Rural-urban interdependence relates to the joint or interactive relationship between urban and rural areas. The mutually beneficial correlativeness of urban and rural areas. Traditionally, rural and urban issues and planning have been typically seen as and dealt with separately. However, in recent years as urbanization and inequality increase, more sophisticated analyses of the linkages and interdependencies between rural and urban areas have emerged. The flows of people, goods, services, information and money typically provide strong and dynamic linkages between rural and urban areas. In many places these interdependencies have deepened since the market liberalization of the 1980s due to increased price risk, rising input prices relative to output prices, detrimental HIV/AIDS effects on labor and other asset availability, environmental deterioration and continuing farm sub-division at inheritance (Low, et al., 1999).
Urban-rural interdependence includes spatial links to the movement of people, goods, money, and information between urban and rural areas including roads and railways, and sectorial links (interdependence between agriculture, industry and services). Rural-urban interdependence is important for poverty alleviation and sustainable rural development and urbanization. Strong linkages can improve the living conditions and employment opportunities of both rural and urban populations. Domestic trade and the adequacy and efficiency of infrastructure are the backbone of mutually beneficial rural-urban relationships and of the success of the relationship between urban and rural areas (Bekker, 2000).
Issues such as changes in land use around urban centers, from farmland to residential or industrial use; greater diversification of income sources in rural and urban areas, often involving people migrating or commuting between the countryside and urban centers; and changes in the direction and composition of internal migration are likely to emerge in the near future. The relationships or inter-linkages between urban and rural areas are not all positive or beneficial to both ends of the spectrum. Cities and their metropolitan extensions absorb productive agricultural land, exploit water resources, pollute the rural environment and act as sinks for urban waste. On the other hand, cities rarely expand and build up efficiently. There often remains extensive rural areas within cities and their metropolitan boundaries, giving rise to the phenomenon of urban villages with urban farming occupation and prevalence (Tacoli, 1998).
2. URBAN-RURAL INTERDEPENDENCIES IN SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa, as one of the developing countries, it is apparent that there is a divide between urban and rural areas. Apartheid planning and political systems are the primary causes of today’s great urban-rural divides in the country. Rural areas are located far away from services and job opportunities. Rural areas depend on urban areas for secondary schools, post and telephone, credit, agricultural expansion services, farm equipment, hospitals and government services. People in rural areas must travel long distances to access services and job opportunities and this on itself have financial implications. As incomes from agriculture decrease, rural households are forced to develop new and more complex livelihood strategies that include both agricultural and non-agricultural incomes, including remittances from seasonal and permanent migrants (Simkins, 1983).
It is now widely recognized that there exists an economic, social and environmental interdependence between urban and rural areas and a need for balanced and mutually supportive approach to development of the two areas. The discrete consideration of rural development as completely distinct from urban development is no longer valid. The South Africa government is striving to bridge the gap between rural and urban fragmentations in the country. Since 1994, significantly greater access to information technology, better roads, improved education and changing economic realities are increasing the movement of people, goods and services, waste and pollution and blurring the boundaries between urban and rural areas. (Kanbur & Venables, 2005).
The government has laid down policies that draw on urban-rural interdependencies. Such interdependence however still have a relatively limited impact on development practices. There still a gap between development policy and tangible policy outcomes. Rural-urban developmental policies haven’t produced as expected instead, regional economies, the goods and services required by the new economic activities stimulated by these policies come from private businesses. Many policies that attempt to draw on urban-rural linkages are often unsuccessful because they fail to reflect the true circumstances of the people they are created to help (Lohnert, & Steinbrink, 2005).
3. Strategies and interventions by government to foster urban-rural interdependence are in the form of policies and they include the following:
a) A rural-urban linkage development approach
The South African government has engaged a number of strategies for upgrading urban-rural interdependence in the country. Provision of adequate infrastructure such as transportation, communication, energy and basic services is the backbone of the government’s urban-rural development linkage approach. There is a positive relationship between adequacy of transportation infrastructure, ease of mobility and access to employment and enhancement of income. Adequate investments in infrastructure, particularly transportation infrastructure, also improve rural productivity and allow access to markets, jobs and public service by both men and women (Gete, et al. 2007).
The high densities have obvious consequences in terms of the choice of transportation modes, living conditions, congestion and pollution.
b) Local Economic Development (LED)
Local economic development offers local government, the private and not-for-profit sectors, and local communities the opportunity to work together to improve the local economy. LED has encompassed a range of disciplines including physical planning, economics and marketing. It has also incorporated many local government and private sector functions, including environmental planning, business development, infrastructure provision, real estate development and finance. All these disciplines must work together to improve the local economy. The discrete consideration of rural development as completely distinct from urban development is no longer valid. Considering the positive impacts of LED, it becomes clear that urban-rural interdependence will be greatly boasted as local produce will need improved transport infrastructure to be in place in order to access urban markets. Through LED, the government in all levels is obliged to provide for improved urban-rural linkages. This linkage will allow comprehending these areas as interdependent phenomena rather than as random disparities (Gete, et al. 2007).
