Pro-poor local economic development in post-apartheid South Africa: The Johannesburg fashion district

In development planning for post-apartheid South Africa, the role of local economic development (LED) planning is increasingly significant. This paper reviews the rise of LED planning since 1994 and the spectrum of pro-growth and pro-poor LED interventions that are being implemented. The emergence and planning of the Johannesburg fashion district is analysed as an example of a sectorally focused pro-poor LED intervention. The fashion district project incorporates 1,000 clothing micro-enterprises and is geared to revive the clothing economy of inner-city Johannesburg around the axis of value-added design and the manufacture of niche products with a specific 'African fashion' look.