Tensions in South African universities have traditionally centred around
equity (particularly access and affordability), historical legacies
(such as apartheid and colonialism), and the shape and structure of the
higher education system. What has not received sufficient attention, is
the contribution of the university to place-based development.
This volume is the first in South Africa to engage seriously with the
place-based developmental role of universities. In the international
literature and policy there has been an increasing integration of the
university with place-based development, especially in cities. This
volume weighs in on the debate by drawing attention to the place-based
roles and agency of South African universities in their local towns and
cities. It acknowledges that universities were given specific
development roles in regions, homelands and towns under apartheid, and
comments on why sub-national, place-based development has not been a key
theme in post-apartheid, higher education planning.
Given the developmental crisis in the country, universities could be
expected to play a more constructive and meaningful role in the
development of their own precincts, cities and regions. But what should
that role be? Is there evidence that this is already occurring in South
Africa, despite the lack of a national policy framework? What plans and
programmes are in place, and what is needed to expand the development
agency of universities at the local level? Who and what might be
involved? Where should the focus lie, and who might benefit most, and
why? Is there a need perhaps to approach the challenges of college
towns, secondary cities and metropolitan centers differently?
This book poses some of these questions as it considers the experiences
of a number of South African universities, including Wits, Pretoria,
Nelson Mandela University and especially Fort Hare as one of its
post-centenary challenges.
