Seaside Community Industrial Hubs: A Blue Economy Strategy to Reduce Imbalances in the South African Coastal Region Through State Entrepreneurship

Seaside Community Industrial Hubs: A Blue Economy Strategy to Reduce Imbalances in the South African Coastal Region Through State Entrepreneurship

Methembe Mdlalose
DOI: 10.4018/IJSESD.289640
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Abstract

While coastal zones are appreciated globally, not only for their ontological topographies but also for their innumerable resources beneath the water, they show the highest development dichotomies. South African coasts are a clear example of such economic fragmentations, largely as a result of the ubiquitous vestiges of apartheid era spatial planning. Previously, small formerly 'white' towns benefited through the doctrine of separate development, whereas rudimentary 'black' peripheral coastal towns remained underdeveloped thus contributing to low levels of industrialization and high degrees of poverty and unemployment. This paper analyses the socio-economic impact of ocean industrialization on five rural coastal municipalities in two South African provinces. In tone with the rapidly growing concept of Blue Economy, the study proposes the concept of Seaside Community Industrial Hubs. The goal is to catapult an entrepreneurial state capable of leading a blue-collar economy through bespoke market-creating innovations adept to trigger sustainable development across all coastal regions.
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Introduction

The beginning of Industrialization in Europe can be described as the first tangible shift of humanity on how we do and achieve things. Since the creation of the first pin factory or first steamed engine in the 18th century, generally there has been much more production efficiency, jobs created and a general increase in the purchasing power for members of society leading to the much-desired growth in the human development index. With said however, industrialization both on land and sea has led to many of the world’s current environmental problems. For example, climate change, unsafe levels of air pollution, the depletion of fishing stocks, toxins in rivers and soils, overflowing levels of waste on land and in the ocean, loss of biodiversity and deforestation can all be traced to industrialization. Therefore, in recent years, the colorful concepts Blue and Green Economy, have been coined as a way to lend credence to the sustainable use of natural resources and inspire economic development opportunities derived from natural resources (UNEP, 2012). Increasing concerns are being raised regarding the sustainable use of environmental resources, especially concerning the rebuilding of stocks since the growth-centric model of development reveals that resource use is irreversible (Raworth, 2018). Crucially, as the Fourth Industrial Revolution gathers pace, with innovations becoming faster, more efficient and more widely accessible than before especially through the merging of digital, physical and biological realms, ocean and ocean-related activities are poised to be the largest sources of growth in the post-recession era.New technologies are enabling societal shifts by having an effect on economics, values, identities and possibilities for future generations. As such, the recent exchanges around ocean development have brought into realization the concept of the Blue Economy, which has been considered one of the most contemporary areas of development thinking in recent years (Smith-Godfrey, 2016). As the global financial markets become less audacious, with deglobalization creeping in and foreign investments declining globally, political economy experts such as Harvey (2003) and Bond (2019) foresee a potential cul de sac for global capitalism and have thus cautioning against a new wave of speculative investment in global markets. Specifically, in the way of oceans, the newly sought out Blue Economy market, which is essentially ocean industrialization, and according to Bond and others, it is increasingly becoming capitalism's latest destination (Bond, 2019).

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