GCRO Reports: Occasional Papers

Recent Reports

The political economy of the Gauteng City-Region
Stephen Greenberg
July, 2010
The political economy of the Gauteng City-Region

The Gauteng city-region (GCR) is a relatively new concept for South Africa, although the model has been growing in other parts of the world for over a decade. This paper considers some of the global debates about the importance of city-regions in the current economic and political context. It provides an overview of the concept and the context within which it has been deployed. Debates about the role of cities in the global economy are regarded. Some critical reflections on the city-region, both conceptually and in practice, are made along economic, social, ecological and governance dimensions. This forms the backdrop for an analysis of the growth of the GCR, again both conceptually and practically along the same dimensions, with an emphasis on two key drivers of the city-region, transportation and housing/settlement.

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Benchmarking the way cities and regions around the world are responding to the global recession
David Everatt, Graeme Gotz, Sizwe Phakathi, Neva Makgetla
August, 2009
Benchmarking the way cities and regions around the world are responding to the global recession

The Gauteng Provincial Government Department of Economic Department (GPGDED) approached the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) to provide them with a fast turn-around report that benchmarks sub-national responses to the economic crisis globally. The brief was to provide a review of what cities and regions are doing in response to the crisis in other parts of the world, and to emphasise the action side of the story – what is being done, rather than analysing the differing nature and impact of the crisis in different places.The report is filled not so much with specific recommendations as a suite of possible interventions that the Gauteng Provincial Government may wish to choose from and implement.

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