Mobility patterns in the Gauteng City-Region, South Africa

Abstract

A key factor in understanding a city-region is the daily flows of people between its constituent parts. Mapping of the commuter field may help delineate the functional extent of the region, clarify challenges of transport efficiency, access and affordability, and reveal the impact of key transport interventions over time. It may also elucidate social dimensions of life in the region, notably patterns of inequality between groups. Data from the Gauteng City-Region Observatory’s (GCRO) 2013 Quality of Life Survey were used to map trips to work made by white and (separately) African respondents. The maps illustrate the functional extent of the city-region as well as ongoing racial disparities in geographic access-to-work opportunities in a region historically patterned by apartheid spatial forms. While there is significant continuity from the past, there are also some surprising new trends.