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As is the case internationally, there is also an increased focus on urban space diversity in South Africa. Is it appropriate to pursue place diversity in South Africa? If so, what are the design factors that support place diversity and can these be accommodated by the development of medium density mixed housing in the country? Furthermore, could these emerging trends be considered as part of a larger global trend moving towards greater place diversity in cities, or does it only offer local fragments and practices of fashionable international ideas? This paper explores the multiple meanings of place diversity in the country as evident in the development of medium density mixed housing developments and highlights a number of paradoxes that emerge as a result of the context-specific realities.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the Institutional Framework and Governance in Latin America, which aims at detecting similarities or differences among the countries of the region.

The objective of the research will be achieved through the application of multivariate factor analysis and cluster analysis techniques.

The paper shows the importance of the institutional framework and governance for the countries of Latin America and demonstrates the heterogeneity in the areas of institutions and governance in the region. The paper also confirms the presence of differentiated groups of countries that can and should collaborate with each other to enhance the socio-economic development of the region in a globalized context.

Due to the limited Latin America countries example in this paper, the authors consider for future studies would be to enlarge the number of countries and to implement same study to Asian countries.

The main contribution of this study in practice is that by classifying countries into clusters with similarities and differences, this study allows politicians and the institutional leaders to redesign current and/or formulate new policies aimed at institutional quality and good governance. In addition, results of the study should be taken into account by institutions such as the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank when deciding on multilateral support or when taking financing decisions as the type of support and the conditions applied should be differentiated according to the cluster in question. Also, in the context of academic research, the clusters will allow comparative studies that can assess the impact of the institutional framework and other variables on indicators such as direct foreign investment, economic growth or sociological ones, such as poverty, the distribution of income, etc.

This paper provides the analysis of the Institutional Framework and Governance in Latin America under the multivariate analysis approach.