On Friday, 5 June 2015, SAPI Gauteng along with the HSRC and CSIR held a seminar on Population and Settlement Dynamics in South Africa. The seminar was aimed at introducing recent trends in population and settlement dynamics in South Africa, based on work conducted under the stepSA (Spatial and Temporal Evidence for Planning South Africa) umbrella.
The first presentation was an Overview of population movement dynamics: implications for planning and public investment. This was a reflection on a number of indicators used to portray key national and regional spatial population and settlement trends that are of importance to planners, with consideration of the Gauteng province. This was followed by a presentation on Engaging the future to change the trajectories of the past: the importance of simulating and modelling city and settlement growth and major investment implications. The emphasis of this work was on the need for long-term forward planning and the use of simulation and modelling to help guide investment decisions, especially housing and transport investment.
Some of the lessons learnt from several applications were also shared. The final piece of work presented was on The impact of rural-urban connectivity on South Africa’s space economy: Limpopo-Gauteng case study. Working from a rural/urban brief from SACN, this study looked at the north-eastern migration corridor, from Limpopo south into Gauteng. It analysed the space economy of poverty from the household upward, underlining how networks spread out in space to open the labour market, and highlighting the spatial flowlines and gatepoints that control migration. Results started to show rural/urban value chains integrating the national space economy for the poor.
The seminar was an interactive platform granting individuals the opportunity to engage with the work that was presented.
For more information on the seminar, contact:
Willemien van Niekerk, CSIR
wvniekerk@csir.co.za
Elsona van Huyssteen, CSIR
evhuyssteen@csir.co.za
Johan Maritz, CSIR
jmaritz@csir.co.za
