Industrial change in a developing metropolis: The Witwatersrand 1980-1994

As compared to a long tradition of research on industrial change in cities of the developed world, empirical work on the developing world is extremely sparse. This article analyzes the locational dynamics and components of manufacturing change in the Witwatersrand metropolitan region, South Africa's economic heartland. The research period, 1980-1994, encompasses the era of late apartheid and the transition to the new democratic government. It is shown that certain regularities exist in terms of patterns of industrial employment change in cities of the developing world. In addition, the imprint of apartheid planning on the Witwatersrand manufacturing economy is analyzed. It is argued that across the Witwatersrand, apartheid planning impacted only marginally in changing locational patterns and that the largest part of industrial change occurring during the period 1980-1994 must be accounted for by enterprise locational decisions made in response to shifting urban land and industrial property markets.