Research design Data description and preparation
Ekurhuleni is referred to the Gauteng City Region Figure 1.
Figure 1: The City of Johannesburg map Johannesburg consists of approximately 4.4 million
people, accounting for about 36 of the Gauteng population and 8 of the national population Todes,
2012. Johannesburg is the economic and financial hub of South Africa. Its economy and contribution to the national
economy, has grown substantially and performed well on all major indicators when compared to other Metros. It
contributes about 17 of the national GDP and
approximately 47 of Gauteng’s economy. Johannesburg ranked 47 out of 50 top cities in the world as a worldwide
centre of commerce the only city in Africa Angel et al., 2005. However, massive challenges in terms of urban
poverty, inequality, unemployment, food insecurity, social exclusion and underdevelopment still remain.
The city consists of seven regions which are Regions A Diepsloot, Kya Sand; B Randburg, Rosebank, Melville,
Northcliff, Parktown; C Roodepoort, Constantia Kloof, Northgate; D Soweto, Dobsonville; E Alexandra,
Sandton; F Inner City; and G Orange Farm, Lenasia. The municipal citys land area is approximately 1,645 km
2
with a moderate density of approximately 2,364 km
2
municipal demarcation board, 2013. The population density is unevenly distributed throughout the municipal
area. At a regional level, Region D is the most densely populated with 24.4 followed by Regions G 16.7, F
13.4, A 12.6, E 11.8, C 11.6 and B 9.4 respectively.
Johannesburg is a sprawling city with a twofold transport system. It consists of a car-based system in the most
developed areas, where automobile use is almost compulsory. In most neighbourhoods, particularly poorer
and deprived neighbourhoods transport is either by way of commuter trains, minibus taxis and buses. Commuters and
shoppers walk long distances to access facilities Beavon, 2002. Johannesburg is a highly structured, fabricated and
interlocked poly and multi-centric urban mosaic. On the
one hand, it stands for “the luxury city and city of control” as reflected by Sandton, for example.
The walled and gated communities in the northern suburbs, for example, Sandton and Midrand, reflect the
“gentrified city and the city of advanced services”. The middle class South African areas such as Triumph Sophia
town lend themselves to the “suburban city and city of direct production”. The largely previously segregated
townships for Africans and Coloureds which are leftovers of apartheid highlight the “tenement city and the city of
unskilled work”. Finally the “abandoned city and the city of the informal city” are depicted by the informal
settlements which are generally located on the edges of townships or in any vacant spaces such as reflected by the
inner areas, for example, Hilbrow. While the foregoing description does not do justice to a complex urban
environment, it certainly provides a basis to frame the analysis Beavon, 2002.