Pathways of Decline and Renewal: The Vaal Triangle Book Project
The Vaal Triangle holds a pivotal position in South Africa’s urban and industrial history (Bos, 1994). Geographically defined roughly by the points of Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark, and Sasolburg, the region comprises diverse demographic residential areas. Central to its urban and social fabric are the Vaal townships of Sharpeville, Bophelong, Boipatong, Sebokeng, and Evaton, among others (Clark & Worger, 2023). These townships emerged as residential zones for Black labour linked to nearby industrial centres and were key sites of significant events in the struggle against apartheid. Throughout the 20th century, the area served as a hub of heavy industrial development, particularly in iron and steel production (ISCOR, now ArcelorMittal South Africa) and synthetic fuels and chemical manufacturing (SASOL) (see Geyer, 1989; Freund, 2020).
Following 1994, the region was divided by a provincial boundary, with Vereeniging and Vanderbijlpark incorporated into Gauteng, and Sasolburg into the Free State. Despite this administrative split, the Vaal Triangle continues to operate as a spatially cohesive and economically interconnected urban-industrial cluster. Industrial activities, notably in energy, remain essential to the local economy, although the metals sector has experienced a significant decline (Roberts & Rustomjee, 2010; Rustomjee et al., 2018), exemplified by the recent closure of the Vereeniging plant. Meanwhile, the region has witnessed growth in finance, real estate, and business services.
These economic shifts mirror global and national post-industrial trends but unfold along locally specific trajectories shaped by apartheid-era spatial legacies, evolving political economies, and diverging visions for economic development (Zalk, 2021). Accompanying these economic changes are profound urban and spatial transformations (Harrison & Todes, 2015). On one hand, there is the deterioration of historic urban centres such as Vereeniging; on the other, the emergence of new urban forms like Savanna City.
Numerous studies have explored specific aspects of the Vaal Triangle’s transformation, including Bill Freund’s (2019) work on company towns. However, a comprehensive and integrated analysis of its urban, economic, and environmental dimensions remains absent. The goal of this edited volume is to address this gap. It will analyse the Vaal Triangle’s urban-industrial evolution with a focus on theory and space, exploring its past, present, and future.
The volume will adopt a spatially grounded and temporally dynamic approach, with zoomed in micro-geographical analyses of urban and industrial nodes (Capron & Suire, 2025). It will position the Vaal Triangle as a critical case study of post-industrial transition and lived urban-industrial experience in the Global South. Contributors are encouraged to engage with theoretical frameworks such as spatial justice, path dependency, and post-industrial urbanism, alongside perspectives from economic geography (see Chu & Hassink, 2023; Peng & Hassink, 2025), urban studies (see Randolph & Storper, 2022; Kapp & Armstrong, 2024; Luger & Schwarze, 2024), and political economy (see Mondliwa & Roberts, 2021; Robbins, 2025).
Thematic and Methodological Focus
Contributions should engage with the Vaal Triangle and its surrounding areas through interdisciplinary conceptual, empirical, and methodological lenses and approaches that foreground:
- Historical and contemporary industrial development
- Township economies, informal sectors, and local enterprise
- Social movements, resistance, and political histories
- Spatial planning, urban form, and post-apartheid transformation
- Environmental legacies, sustainability, and industrial decline
- Socio-cultural transformations linked to heritage, identity, memory, and lived experiences
Publication and Remuneration
The volume will be published as a peer-reviewed edited book through a recognised academic press, with open-access options currently under consideration. Each accepted chapter will receive an honorarium up to R20,000 upon submission of the final, peer-reviewed manuscript. Please note that remuneration is contingent upon adherence to submission deadlines, reviewer feedback, editorial requirements, and on the number of accepted chapters.
Submission Details
- Abstracts: 250 words, clearly stating the aims of the chapter, the period it is locating its discussion, and themes it is positioned to address
- Abstract Submission Deadline: 27 February 2026
- Notification of Abstract Acceptance: 13 March 2026
- Full Draft Paper Deadline: 30 November 2026
- Length of Chapters: 6,000–8,000 words incl. references, figures, and tables
- Submit your abstract through this link
Contact
For more information on this project, please contact Jason Bell (Email: jason.bell@gcro.ac.za; Office Telephone: +27 (0)11 717 7280)
We look forward to your contributions.
References
Bos, D. J. (1994). Positioning of the Vaal triangle in a new South Africa. Stads-en Streeksbeplanning. Town and Regional Planning, 1994(37), 20-28.
Capron, É., & Suire, R. (2025). Zooming-in: expanding the micro-geographic perspective in economic geography. Progress in Economic Geography. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.peg.2025.100048
Chu, H., & Hassink, R. (2023). Advancing spatial ontology in evolutionary economic geography. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society. https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad020
Clark, N., & Worger, W. (2023). Voices of Sharpeville. . https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003257806
Freund, B. (2019). Twentieth-century South Africa: A developmental history. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108604222
Freund, B. (2020). White people fit for a new South Africa? State planning, policy and social response in the parastatal cities of the Vaal, 1940–1990 1. , 78-96. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003002307-5
Geyer, H. (1989). Apartheid in South Africa and industrial deconcentration in the PWV area. Planning Perspectives, 4, 251-269. https://doi.org/10.1080/02665438908725683
Harrison, P., & Todes, A. (2015). Spatial transformations in a “loosening state”: South Africa in a comparative perspective. Geoforum, 61, 148-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.03.003
Kapp, P., & Armstrong, P. (2024). Reimagining live-work in postindustrial cities: how combining living and working is transforming urban living. Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549175.2024.2337153
Luger, J., & Schwarze, T. (2024). Leaving post-industrial urban studies behind?. Dialogues in Urban Research, 2, 188 - 209. https://doi.org/10.1177/27541258241230058
Peng, J., & Hassink, R. (2025). Understanding Social Structural Change: Change Agency, Mediated Dualism and Fragmented Habitus. Geography Compass. https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.70026
Mondliwa, P., & Roberts, S. (2021). The Political Economy of Structural Transformation. Structural Transformation in South Africa. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192894311.003.0014
Randolph, G., & Storper, M. (2022). Is urbanisation in the Global South fundamentally different? Comparative global urban analysis for the 21st century. Urban Studies, 60, 3 - 25. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980211067926
Roberts, S., & Rustomjee, Z. (2010). Industrial policy under democracy: apartheid's grown-up infant industries? Iscor and Sasol. Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa, 71, 50 - 75. https://doi.org/10.1353/trn.0.0044
Robbins, G. (2025). A tale of no cities? The neglect of cities in South Africa’s post-apartheid national economic policies. Area Development and Policy, 10, 63 - 83. https://doi.org/10.1080/23792949.2024.2424568
Rustomjee, Z., Kaziboni, L., and Steuart, I. (2018). Structural Transformation along Metals, Machinery and Equipment Value Chain - Developing Capabilities in the Metals and Machinery Segments. CCRED Working Paper Series 2018/7. Available at: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/52246331e4b0a46e5f1b8ce5/t/5be16ea9758d46f231278792/1541500605958/CCRED+Working+Paper+7_2018+IDTT+MME+RustomjeeKaziboniSteuart.pdf
Zalk, N. (2021). Structural Change in South Africa. Structural Transformation in South Africa. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192894311.003.0002