the gauteng spatial development framework - Gauteng Online

ANNEXURE E: GLOSSARY OF TERMSTown - A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionallyhundreds of thousands) inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to hugemetropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matterof legal definition. Usually, a 'town' is thought of as larger than a village but smaller thana 'city', though there are exceptions to this rule.Township - Residential suburb established during the apartheid era, located beyond theurban periphery, specifically created to accommodate black people. Apartheid legislationenabled the government to forcibly locate black people in townships.Urban Edge/Boundary - An urban (growth) boundary was a regional boundary, set inan attempt to control urban sprawl by mandating that the area inside the boundary beused for higher density urban development and the area outside be used for lower densityrural development. An urban growth boundary circumscribes an entire urbanized area andis used by local governments as a guide to zoning and land-use decisions. If the area affectedby the boundary includes multiple jurisdictions, a special urban planning agency may becreated by the state or regional government to manage the boundary. The Urban EdgeDelineation policy for Gauteng was repealed in 2011.Village - A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet,but smaller than a town or city. Though often located in rural areas, the term urban villageis also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods.Complex Adaptive SystemA term used in systems thinking to describe any system that is comprised of many variablesor inputs that can be said to be complex. The outcomes of these systems are non-linearand are characterised by uncertainty. They are less machine-like and more free-forming andorganic (like whirlpools or anthills characterised by sudden paradoxical and chaotic behaviour).They are adaptive in that they interact and learn from their environment to preservethemselves.Conservation AreaAreas of special natural, ecological, architectural or historic interest, the essence of characteror appearance of which it is desirable to preserve and/or enhance.Conurbation (see urban composition)A large densely populated urban area/region formed by the growth and coalescenceof individual towns or cities.Co-operative governance and planningRefers to the integration and alignment between spheres of government and all publicdepartments.DDecentralisationThe flow of people and activities from an urban centre to outlying areas. Whether a plannedpolicy or unplanned sprawl, decentralization represents a kind of centrifugal force leadingto the horizontal spreading of a city and, in making urban systems, often the alteration ofthe vertical dimension of a decentralised position. Decentralisation is also associated withthe flow of municipality and activities from a central government agency out to branchlocations, sometimes within the city. As an example, a government can decentralize itsfunctions such as school administration and its planning functions, setting up outlyingdistricts with their own administrative offices and a set of delegated responsibilities.Decentralisation of decision-making and a portion of national revenues to local governmentshas placed cities at the frontline of the development campaign. This shift means that theoutcome of development is increasingly reliant on the activities of the more local levels ofgovernment.Delegated PowersA power conferred to designated planning officers by locally elected councillors and managersso that the officers may take decisions on specified planning matters on behalf of amunicipality.197 GAUTENG SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK 2011 GAUTENG GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY