Chapter 6 Conceptualisation of the ‘region’ inherent in RED as exemplified in the
6.3 Purpose of function-form-scale in construction of the ‘region’ in RED
116 think maybe the variation is project reach yes can go way beyond. (CEO of the Dube TradePort, 30/06/2016)
In this perspective, although a physical place reflects a more fixed scale, there are aspects of it that are loose and flexible, more especially where stakeholders refer to impact stretching to outside the borders of South Africa to countries such as Zimbabwe and Nigeria.
In their political jurisdictions
In terms of political jurisdiction, the following municipalities were cited: eThekwini Municipality, iLembe District Municipality, Kwadukuza Municipality, Umsunduzi Municipality. Although many respondents referred to the south in compass point terms and to Port Shepstone in relation to physical places; no mention was made of Ugu District at any point in time. Scale, in political jurisdiction terms, is fixed and bounded.
The findings presented above reveal that the scale of the Durban Aerotropolis is conceptualised as both fixed and bounded and as loose and flexible. It thus can be understood across a continuum from totally fixed to totally flexible. The fixed and bounded is reflective of absolute spaces.
6.3 Purpose of function-form-scale in construction of the ‘region’ in
117 people. It is therefore correct to conceive of this region as a geographical space consisting largely of economic interaction and incorporating an institutional jurisdiction.
This region is a geographical area because its form is principally reflective of an urban space, or what Kennedy et al. (2014) refer to as an airport-driven urban feature. This region can be viewed as an economic interaction when we consider its role in the clustering and agglomeration of business activity, in relation to which it can be referred to as a node or corridor of economic development. It is an institutional jurisdiction when we take cognisance of how it has become territory over which multiple stakeholders and actors of government have practical
‘planning authority’ at this juncture.
The form, function and scale of the Durban Aerotropolis region speaks to different kinds of
‘spaces’. Without acknowledging these spaces it is impossible to conceptualise this region.
These spaces are, however, social constructs constituted through social relations and interactions in their own right (Varro & Lagendijk, 2013). It may be problematic to simplify a complex concept in this way but doing so speaks to the importance of considering space first when dealing with regions.
The scale of the Durban Aerotropolis is supposedly absolute when perceived in relation to its fixed and bounded nature as the study area and the catchment area that the stakeholders have referred to. It is thus a study area that consists of an airport city ultimately made up by what is referred to as ‘inside-the-fence activities’ of the aerotropolis. These are all landside and airside activities. The catchment area is inclusive of the study area and the areas within the one-hour radius – the one-hour radius being a standardised measure established by Professor John Kasarda who developed the aerotropolis concept.
Airport city functions, or what is referred to as the function of the Durban Aerotropolis, depict relative spaces. These are the different components which make the Durban Aerotropolis region an integrated environment with a mixed-use function. The presence of spaces where people can live, work and play attest to there being residential spaces (to live), industrial spaces (to work) and entertainment spaces (to play). These spaces are relative because they present a relationship between objects and things that exists only because these things exist and inevitably relate to each other. This means that the existence of such spaces was brought about by the coming together of economic development in space, which then saw things working in particular way in relation to each other and thus created a need for such spaces to exist.
118 The form of the Durban Aerotropolis, however, assumes a relational form of space. Relational space is space which allows for what is called a ‘throwntogetherness’. According to Hubbard (2008), ‘throwntogetherness’ refers to the way in which diverse elements that cross categories such as the natural and social come together to foster a ‘here’ and ‘now’. The elements of the scale and function come together in a space where they can have a relationship with each other.
The relationship emerges from what was previously a greenfield site which took form of a quality urban space in which there are is a manifestation of a node and corridor of development which we ultimately refer to as the Durban Aerotropolis region.
This ‘throwntogetherness’ further assembles or brings together spaces of flows and spaces of places (Castells, 2000). The intention of the Durban Aerotropolis stakeholders to attract MNEs and other investors to their vicinity may potentially require interactions such as those that are facilitated through the spaces of flows. In this regard, the Durban Aerotropolis becomes a driver of air commerce and e-commerce and ensures that it meets the crucial demands for speed, agility and reliability in order fulfilment (Kasarda, 2001a). The space of flows virtually connects separate locations, and the stakeholders articulate this complex process in layman terms, highlighted in the scale section, in which they make reference to spillovers, influence, impact and reach.
With regard to the space of places, the Durban Aerotropolis region as a whole can be perceived, according to Castells’ definition (2000:453), as a “locale whose form, function and meaning are self-contained within the boundaries of physical contiguity”. This essentially means that it is inherently characterised as a space of place. Within it, however, exist other spaces of places which stakeholders have referred to in terms of compass points, in terms of their physical nature and in terms of their political jurisdictions, as previously discussed (6.2.3.3).
The Durban Aerotropolis is also socially constructed through guidance from the standardised scale provided by Kasarda, as discussed in chapter 2. It has been constructed through discourse sourced from the stakeholders and from strategy documents of the Durban Aerotropolis project.
According to Soursa’s (2014) classification of regions as either administrative, functional or formal, the Durban Aerotropolis assumes a functional region because Soursa (2014) defines this particular region as a labour-market area. The Durban Aerotropolis is indeed such a space.
It is an economically integrated spatial unit in which residents can find jobs as alluded to by stakeholders referring to it as a place where people can ‘live, work and play’.
119 In relation to the boundedness or unboundedness of the Durban Aerotropolis, the concepts of territoriality and relationality become important. The territorial view of region speaks to its boundedness in space. In the case of the Durban Aerotropolis, the airport city study area and the catchment area are the two components of the region that can be spoken of as bounded.
This is because these are the two absolute spaces of the Durban Aerotropolis, as highlighted above. What is beyond these absolute spaces requires that we conceive of the Durban Aerotropolis region as relational in that it is a complex network of concentrations of people and places (Soursa, 2014). Furthermore, perceiving the Durban Aerotropolis region as relational means that it can be understood as an assemblage, which Allen et al. (1998:50) define as a “product of the networks, interactions, juxtapositions and articulations of the myriad of connections through which all social phenomena are lived out”. While Godwin (2013) sees assemblages as overlapping institutional forms such as regional offices, agencies, boards and so on, Allen and Cochrane (2007) point out that these institutional forms are the foundation that holds down the fluid elements of global life in the interest of their region. This is true for the Durban Aerotropolis region as well, as it is a mixed-use space with a host of functions that ultimately serve the purpose of assisting KZN province to keep up with economic development, global business and investment trends.