Volume II - The Northern Cape Provincial Spatial Development ...

• Social Capital concerns investments by institutions that help us maintain and develop
human capital e.g. families, communities, municipalities, trade unions, hospitals and
schools. This means access to varied and supportive opportunities for work, health,
living conditions, etc.
• Manufactured (Infrastructure) Capital comprises material goods or fixed assets
which contribute to the production process and service provision rather than being the
output itself – e.g. tools, machines and buildings. The main components include
buildings and infrastructure such as roads, communications, waste disposal, water
systems, etc
• Natural Capital of the physical environment refers to the natural resources (matter
and energy) and processes that are needed to maintain life and to produce/deliver
goods and services. They include renewable resources (such as fresh water, fisheries
and wood) and non-renewable resources (such as mineral deposits).
• Financial (Monetary) Capital plays a critical role in any economy, enabling the
other types of capital to be owned and traded, for example, through shares, bonds or
banknotes.
It is only when the networked relations and correlations among these five capitals are
recognised and operational, that a sustainable economy and a “happy” society can be
created in the Northern Cape.
(iii) Potential: The term “potential” can linguistically be defined as latent excellence or
ability that may be developed, or is capable of becoming but not yet in existence. The
implications of this concept for the development potential of the Northern Cape will become
evident in the coming chapters.
2.1.2 The role of small towns in regional and rural development
The role of small- and medium-sized towns has received renewed interest and recognition
globally as bridges on the rural-urban development continuum. In a well-balanced settlement
system they act as infrastructural clusters and growth engines for regional development
(Weliwita & Okpala, 2004). During the 1980s many academics, regional planners and policy
makers reached consensus that small towns played an essential role as service centres in the
development of a region through their economic base, production linkages, as well as trickledown
effects (Van der Merwe, 1983; Rondinelli, 1988; Evans, 1992; Gaile, 1992). Lately a
team of geographers from Utrecht University (Netherlands) has been conducting an
international comparative research programme, determining the role of a small town in the
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