The applicability of the South African census 2011 data for evidence-based urban planning

Abstract

In urban planning it is important to understand settlements in terms of demographic, socio-economic, physical and political environmental characteristics. The objective is often to support municipalities, regional and national governments with long-term planning tools for the development of infrastructure, facilities and services. In a municipal context planning relies on spatially explicit estimates of the future demand for services, which depend largely on where households will live, where they will work and how they will commute using the transportation networks available to them. Given the complexity of large cities as a system, modelling and simulation tools are valuable for municipal decisions regarding the likes of environmental quality and safety in settlements and stimulation of economic productivity through provision of infrastructure. Models cannot capture such a complex system entirely; however they do allow integration of data indicative of factors shown in Figure 1 and their dynamics simplistically, for consumption by the relevant stakeholders. That is, they provide evidence upon which spatially equitable and sustainable planning of urban areas can be based.