Growing from the ground up: unpacking the potential of resilient township economies as localised economic development

Townships are vibrant, dynamic spaces, full of potential, enterprise and community life. Yet, decades of spatial exclusion and uneven investment have left them disconnected from the mainstream economy. The Western Cape’s Growth for Jobs Township Action Plans represent one possible route to responding to this challenge through place-based collaboration. This blog post reflects on the challenges faced by township economies and explores how partnering practices can contribute to more coordinated local action, no matter what the plan is.

The municipality of KwaNonqaba is where the EDP is exploring partnering mechanisms for strengthening township economies.

Township economies: massive potential for catalytic economic growth

Township economies represent a vast but underutilised engine for growth in the Western Cape. They include both formal and informal activities, from small-scale retail and home enterprises to construction, care work and digital innovation. Yet these economies remain constrained by spatial isolation, limited infrastructure and weak linkages to value chains.

Efforts to strengthen township economies and improve their integration with the formal economy are not new. Over the past decades, a range of initiatives – from infrastructure upgrades and small business support programmes to urban regeneration projects and spatial planning reforms – have sought to address the structural barriers facing township residents and enterprises.

While many of these interventions have delivered important local improvements, progress has often been uneven. Challenges such as fragmented planning mandates, limited coordination between stakeholders, and the complexity of informal and formal economic systems have made it difficult to sustain momentum or achieve system-wide change. These experiences have prompted growing interest in approaches that place greater emphasis on local collaboration, shared priorities and coordinated action.

Coordinating collective efforts

Place-based collaboration is one approach that has gained increasing attention in recent years. Place-based approaches focus on a specific geographic area and bring together the public sector, private sector and communities to work around shared priorities. These approaches differ from traditional intervention sin that they do not address economic development challenges through isolated projects or single institutions.

By grounding interventions in the realities of how people live, move and work in a particular physical place, these processes aim to align investments, strengthen local partnerships and coordinate action across multiple actors.

In the Western Cape, the Township Action Plans (TAPs) are one example of how this kind of collaborative, place-based approach is beginning to be explored within the broader Growth for Jobs (G4J) strategy.

Critically, whether this and similar approaches deliver sustained results depends on the strength of the partnerships and follow-through over time.

For cross-sectoral initiatives that seek to strengthen township economies to succeed, sustained collaboration is key; here the EDP team plays a critical role.

Exploring the potential of tools like TAPs

A TAP is a place-based socio-economic development plan that sets out and implements a multi-stakeholder programme of action for a specific township. Each plan is co-created with community members, municipalities, provincial departments and local businesses. They translate local priorities into concrete, time-bound activities for collaborative implementation.

Within the G4J strategy, TAPs fall under Priority Focus Area 7: Improved Access to Economic Opportunities and Employability. This Priority Focus Area aims to ensure that every resident who wishes to be economically active can access at least one viable pathway through skills development, entrepreneurship or community-based initiatives.

In Mossel Bay, the possibility of a TAP is being explored in projects like the Kwano Youth and Business Park, D’Almeida Business Park and mixed-use corridor development. These projects have potential to generate employment, stimulate entrepreneurship and strengthen social cohesion.

The Mossel Bay pilot seeks to unpack how TAPs can secure and strengthen integration of informal economies into the formal economy. In this way, TAPs could be a mechanism for localising the G4J vision and ensuring that growth reaches the people and places historically excluded from opportunity.

However, to truly reach every person requires the capability to draw diverse stakeholders together and develop a common agenda. This is where the Economic Development Partnership (EDP) comes in.

Convening diverse stakeholders to develop a common agenda for economic growth

For such an ambitious, cross-sectoral initiative to succeed, sustained collaboration is key. In TAPs and other similar development initiatives, an intermediary can help align mandates, build trust and sustain momentum. In the Mossel Bay pilot for instance, the EDP has supported stakeholders in progressing towards these goals.

As a collaborative intermediary, the EDP brings together government, communities and the private sector to design and plan for delivering the TAPs under exploration. It facilitates the process of co-creation (aligning mandates across planning, infrastructure and economic development) that ensures plans reflect both community realities and institutional priorities.

The EDP’s experience in developing the Township Economies Framework and Toolkit for the Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town underpins our approach with the Mossel Bay TAP pilot. These tools used three lenses to identify the assets and opportunities within township economies: social, economic and spatial. They also ensured that issues of inclusion, participation and environmental justice were embedded in every stage of planning.

Project stakeholders visit KwaNonqaba to better understand the nuances of the local economy.

A co-created plan for improving township life

In practical terms, mechanisms like a TAP seek to provide a roadmap for better aligning stakeholders and identifying opportunities within township economies. They help stakeholders within a specific township identify existing assets, build partnerships and align resources to support local initiatives.

The success of these mechanisms is as much about the process as it is about the product: a participatory, inclusive approach that builds trust, strengthens local networks and gives residents a sense of ownership over their shared economic future.

For the Mossel Bay pilot, the meaningful progress that becomes possible includes:

• Clearer, prioritised and resourced action plans
• Stronger coordination between municipal, provincial and community actors
• Learning that can inform future township-focused initiatives

At a deeper level, success means changing how development happens in local areas. Shifting from top-down delivery to co-created, community-owned action will require collaborative and adaptive governance and capabilities. Achieving this success means recognising the value of informal economies, social networks and local leadership as drivers of resilience and innovation.

The plans developed to support localised economic development in townships are part of a broader journey toward inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the Western Cape. By integrating spatial planning with economic development, valuing both formal and informal contributions, and ensuring that government works alongside communities, the G4J TAPs could lay the groundwork for lasting and localised development.

As this pilot in Mossel Bay takes shape, the lessons may guide future township planning across the province in a way that is collaborative. Each plan will not only unlock new economic opportunities but also demonstrate what’s possible when partnership, place and purpose come together to build growth from the ground up.

Edited: Natalie Tannous

This blog post is subject to the following disclaimer.