able to use local resources effectively and to stimulate economic development at the local level. The above studies made a significant observation on Local Economic Development in urban planning and states; however, this study argues that the implementation and sustainability of urban development as a good practice to pro-poor Local Economic Development is flawed. One of the flaws of such an approach is advocated by Pritchett and Woolcock (2004) who mention the correlation between urban planning and development approach in terms of government service delivery. Key services are those for which there is a broad consensus that some government action is necessary, desirable and inevitable. Furthermore, Cunningham and Meyer-Stamer (2005) state that Local Economic Development is highly discretionary; it does not involve standardised service delivery and it is transaction is intensive, since it involves ongoing communication and negotiation between various stakeholders. LED as an integral part of urban planning is perceived by Cunningham and Meyer-Stamer (2005) to have it pitfalls in the manner in which it is applied.