Impact of rapid urbanisation of South African cities on their Transport Policies: a theoretical perspective

Abstract

Paper presented at the 26th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9 - 12 July 2007 "The challenges of implementing policy?", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. ABSTRACT:For the past twenty years or so, both the proportion and the number of people living in urban areas have been increasing rapidly in developing countries. This increase is also marked by a concentration of population in large cities. The relationship between urban and transportation is perhaps one of the most important aspects of development in a city. The provision of transportation plays a major role in sustaining development in a city, whilst at the same time, development directly affects transport demand. Without an adequate transportation system there would be a limit to growth. This paper presents an argument that when there are few resources available for the management of growth, the situation often leads to over–populated cities having infrastructure provisions of very low quality. This is most visible when the urban transport network of a city grinds to a halt with traffic congestion. This paper is a study of development of transportation planning and policy dynamics in a rapidly urbanizing cities in South Africa (Johannesburg), to test a number of hypotheses forming a model for the examination of the relationships between urbanisation and transportation, and to look at the development of transportation planning policy making in terms of the actors involved in the process.