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Elsona van Huyssteen |
For government to reach its objectives of employment creation, service delivery, sustainable development and shared economic growth, it will be critical to focus on coordinated and targeted investment and interventions, especially in South Africa's city regions.
While being home to almost 40% of the country's population and generating 65% of the country's economic activity on only 2% of the land area, the city regions also demonstrate the greatest disparities and inequalities - the highest number of rich and of poor people, the best progress and the largest backlogs in municipal service provision, the most people with jobs but also the highest levels of unemployment.
These are some of the trends contained in a report produced by the CSIR in collaboration with the HSRC and Econrise, namely 'A National Overview of Spatial Trends and Settlement Characteristics, 2008'. The report was commissioned by the South African Cities Network, the Department of Local and Provincial Government and The Presidency. The report has highlighted the need for differentiated development approaches and will inform government's draft urban, as well as other development strategies.
Significant national demographic, economic, social, service and environmental trends were identified. Researchers looked at trends between 1996 and 2007 from recently published data, as well as at spatial patterns. These were linked to the way the trends impact on the national space economy and the growth and development of South Africa's city regions, cities and range of towns. The analyses highlighted the importance that these settlements, as well as the linkages between the different kind (and sizes) of settlements play in the development of the respective regions and the country as a whole. Particular emphasis was placed on comparing and analysing data, trends and patterns, moving beyond a mere urban versus rural definition and divide.
"Technologies that the CSIR and government partners have invested in over the past four to five years enabled us to do more nuanced and context-specific geospatial analyses. This made it possible to identify, describe and compare functional settlement areas and spatial relations, and not merely compare local, district and metropolitan municipal areas. It is the first time that such an overview has been provided in South Africa," says Elsona van Huyssteen, an urban and regional planner at CSIR Built Environment.
The study built onto work already undertaken for the National Spatial Development Perspective (2006), the Geospatial Analysis Platform (2007) - both done for The Presidency - and the Toolkit for Integrated Planning (2008), funded by the Department of Science and Technology.
The report provides a summary overview of characteristics, changes and spatial trends relating to the population, the economy, services and natural resources throughout the country and particularly within the four major city-region areas. For the purpose of the study, these have been identified as the city region of Gauteng and the coastal city regions of Cape Town, Nelson Mandela and eThekwini. The trends and spatial dynamics suggest an increased concentration of population within an interconnected system/network of settlements and functional regions, as well as a huge increase of youth in the city-region areas and decline in so-called rural districts.
The network of settlements (cities and towns) provides access to livelihoods, services and economic opportunities for the vast majority of the South African population (housing more than 70% of the national population both in traditionally perceived urban and rural areas). This range of settlements fulfils diverse roles and faces unique challenges within its functional regions.
"Two key focus areas for government intervention, in terms of short-term impact and longer term sustainability considerations emerge from the report," explains project leader Van Huyssteen. "On the one hand government investment, infrastructure maintenance, governance and sustainability are critical in the four growing city-regions and five cities (home to more than 30% of people in poverty and the job machines of the country). With the largest proportion and increasing number of children in South Africa living in city areas, it is imperative to invest in schools, healthcare and other services in cities.
On the other hand, the importance of government investment and the creation of sustainable service and economic centres/towns in the dispersed rural settlements of South Africa (especially former Bantustan areas on the eastern coast that are home to approximately 30% of people living in poverty) are evident. Economies of some towns in these areas depend largely on government services."
"The findings and questions raised through the analysis can form valuable baseline inputs into national and regional development frameworks and approaches. The overview could inform policy debates and wide use is already being made of the data and information contained in the document," concludes Van Huyssteen.
Enquiries: CSIR Communication
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