Tied in with the need for housing provision in the short term is the inevitable conclusion that this provision will dictate the quality of life for generations to come. The national spatial strategy, which is designed to achieve a better balance of social, economic, physical development and population growth between regions, will flounder in the area of housing if the existing problem, whereby affluent areas grow richer at the expense of poorer areas, is not addressed. The resultant urban exodus will strain rural resources that are already tightly stretched.