c) The National Infrastructure Plan
The South African Government has adopted a National Infrastructure Plan in 2012 that intends to transform the country’s economic landscape while simultaneously creating significant numbers of new jobs and to strengthen the delivery of basic services. The government has planned to invest R827 billion, starting from 2013/14 for a three year period in building of new and upgrading of existing infrastructure, as announced by the Minister of Finance Mr Pravin Gordhan in his 2013 Budget speech. This investments will improve access to a number of facilities, including healthcare facilities, schools, roads etc. This entails that interdependencies between urban and country areas will be significantly improved. Construction of ports, roads, railways, hospitals, schools and dams will also contribute to faster economic growth (NIP, 2012).
d) The 18 Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs)
The SIPs are strategic interventions by the government for economic infrastructure development across the 9 provinces in the country. They include catalytic projects that can fast-track development and growth, thus fostering urban-rural interdependencies. They constitute amongst other things, improving transport infrastructure, strengthening the logistics and transport corridor between South Africa’s main industrial hubs (for example, the Durban-Free State-Johannesburg Logistics and Industrial Corridor is a new project, still at the pre-feasibility stage but construction has already started on several sub-projects). The Integrated urban space and public transportation programme which is aimed at coordinating planning and implementation of public transportation, human settlement, economic and social infrastructure and location decisions into sustainable urban settlements connected by densified transport corridors. Such government projects enhances greatly the interdependence of urban and rural areas (NIP, 2012).
4. Other potential solutions to foster urban-rural interdependence
i) Spatial Reconstruction and Integration
Spatial Reconstruction and integration is a local development priority aiming at eradicating the dysfunctional spatial system that was created by past spatial policies where areas of severe poverty, limited economic opportunities, inferior forms of land tenure and limited social and engineering infrastructure, were far removed from employment opportunities and economic growth areas. Spatial integration must focus on improved rail and road linkage (transportation corridors and connectors) between concentrations of greatest need for development and areas of greatest economic potential (economic nodes), the provision of housing in localities within reasonable walking distance to public transport, this is to enhance accessibility to employment opportunities, social facilities and greater variety of goods and services. This can enhance urban-rural interdependence through enhanced regional accessibility (Okpala, 2003)
ii) Strategic Development Concept
In order to overcome the spatial distortions of apartheid, future settlements, economic development opportunities and infrastructure investments should be channeled to activity corridors and nodes that link with major growth centers or that have a potential to become major growth centers. The strategic development concept is based on nodes, corridors and precincts, which aim is to reconstruct and integrate the urban and rural landscape on regional scale into a more rational, cost effective and manageable structure (Diyamett, 2001).
iii) Rural Transportation Strategy
Improved regional access via road, rail and air transportation is important to unlock the tourism potential, to ensure functional urban and rural integration and to enhance inter- and intra-municipal accessibility. Transportation strategies need to address issues such as the provision of integrated modal interchanges supported by infrastructure, inter alia ranks, shelters, amenities, footpaths and security facilities in all activity nodes, the provision of affordable basic access to transportation, reducing long walking and travelling distances, an Integrated Transport Plan to identify important linkages that need constant maintenance and upgrade (NIP, 2012).
iv) Capacity building/Efficiency of Policy
Presented with a fast growing and dynamic economy, the South African government wants to ensure that all citizens benefit from economic growth. Implementing successful rural development and land reform in the country is however challenging and controversial. This is due to the fact that consensus building and identifying and prioritizing policies for piloting and scaling up programs is timely. There is a need for capacity building for planning and implementation of policies for South African officials. (Diyamett, 2001).
5. CONCLUSION
The old orthodoxy of a discrete and dichotomous approach to urban development as distinct from rural development no longer accords with reality, considering the complementary functions and flows of people, capital, goods and services, employment, information and technology between the two areas. Rural and urban areas are economically, socially and environmentally interdependent. It is recognized that a number of projects undertaken in the country and regions adopt the urban-rural linkage development as a strategy for achieving faster development in in South Africa. There is a need, however, to promote rural-urban linkages development approaches, which posit urban and rural areas as the two ends of the human settlements continuum. Thus, current discussion on the rural dimension of sustainable urban development should emphasize policies that are supportive of urbanization while addressing the challenge of increasing investment in physical, economic and social infrastructures that are necessary for improving rural productivity and access to markets.
6. REFERENCE
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Low, B., Costanza R., Ostrom E, Wilson J., and Simon, C.P., (1999) Human’ecosystem interactions: a dynamic integrated model, Ecological Economics, 31, pp.227’242.
Okpala, D.C. (2003) Promoting the Positive Rural-Urban Linkages Approach to Sustainable Development and Employment Creation: The Role of UN-HABITAT.
Simkins, C. (1983). Four essays on the past, present and possible future of the distribution of the black population of South Africa. Cape Town: Saldru.
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Tacoli, C. (1998). Rural-urban interactions: a guide to the literature. Environment and Urbanisation, 10(1): 147-166.