More attention is being placed on local and sub-national spaces in an effort to combat the growing instances of economic inequality and social exclusion in countries. The concept of community development from the 1960s and 1970s has re-entered the vernacular of development assistance, packaged somewhat slightly differently as community-based development/community-driven development, but still aimed at critical goals such as reducing poverty and minimizing social exclusion. This most recent localism goes beyond the promotion of democratic and empowerment values to include a concern for economic welfare. The most recent localism is evident in place-based thinking that is high on the agenda of, for example, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries or local economic development (LED) innovations in South Africa. A new approach to development that assigns sub-national spaces and institutions an important place in the process is steadily taking root. It marks a decisive shift from reliance on centrally driven initiatives and imputes a role for local government in the process. The new approach to development has placed the paradigm of developmental local government front and centre of the local government and development debates.