View/Open - University of Zululand Institutional Repository
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leadership, municipal bureaucrats, non-governmental organizations and other service<br />
departments involved in the Ulundi Local Municipality fwww.uar.sagepub.com/cgsldoi. (2008)].<br />
Urban regime theorists identitY the existence <strong>of</strong>differing regime types (Dowding, 2001) namely:<br />
• Directive - according to this scenario, the development agenda dominates with an<br />
industrial and housing focus but the process is dominated with an industrial and<br />
housing focus but the process is dominated by political control.<br />
• Concessionary - the growth agenda dominates and government sponsors parallel<br />
welfare support.<br />
• Elitist - under this arrangement, business interests dominates and welfare is reduced.<br />
• Entrepreneurial - according to this approach, strong bonds exist between the business<br />
and politicallcadership and strong partnerships have a developmental focus.<br />
The major weakness <strong>of</strong>the theory is its inability to explain why urban growth politics and private<br />
sector engagement have increased through time (Harding et aI., 20(0).<br />
Similar to the urban regime theory, the growth machine thesis is based on the notion that the<br />
'activism <strong>of</strong> entrepreneurs is, and always has been, a critical force in shaping urban systems'<br />
(Harding et al., 2000: 984). The focus is therefore on how business interests determine strategies<br />
and involve other role players. In view <strong>of</strong>Peck (1995), the private sector becomes the un-elected<br />
governor <strong>of</strong>cities. It is driven by coalitions <strong>of</strong>property and private interests, with the support <strong>of</strong><br />
the media, universities and culturally based bodies and they have come to dominate local policy<br />
agendas and champion and deliver urban economic development which is something that many<br />
local politicians can only aspire to do (Peck, 1995). The application <strong>of</strong> the growth machine<br />
thesis in Ulundi demands an organised chamber <strong>of</strong>commerce for effective coalitions to advance<br />
private business concerns in the study area.<br />
Parallel themes that have been noted for encouraging growth coalitions include the following:<br />
• The failings or inappropriateness <strong>of</strong> previous developmental approaches, particularly<br />
those <strong>of</strong> a top-dO\\ITI nature and the obsolescence <strong>of</strong> older forms <strong>of</strong> governance<br />
(Lefevre, 1998).<br />
22