South Africa’s small towns: A review on recent research

This paper provides a review of recent themes in the investigation of small towns in South Africa. The paper is divided into two main sections of review and analysis. The first section furnishes an overview of the different types of research themes that have been engaged with. It is argued that a narrow set of issues, mainly concerning economic expansion and change have formed the key vantage point from which to view small town South Africa. The second section outlines a range of research questions that require also attention. It is argued that there is a need to more closely consider how small town knowledge production takes place and that research themes need to move beyond issues of economic development.