IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/mgrsod/v21y2017i1p35-43n3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spatial politics and infrastructure development: Analysis of historical transportation data in Gauteng - South Africa (1975–2003)

Author

Listed:
  • McKay Tracey

    (Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, South Africa)

  • Simpson Zach

    (Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, South Africa)

  • Patel Naeem

    (Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Johannesburg, South Africa)

Abstract

If South Africa’s Gauteng Province is to become a more ‘sustainable’, urbanised region, attention needs to be paid to building a transportation network that aligns with sustainable development principles. Currently, public transport passenger levels are low, whilst the geographical area it serves is large and becoming larger. This study analysed the long term, historical transportation trends of Gauteng by comparing four transport studies undertaken between 1975 and 2003. It reveals that an adherence to the ‘predict and provide’ transportation planning model has systematically enhanced road infrastructure over rail, and private over public transport. Effective, efficient and low cost public transport has been systematically under-provisioned; while a reliance on private vehicles is now entrenched and systemic. Racial segregation, spatial apartheid and weak urban land use planning, has resulted in an entrenched, low-density urban sprawl. Lastly, there is the need to collect comparable, longitudinal transportation data, if the successes and failures of policies are to be monitored.

Suggested Citation

  • McKay Tracey & Simpson Zach & Patel Naeem, 2017. "Spatial politics and infrastructure development: Analysis of historical transportation data in Gauteng - South Africa (1975–2003)," Miscellanea Geographica. Regional Studies on Development, Sciendo, vol. 21(1), pages 35-43, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:mgrsod:v:21:y:2017:i:1:p:35-43:n:3
    DOI: 10.1515/mgrsd-2017-0003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/mgrsd-2017-0003
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/mgrsd-2017-0003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Walters, Jackie, 2010. "Is the bus transport contracting system in South Africa leading to trusting relationships between contracted parties? An analysis of funding issues and the impact on relations between government and o," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 362-370.
    2. Israel, Emil & Cohen-Blankshtain, Galit, 2010. "Testing the decentralization effects of rail systems: Empirical findings from Israel," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(7), pages 523-536, August.
    3. Scheiner, Joachim, 2010. "Interrelations between travel mode choice and trip distance: trends in Germany 1976–2002," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 75-84.
    4. Walters, Jackie & Cloete, D., 2008. "The South African experience with negotiated versus competitively tendered bus contracts," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1163-1175, November.
    5. Walters, Jackie, 2013. "Overview of public transport policy developments in South Africa," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 34-45.
    6. Christoffel Venter, 2011. "Transport expenditure and affordability: The cost of being mobile," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 121-140.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nayan, Ashish & Wang, David Z.W., 2017. "Optimal bus transit route packaging in a privatized contracting regime," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 146-157.
    2. Qihao Liu & Yuzheng Liu & Chia-Lin Chen & Enrica Papa & Yantao Ling & Mengqiu Cao, 2023. "Is It Possible to Compete With Car Use? How Buses Can Facilitate Sustainable Transport," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(3), pages 69-83.
    3. Cartenì, Armando & Pariota, Luigi & Henke, Ilaria, 2017. "Hedonic value of high-speed rail services: Quantitative analysis of the students’ domestic tourist attractiveness of the main Italian cities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 348-365.
    4. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Velilla, Jorge & Ortega-Lapiedra, Raquel, 2024. "Differences in commuting between employee and self-employed workers: The case of Latin America," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    5. Jaroslav Burian & Lenka Zajíčková & Igor Ivan & Karel Macků, 2018. "Attitudes and Motivation to Use Public or Individual Transport: A Case Study of Two Middle-Sized Cities," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-25, May.
    6. Lourdes Diaz Olvera & Didier Plat & Pascal Pochet, 2016. "Changes in daily mobility patterns in Dakar (Senegal)," Post-Print halshs-01346869, HAL.
    7. Rahman, Mohammad Lutfur & Baker, Douglas, 2018. "Modelling induced mode switch behaviour in Bangladesh: A multinomial logistic regression approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 81-91.
    8. Giménez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Velilla, Jorge & Ortega, Raquel, 2022. "Revisiting excess commuting and self-employment: The case of Latin America," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1179, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    9. Yue Liu & Jun Chen & Weiguang Wu & Jiao Ye, 2019. "Typical Combined Travel Mode Choice Utility Model in Multimodal Transportation Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-15, January.
    10. Odeck, James & Høyem, Harald, 2021. "The impact of competitive tendering on operational costs and market concentration in public transport: The Norwegian car ferry services," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    11. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Daniels, Chux & AbdulRafiu, Abbas, 2022. "Transitioning to electrified, automated and shared mobility in an African context: A comparative review of Johannesburg, Kigali, Lagos and Nairobi," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    12. Korsu, Emre & Le Néchet, Florent, 2017. "Would fewer people drive to work in a city without excess commuting? Explorations in the Paris metropolitan area," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 259-274.
    13. Mingwei He & Jianbo Li & Zhuangbin Shi & Yang Liu & Chunyan Shuai & Jie Liu, 2022. "Exploring the Nonlinear and Threshold Effects of Travel Distance on the Travel Mode Choice across Different Groups: An Empirical Study of Guiyang, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-23, November.
    14. Duncan, Michael & Christensen, Robert K., 2013. "An analysis of park-and-ride provision at light rail stations across the US," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 148-157.
    15. Rémy Le Boennec & Julie Bulteau & Thierry Feuillet, 2022. "The role of commuter rail accessibility in the formation of residential land values: exploring spatial heterogeneity in peri-urban and remote areas," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 69(1), pages 163-186, August.
    16. Ida, Yoram & Talit, Gal, 2015. "Regulation of public bus services: The Israeli experience," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 156-165.
    17. Khandker Habib, 2015. "An investigation on mode choice and travel distance demand of older people in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Canada: application of a utility theoretic joint econometric model," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 143-161, January.
    18. Elzbieta Szymanska & Zofia Koloszko-Chomentowska, 2022. "Sustainable Innovative Mobility Solutions Preferred by Inhabitants of Rural Areas—The Case of Lithuania and Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-21, May.
    19. Xu, JieLan, 2020. "Generational trends of gendered mobility: How do they interact with geographical contexts?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    20. Eizaguirre-Iribar, Arritokieta & Etxepare Igiñiz, Lauren & Hernández-Minguillón, Rufino Javier, 2016. "A multilevel approach of non-motorised accessibility in disused railway systems: The case-study of the Vasco-Navarro railway," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 35-43.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:mgrsod:v:21:y:2017:i:1:p:35-43:n:3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.