Location, mobility and access toork: Aqualitative exploration in low-income settlements.

Abstract

Paper presented at the 30th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 11-14 July 2011 "Africa on the Move", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.

Current research and policy debates are shining an rntense spotlight on the links between spatial policy, housing (both in terms of type and location), public transport cost and supply patterns, and access to the labour market by the poor. In order to explore these links emprrically a qualitative analysis is performed of settlement and mobility patterns observed in 32 low-income settlements across a range of urban and rural locations in Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Data IS from in-depth household surveys, supplemented by GIS and transport supply data. Key factors defining the settlement-mobility-livelihoods relationship are regional accessibility (relative to large urban centres and secondary towns), local accessibility, and household characterrstics. Of particular rmportance to regronal employment access is the spatial envelope of job opportunitres that can be reached with the existing public transport network, which explains the choice of many rural households to urbanise in order to maximise their chances of gainrng a foothold in the economy. Within-settlement characteristrcs such as walking distances to publrc transport, the age and maturrty of settlements, and internal road conditions are also key to mobility. We descrrbe a classification system using these three dimensions, to help identify areas with similar access opportunities and constraints, and to help spatial and transport planners to fashion particular strategies for improving lrvelihoods in particular areas.