Planning and governing in an emerging city-region context: A case study of the Greater Gaborone city-region, Botswana

This study examines the evolution of city-regions, the way they have been planned in the past and emerging approaches. The study focuses on relating planning and governing in an emerging city-region context of the Greater Gaborone City-Region (GGCR) of Botswana with the view to strategizing future planning. Rather than providing a chronological account of events, the study weaves history with underlying planning ideals, theories and practices of the times. The theoretical framework adopted involves the "stage urban theory" supported by various theoretical perspectives.; The study argues that a city-region evolves through four stages. The first stage involves the development of a city. The second stage involves the development of a city into a "regional-city". The third stage involves the development of a regional-city into a "metropolitan region". The fourth stage involves the maturing of the metropolitan region into a city-region (megalopolis). Urbanists argue that there is a fifth stage of "citi-state or city-state" (mega-megalopolis). In North America, the advent of the third and forth stages coincided with the era of the "national economy" and the "globalized economy", and "sustainable development" respectively.; The study examines "old city-regionalism" and "new city-regionalism" planning and governing approaches which have been adapted to plan and govern city-regions. The study situates old city-regionalism and new city-regionalism at Phase One - Stage Three and Phase Two - Stage Four respectively. It argues that new city-regionalism provides the best framework for consideration of the unique 'local historical roots' of a place, and therefore must take prevalence over old city-regionalism. But this must be done allowing room for mixing some old city-regionalism elements in new city-regionalism's second phase (ad hoc regionalism) as a strategy for achieving new city-regionalist outcomes.; The finding of the study is that the GGCR has reached a metropolitan stage which is fast maturing. The GGCR is also heading to a city-region stage. The study argues for a new city-regionalism approach to strategize future planning and governance in the GGCR. It also argues for new-regionalism to provide a better framework for planning and governing Botswana's Planning Regions.