Development Analysis Framework · Field Tool

Place Development
Analysis Checklist

A structured field instrument for reading any settlement — from hamlet to metropolis — across political, economic and social dimensions. Complete each section, then generate your analysis report.

00 Place Identity Before you begin
The formal or common name of the settlement being analyzed.
Name of the person conducting this analysis.
Growth = organic expansion from a point. Basket = pre-segmented political boundary already exists.
What brought you to analyze this place? Is this a build-out exercise or an existing-place evaluation?
01 Tier Identification What is this place?
Based on your initial observation of population size and distribution. This is a working assignment — it may be revised after the full checklist.
Census or field estimate.
Census, municipal data, field observation.
Is the population growing, stable, or declining?
How is the population distributed across the area?
Official administrative category assigned by government.
A place can carry a political label that doesn't match what its population and services actually reflect. Note any mismatch here.
02 Institutional Inventory What does this place have?
📚 Education
Scaling: Books/informal → Primary school → High school → FET/TVET → University → Research institution.
Rough estimate is fine. This gauges service quality against population.
Relative to the working tier assigned in Step 1.
🏥 Health
Scaling: Medicine dispensary → Clinic → District hospital → Regional hospital → Provincial hospital → Specialized (oncology, dialysis, etc.).
How many people per available facility? Indicates service pressure.
⚖️ Security & Justice
Scaling: Community watch → Police post → Police station → Cluster command → Provincial/regional command.
Scaling: None → Magistrate's court → Regional court → High court → Constitutional court (national).
🏦 Commerce & Finance
Scaling: Spaza/informal → ATM only → Bank branch → Full banking services → Financial district / JSE-linked entities.
Scaling: Spaza/tuck shop → Informal market → Plaza shops → Formal retail mall → Commercial/business district.
What does the working population predominantly do? This reveals what the economy is built on.
🏛️ Governance
Are roads, public buildings, utilities and infrastructure being actively maintained or built?
03 Functional Role in the Network What is this place doing?
What does this place supply to surrounding nodes? People traveling in reveals what the place offers that others don't.
This reveals dependency on higher-tier nodes and which corridor links are being used.
Agricultural output, manufactured goods, services, skilled human capital, raw materials.
The single activity that defines the economy of this place.
A node receives investment because it connects other places. An endpoint receives welfare spending because it's a contained population. The difference reveals political priority.
Geography sets the ceiling of what's possible. Note road access, proximity to rivers, ports, mountains, fertile land, mineral deposits, or other corridors.
04 Overall Performance Rating Is it punching at, above, or below its tier?
Relative to what a place of this tier and population should look like — is it delivering? An overperforming institution in an otherwise underperforming place is your hub signal.
If any institution is performing above tier, name it. This is where specialization potential lives. An oncology hospital in a small town, a research-grade university in a city — these are hub signals.
What institution, expected at this tier, is completely missing? This is the development gap.
05 Development Trajectory Where is this place going?
Are businesses entering or exiting? Economic confidence indicator.
When people have stable employment, discretionary spending creates demand — recreation, restaurants, retail. Is this visible? This is a leading indicator of the next tier.
What would need to happen — population, institutions, investment — for this place to legitimately function at the next tier up?

Compiles all inputs into a structured report document ready for export.

Place Development Analysis · Field Report
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Analyst: —
Date: —
Mode: —
Assigned Tier: —
01 Tier Identification
Population Estimate—
Source—
Population Trend—
Density Character—
Political Classification—
Classification Match—
Context—
02 Institutional Inventory
Education — Level—
Education — Ratio—
Education — Notes—
Education — Verdict—
Health — Level—
Health — Ratio—
Health — Notes—
Health — Verdict—
Security — Police—
Security — Court—
Security — Notes—
Security — Verdict—
Commerce — Finance—
Commerce — Retail—
Commerce — Employment—
Commerce — Notes—
Commerce — Verdict—
Governance — Structure—
Governance — Investment—
Governance — Notes—
Governance — Verdict—
03 Functional Role
Who comes here—
Where residents go—
What it produces—
Dominant activity—
Gov treatment—
Geography—
04 Performance Rating
Overall Verdict—
Hub Signal—
Critical Absence—
05 Development Trajectory
Brain Drain—
Private Sector—
Demand Economy—
Next Tier Distance—
Additional Notes—
One-Page Reading

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This report was generated using the Place Development Analysis Framework — a bottom-up field instrument for reading settlement tiers across political, economic and social dimensions. It forms the first stage of a three-part assessment: (1) Analysis Checklist → (2) Service Qualification Matrix → (3) Hub Scoring Criteria.