Abstract
M.Phil.
While it is true that urban transport is a function of land use, it is equally true that
land use is a function of urban transport. Any change in urban transport facilities
changes the relative accessibility and hence the relative attraction of various land
uses of every piece of land in a given area. Blumenfeld (1972, p. 140) feels that:
"Transportation planning and city planning are not two different things but two sides
of the same coin".
According to several international sources the physical-spatial interrelation of urban
transport and land use are totally ignored during the planning process. The short-term
measures which have dominated urban transportation and land use planning have failed
to appreciate long-term negative side-effects which, at later points in time, are perceived
as current problems and again tackled with short-term solutions. This indicates
a vicious circle which can only be broken if planners resolve to develop urban transport
policies which are designed to reinforce desirable land use and development
policies. In the long term it ls-the accessibility engendered by transport facilities which
determine changes in the distribution of land use.
Unfortunately in South Africa urban transport and land use planning appear to be
concerned only with current perceptions of the transportation/land use problem such
as congestion, delay, safety, movement, zoning and bulk regulations. Cameron (1977,
p, 6) is of the following opinion: "Sadly the Driessen Report in South Africa has resulted
in a transportation planning Act which, while appearing to offer scope for integrated
planning, is being widely interpreted as a means to solve current problems,
rather than as a means to really plan for the future". The object of this study is an attempt to determine within the physical-spatial dimension
the interrelation of urban transport and land use with reference to Alberton.
The methodology followed consists of a theoretical analysis of urban transportation
and land use throughout the world. Thereafter the study area is described in order to
marry the theory with the practice. An empirical investigation into the components
of an urban structure, i.e, residential, industrial, business, administrative, open spaces
and the transportation network, is followed by an analysis of the gathered information
by means of a computer.