Spatial Planning

The Spatial Planning Directorate is responsible for provincial, regional, and municipal spatial planning advisory and support services in the Western Cape. It provides advice and support to Western Cape Government departments, national departments, municipalities, other organs of state, the public, and the private sector on Spatial Planning and Land Use Management matters. The Directorate also monitors and oversees the performance of spatial planning in the Western Cape.

Spatial Planning is a strategic process, underpinned by evidence-based and normative urban and regional planning approaches. It seeks to organise, coordinate, and integrate how the economy, society, and the built environment operate in space, in a manner that is complementary to the healthy functioning of ecosystems and landscapes, while ensuring their protection and restoration.

Our Purpose

Spatial Planning seeks to:

ensure that integrated, long-term forward planning is carried out at municipal, regional, and provincial scales, primarily through the development and implementation of Spatial Development Frameworks (SDFs);
drive the national and provincial spatial development agenda through SDFs, regional plans, and municipal Integrated Development Plans;
promote improved planning practices by gathering and sharing spatial intelligence and developing tools such as guidelines and practice notes;
support the implementation of spatial plans through sector plans and programmes, municipal, provincial, and national budgets, and land use management decisions; and
facilitate spatial transformation and regional resilience through targeted interventions aligned with the Provincial Strategic Plan and the Provincial Spatial Development Framework (PSDF).

The Spatial Planning Directorate works closely with other directorates within the Development Planning Chief Directorate. This includes the Development Management Directorates, which collaborate on delivering an integrated Spatial Planning and Land Use Management municipal support programme; the Development Facilitation Directorate, which focuses on unlocking and enabling transformative development outcomes; and the Development Planning Intelligence Management and Research Directorate, which undertakes research, develops spatial intelligence, and manages knowledge platforms to support evidence-based development planning in the Western Cape.

Current Programmes

Provincial Spatial Planning

Western Cape Government Sector Planning Alignment: embedding the PSDF and Regional Spatial Implementation Frameworks (RSIFs) into the plans, programmes, and budgets of provincial departments with a major impact on the built environment.
Regional Planning Governance Technical Working Group: coordinating and mainstreaming provincial spatial planning.
Integration of cross-cutting priorities such as gender, climate change, and resilience into provincial planning.

Regional Spatial Planning

Greater Cape Metro.
RSIF implementation facilitation and monitoring.
Participation in regional planning initiatives, including the Karoo Regional Spatial Development Framework (RSDF).

Municipal Spatial Planning

Municipal Spatial Development Framework (MSDF) Support Programme, supported by the MSDF Support Toolkit.
Capital Expenditure Framework (CEF) Support Programme.
Municipal monitoring, advisory support, and SPLUM governance reviews.

Targeted Spatial Transformation Interventions

Affordable Housing Enablement Support Programme, which includes:
- Implementation of the Western Cape Inclusionary Housing Policy Framework.
- Western Cape Inclusionary Housing Policy Framework (2022), and
- Housing Market Studies (11 Municipalities, Round II).

Documents and Posters

The Municipal Spatial Development Framework Support Toolkit: The MSDF Support Toolkit is a collection of resources, guidelines, practice notes, and training materials to support municipalities and consultants in developing, amending, or reviewing MSDFs.

Key resources include:

Terms of Reference for developing an MSDF and CEF.
An MSDF Resource Handbook summarising key data and intelligence.
An MSDF Process Checklist to guide officials through correct procedures.
Guidelines and practice notes for MSDF development (regularly updated).
Best practice standards for maps and mapping.
Annual MSDF Support Programme dashboards for the Western Cape.
Training material on MSDF development.
CEF resources, including the DLRRD CEF Guidelines, COGTA CEF Guideline, the CEF Practice Note, and minimum content requirements.
The Western Cape Government Spatial Economic Dashboard, which provides a spatial perspective on economic data at settlement level. It currently uses SARS tax data (2014–2022) to present information across suburbs, towns, municipalities, and districts, enabling analysis of firms, jobs, and income distribution by sector, space, and gender.

The Toolkit can be accessed here: MSDF Toolkit Portal.

Core Provincial Frameworks

Superseded Frameworks and Guidelines (available on request)

2009 PSDF
Guidelines for Golf Courses, Golf Estates, Polo Fields and Polo Estates in the Western Cape (2005)
Guidelines for Resort Developments in the Western Cape (2005)
Draft PSDF Rural Land Use Planning and Management Guidelines (2009)
Provincial Urban Edge Guideline (2005)
PSDF Settlement Restructuring: An Explanatory Manual (2009)

Posters: Implementation of the PSDF

Summary Overview (pdf, 931.67 KB)
Sustainable Use of Provincial Assets (pdf, 3.09 MB)
Opening Up Opportunities in the Space Economy (pdf, 2.5 MB)
Implementing the Provincial Spatial Agenda (pdf, 869.02 KB)
Developing Integrated and Sustainable Settlements (pdf, 1.94 MB)
Regional Posters:
- Cape Winelands (pdf, 6.06 MB)
- Central Karoo (pdf, 3.35 MB)
- City of Cape Town (pdf, 3.93 MB)
- Garden Route (Eden) (pdf, 4.87 MB)
- Overberg (pdf, 4.08 MB)
- West Coast (pdf, 4.12 MB)

Regional Spatial Implementation Frameworks (RSIFs)

Greater Cape Metro RSIF

Final Report – July 2019 (pdf, 6.71 MB)

Greater Saldanha RSIF

Status Quo Report (pdf, 36.08 MB)
SWOT Report – Updated (pdf, 893.58 KB)
Social Accessibility Infrastructure Study (pdf, 19.1 MB)
Transport Maps (pdf, 18.58 MB)
Regional Economic Infrastructure Report (PDG) (pdf, 2.44 MB)
Regional Transport and Freight Report (GIBB) (pdf, 12 MB)
Energy Report (pdf, 8.35 MB)
ICT Report (pdf, 10.05 MB)
Summary Report and Implementation Framework (pdf, 15.9 MB)
Environmental Management Framework (March 2021) (pdf, 5.63 MB)

Garden Route RSIF

Final Report – May 2019 (pdf, 5.7 MB)

More Documentation & Resources

MSDF Adoption vs Review vs Amendment Practice Note (2020) (pdf, 370.02 KB)
Municipal Financial Sustainability of Current Spatial Growth Patterns (2013) (pdf, 3.15 MB)
Impact of Commercial and Office Decentralisation Specialist Study (2014) (pdf, 85.44 MB)
Integrating Land Reform and Rural Development into Spatial and Land Use Planning Toolkit (pdf, 3.25 MB)
Policy on Agricultural Holdings on the Urban Fringe (2000) (pdf, 292.48 KB)

Virtual Resource Centre for Development Planning
More resources, offering spatial intelligence for development planning, are available in our Virtual Resource Centre. Access is currently restricted to municipal and Western Cape Government practitioners. To request access, contact: enquiries.eadp@westerncape.gov.za.

Linked Affordable Housing Resources

CONTACT US:

Acting Director: Allan Rhodes

Email: allan.rhodes@westerncape.gov.za

Tel. 021 483 0764

Provincial Spatial Planning Advisory and Support Services component

Adetunji Adebayo

Email: Adetunji.Adebayo@westerncape.gov.za

Tel. 021 483 0788

Municipal Spatial Planning Advisory and Support Services, Region 1 – Cape Town / West Coast:

Marek Kedzieja

Email: Marek.Kedzieja@westerncape.gov.za