Sustainable rural development is currently one of the priority items for the South
African government. Agricultural advancement, high rates of unemployment,
widespread poverty, a lack of access to employment opportunities, transport,
education and other services, skewed land ownership patterns that are partly due to Apartheid policies, a lack of access to land and numerous social and health related issues are just some of the problems that rural communities are currently faced with. This study focuses mainly on the spatial planning aspects of rural development and it explores the possibilities of adaptating strategies from the New Urbanism and New Ruralism movements, together with a number of tools typically associated with sustainable rural development, for use in the South African context. Through the study of available literature on the subject, personal interviews and practical experience, a range of strategies have been investigated and a selected number have been identied that may be applicable to the local context. A number of case studies are assessed, which include a new model being implemented at Crossways Farm Village in the Eastern Cape which combines elements from the above mentioned approaches. From some of the results achieved to date it seems that the implementation of these particular spatial planning models, combined with models like the biosphere concept that focuses on biodiversity, together with a range of additional socio economic strategies, may contribute to the promotion of sustainable rural development in South Africa. It is hoped that this study shows the potential and challenges of these spatial planning models as a tool for sustainable rural development, and that it may lead to further study on the subject.
