Spatial change in the GCR

Gauteng confronts mounting concern that spatial trends may be compounding the effects of apartheid, the possibility that its population may double by 2055, and the very real prospect of future economic and environmental risks and shocks. There is an urgent need to understand whether its spatial form, fabric and function are resilient enough to cope with change. A start is to understand the rapid spatial changes that are already occurring, for example in terms of population growth and changing land use. This project will link with Professor Philip Harrison’s NRF chair research to map and model spatial change in Gauteng cities. The core output will be a series of books on spatial change in Gauteng, starting with Johannesburg and Pretoria. GCRO’s initial contribution will be a number of Gauteng focused chapters based on spatial modelling.

GCRO has also comissioned a paper entitled "Spatial change within the Gauteng City-Region: Land-use/cover mapping; trends and possible impacts" to be authored by Brian Mubiwa, under the guidance of Professor Harold Annegarn, drawing on Mubiwa’s PhD thesis research on generating land cover change from 1990-2009 satellite imagery.