Transport and urban Development: Two Studies from Johannesburg

Abstract

This booklet contains two research pieces which offer evidence-based perspectives on transport and its relationship to urban form. The first, by Dylan Weakley, explores the relationship between population density and modes of transport in Johannesburg using data from both the Gauteng City Regional Observatory (GCRO) Quality of Life Survey conducted in 2011 and the National Population Census of the same year. The research confirms a clear relationship between density and use of public transport but, mportantly, reveals that this relationship holds across all income groups.

The second piece, written by Geoffrey Bickford, helps us understand better the relationship between new transport infrastructure and other urban development processes. It explores the impact that the Diepkloof Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) station in Soweto is having on development in adjoining areas. The research confirms that the BRT is having a positive impact on the access of local residents to the wider city but does indicate that the impact of the BRT on the built form of neighbourhoods may be evolving only gradually, and will have to be analysed over a longer period.