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4. Planning as Implemented in South Africa Today
region, Corsica, and the overseas departments and regions. They are produced by the
corresponding Regional Councils. Sectoral documents are elaborated by the communes
or by inter-commune establishments: the Plans de Déplacements Urbains (PDU, urban travel
plans), and the Plans Locaux de l’Habitat (PLH, local housing plans). When these plans exist,
they must be taken into account in the PLUs. The latest urban planning rules are the ones
produced by the government offices for Zones d’Intérêt National (areas of national
interest): the Directives Territoriales d’Aménagement (DTA, territorial development directive)
— for instance, the DTA for the Seine River estuary includes the development of the Port
of Le Havre) — and “coastal” and “mountain” laws.
4.3. Land Regulation and Use: Parallel Allocation Systems
The second type of planning, which in theory supports strategic planning, is land
use regulation. This corresponds to regulating the type of development authorized
in function of the area, which is then transcribed in the form of a corresponding zoning
map.
4.3.1. Authorizations Determined by the Provinces
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Land regulation and law, like strategic planning, already existed and were heavily
utilized during apartheid. In order to ban any distribution of land based on racial criteria,
the post-apartheid government created new modalities by which to attribute
development rights (the equivalent of building permits). Through the Development
Facilitation Act (DFA, 1995), the government entrusted most duties to the provinces
via tribunals that have the power to make decisions independently of all other existing
regulations.
More generally, the provinces also have jurisdiction over authorizations of an
environmental nature. This is the subject of an additional form submitted to the
province to build on a given plot of land.
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