Institutional and spatial economic factors that influence the location of manufacturing firms in the vicinity of Cape Town International Airport, South Africa

Abstract

Manufacturing activities are crucial to the sustenance of the contemporary economies, and manufacturing is one of the activities that locate on and around airports. Despite the growing popularity of the models of airport-led development, numerous airports have failed to transition towards the so-called airport cities or other idealised spatial forms of airport-related development. This failure arguably raises questions on whether planners and policymakers comprehensively understand forces that drive development around airports. The aim of the thesis is to analyse the influence of institutional and spatial economic factors on the location of manufacturing firms in the vicinity of Cape Town International Airport in South Africa. The thesis addresses the following objectives: Firstly, to establish the types / composition of manufacturing firms located on and around Cape Town International Airport. Secondly, to analyse the relationship between manufacturing firms and other firms on and around Cape Town International Airport and with firms located at municipal, provincial, national and international scales. Thirdly, to analyse the influence of spatial economic factors on the location of manufacturing firms on and around Cape Town International Airport. Fourthly, to establish the role of relevant institutions in facilitating the location of manufacturing firms on and around Cape Town International Airport. Revolving around a single case study of Cape Town International Airport and its environs, the study was based on the survey interviews conducted with the representatives of the manufacturing firms as well as qualitative interviews conducted with the City of Cape Town municipality and Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) officials. It was found out that the manufacturing concentration around the airport comprises small firms that engage in light manufacturing activities. The majority of the manufacturing firms use the airport for airfreight purposes at least on a quarterly basis. A number of stakeholders inform (in different ways) the location of manufacturing firms on and around the airport. Content analysis conducted in Atlas.ti however showed that the City of Cape Town Spatial Development Framework does not sufficiently acknowledge the role of manufacturing.