A proposed massive expansion of a petrochemical complex in South Durban’s port area has come under criticism for both economic and environmental violence. The recent history of cities becoming hyperactive export platforms is not merely a function of globalisation. Public policy is a factor, and especially the intellectual project of urban neoliberalism; the strategy was explicit in South Africa’s transition from apartheid to export-oriented neoliberalism.

The conversion of lands used for food crop production to other uses, the ongoing expansion of cultivated areas, and the situation of unused or under-used cropland in Cambodia needs to become closely regulated. The problem of unused and under-used agricultural lands being held for speculative purposes requires serious attention. Specific policy actions could include promulgating agricultural land law and land-use regulations and creating a national Agricultural Land Research and Development authority. These and other recommendations are proposed in this policy brief.

This article summarizes the results of a research program conducted in 11 Latin America countries, addressing two
questions: (1) what factors determine territorial development dynamics that lead to economic growth, poverty reduction, and improved
income distribution? (2) What can be done to stimulate this kind of territorial dynamics? We highlight five “bundles of factors” that we
found in 19 case studies of territorial development 1, as well as the role of social territorial coalitions that appear to be necessary for