Wind energy landscapes, place attachment and tourism in the Route 27/West Coast Region of South Africa

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The West Coast Region (WCR) of the Western Cape Province in South Africa is earmarkedfor at least 13 windfarm developments. These proposed developments represent aninvestment in and a movement towards cleaner and alternative ways of energy generation. Alldevelopments that will alter the environment or landscape are usually received with some sortof opposition. The aim of this study was to determine whether or not the presence of windturbines in the form of wind farms will have any affect on the sense of place of insiders of(residents) and outsiders (visitors) to the West Coast Region, the insiders' attachment to theirnatural landscapes and the outsiders' experiences of the region. In the context of multipleissues arising from a very complex discourse around the possible effects that the proposedwindfarms are perceived to have in the WCR, this study approached the research topic fromthree perspectives of inquiry: (1) windfarms and people's place attachment; (2) windfarmsand landscape aesthetic and function interference; and (3) windfarms and its effect ontourism. The study area includes 15 towns of three subregions of the WCR, namely theSwartland, West Coast Peninsula and Bergrivier subregions.The research objectives are seven fold, namely (1) to establish a solid base and understandingof the concepts and constructs related to wind energy, landscape aesthetics and placeattachment; (2) to review appropriate case studies reported in the international literature andapply relevant methodologies in this study; (3) investigate theories, types and models ofpublic decision making to explore the degree to which these could be applied to windfarmsupport or objection in the WCR; (4) to critique current policies in windfarm establishmentand discover whether and how these shape social objection to or support for windfarmdevelopment in the WCR; (5) to establish the perceptions and attitudes relating to windturbines of three groups of actors (tourism industry, tourists and residents) in the WCR byconducting questionnaire surveys in 15 West Coast towns and villages and interpret theseviews in relation to the impacts of wind turbines on the local landscape; (6) to determine theinsiders' place attachments to the WCR, whether the presence of wind turbines will affectthese attachments and whether their attachments influence decisions to support or oppose theproposed windfarm developments; and (7) to assess the extent to which the presence of windturbines will affect the tourism value of the region. Primary data was further strengthened bysemi-structured interviews, informal conversations and observation at public participationand specialized group meetings. Data was analysed using SPSS, Excel and ArcGIS. The findings indicate that respondents are concerned with issues related to the sustainabilityof the natural environment and that the residents of the WCR possess a strong sense ofattachment to the region, but no clear indication was found that their place attachment serveas a reason for their opposition to the proposed windfarm developments. Although thesupport for windfarm development decreases from a national to a regional level and to thelocal level of in or close to the towns in which respondents reside, their opposition towindfarm development in the region cannot only be regarded as simple not-in-my-backyard(NIMBY) attitudes. Seventy-five per cent of the respondents regard the physical landscapeof the WCR as very special, but would still support the development of windfarms in theregion indicating that the respondents do not believe the construction of wind turbines in theWCR landscapes will influence the special character of landscapes negatively. There is noindication presently that the tourism industry would be affected negatively by windfarmdevelopment in the region as both residents and visitors do not believe that windfarms detertourists from visiting certain areas and more than 90% of visitors indicated they would returnto the WCR after a number of windfarms have been developed. It is recommended that apost-development impact study be conducted to determine the attitudes toward windfarmdevelopment in the WCR following the deployment of wind turbines.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University