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Advances in Spatial Analysis to Support a more Nuanced Reading of the South African Space Economy

Literature › Works

Elsona van Huyssteen; Sharon Biermann; Andries Naudé; Alize le Roux (2009). Advances in Spatial Analysis to Support a more Nuanced Reading of the South African Space Economy. Urban Forum 20:195–214. Springer Science + Business Media B.V.
Type journal article
Scope Post-1994 South African economy
Method descriptive quantitative
Period studied 2004–2008
Regions South Africa (national), Gauteng, Cape Town, eThekwini, Nelson Mandela Bay, former Bantustans (Transkei/Ciskei, northern KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo)
Themes demography urbanisation, methods data sources, bantustans removals influx, inequality poverty unemployment, transition post apartheid
Citation key huyssteen2009

Argument

The paper argues that finer-grained (mesozone) and relational (road and travel-time based) spatial analysis gives a more nuanced reading of South Africa's space economy than analysis in administrative-boundary 'containers' or urban-rural dichotomies. Using the CSIR Geo-Spatial Analysis Platform, the authors build a six-category settlement classification (city regions to clustered and dispersed settlements) for the National Spatial Trends Overview project. The classification shows a polycentric network of settlements producing over 90% of economic activity, with four city-regions dominating output and the former-Bantustan dispersed settlements concentrating poverty. They conclude that such analysis supports context-specific investment and policy. It is a descriptive paper based on the authors' project experience.

Evidence and method

CSIR GAP2 mesozone dataset (2004; >25,000 zones of about 50 km2), a geo-referenced dataset of towns with an Urban Function Index, the national road network, earlier urban-rural typologies, and 2004 population, GVA and Minimum Living Level estimates drawn from the SACN et al. (2008) National Spatial Trends Overview report.

Findings

  • The settlement network is the backbone of the space economy, producing most output and housing most people (2004). (p. 14)

    more than 90% of all economic activity in the country was generated in this range of settlements, and more than 70% of the population is housed in the network of settlements

  • The four city-regions dominated national economic activity and held over 40% of the population when defined functionally. (p. 15)

    They housed more than 40% of the South African population and provide them with access to livelihood opportunities and services. They also produced more than 65% of national economic activity.

  • Gauteng city-region alone accounted for almost 40% of national output. (p. 15)

    in 2004, it housed almost a quarter of the country's population (the analysis suggests more than 22%) and generated almost 40% of the national economy

  • Clustered and dispersed settlements, characteristic of former Bantustans, hold a disproportionate share of the poor. (p. 17)

    the clustered and dispersed settlements housed 21% of the South African population by 2004 and more than 32% of all people in South Africa living under the minimum living level

  • Apartheid's settlement legacy makes size-based hierarchies unsuitable, as population, economy and service functions do not align. (p. 9)

    Owing to Apartheid history and the subsequent range of settlement types (where size of population, size and nature of the economy and the hierarchy of service functions do not correspond logically)

  • Bantustan history created populous settlements lacking administrative or commercial functions, which distorts population-based classification. (p. 9)

    the existence of many populous settlements without any significant administrative or commercial functions

  • Parts of the former Transkei/Ciskei and northern KwaZulu-Natal lack service centres and show economic decline and out-migration. (p. 17)

    characterized by a complete lack of regional service centers, declining areas/regions in terms of the economy, natural population growth, out-migration trends, as well as high dependency ratios

  • The mesoframe divides the country into about 25,000 zones nested in municipalities and former Bantustan boundaries. (p. 5)

    a demarcation of South Africa into a "grid" of more than 25,000 "mesozones," each approximately 50 km2

  • The demarcation produced 694 settlements in its first two steps, plus a density threshold for semi-urban areas. (p. 12)

    The total number of settlements identified as a result of the first two steps totaled 694

  • The Minimum Living Level poverty measure is criticised for overstating poverty, a limit on the poverty figures. (p. 15)

    The MLL has been criticized for making use of the lowest possible amount on which a household can live, thus painting a rather bleak picture