Abstract
M.Ing. (Civil Engineering)
In many parts of the world, the widening gap between urban land use policy and transport
system performance has manifested partly in increased commuting times, traffic congestion,
longer commuting distances and air pollution in urban areas, suggesting the need for a better
understanding of the relationship between urban form and travel behaviour. In South Africa,
the problem is exacerbated by the historical apartheid spatial planning that led to the relocation
of the indigenous African labour force to urban peripheries and in the development of racially
divided cities and towns. This historical planning paradigm has, over time, contributed to the
creation of spatial imbalances, for example relatively long travel distances between areas of
residence and areas of employment for the working class.
In 1995, the South African post-apartheid government endorsed urban spatial policy reforms
through the Development Facilitation Act (No. 67 of 1995), or DFA, of which one of the
founding principles was to reduce travel distances between residential and employment areas
through promoting mixed-use developments. This was motivated by the assumption that there
exists a relationship between urban form and travel behaviour. Despite a lack of empirical
knowledge on the effect of the now repealed Development Facilitation Act on urban
commuting distances, new public policies continue to advance its founding principles to
address the same problems. Lacking knowledge on the rate and direction of change that can be
expected from these interventions and the extent to which travel behaviour can be influenced
by urban form, the South African government’s urban development policy instruments may be
misguided and could lead to inefficient land use strategies that could, in turn, further contribute
to an inefficient urban transport system.
This research was conducted in order to measure the rate of change in commuting distances in
the Gauteng City-Region, in South Africa and the efficacy of existing policy instruments in
term of reducing commuting distances. In particular, the study addressed the following research
questions:
How have commuting distances in the Gauteng City-Region changed since the
promulgation of the Development Facilitation Act?
How did commuting distances change for different residential types in the Gauteng
City-Region?..