the gauteng spatial development framework - Gauteng Online

Johannesburg is surrounded by a dolomitic belt, which limits development in certain areas.However, this land is generally fertile and consequently has reinforced Gauteng's agriculturalholdings and structured the open space system (2-7 and 2-10). Additional structuringelements that define Gauteng's open space system are its ridges, watercourses and heritagesites. Although all the municipalities of Gauteng have land earmarked for public openspace, the province lacks an overall integrated open space system. The watercourses, ridgesand conservation areas need to be consolidated into an overall integrated open spacesystem.THE CRITICALITIES INFORMING THE PREPARATION OF A SPATIALDEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK FOR GAUTENGFigure 2-10.b: THE REGIONAL OPEN SPACE AND GREEN SYSTEM derived from assemblingthe SDFs of Gauteng ProvinceOf the key issues raised in the trend papers and presentations prepared for the G2055, thedepletion of natural resources is highlighted. Gauteng has for years been an importer ofwater from other water catchments. Projections done for the nation as a whole suggestthat this is set to increase, with serious questions being asked about the source of thiswater, and the costs associated with transporting it to the province. There are majorinternational economic changes; transport costs are increasing; trends show that the growthand development of Gauteng is becoming increasingly reliant on growing its export base;and oil costs are rising, with depletion looming sooner rather than later in the future. Thesetrends will force the restructuring of industry reliant on these resources and ultimately affectthe economy, society and the spatial form of the country and the region. These issues needto be considered on a spatial level. Based on notes from various workshops, Gauteng'spopulation is growing rapidly and could reach between 18 - 28 million people by the year2055, which is similar to Jakarta, Seoul and Tokyo's populations today. Furthermore thereare urban systems, such as Sao Paolo which has a population of 18 million and Delhi witha population of 17 million. Gauteng is thus not going into uncharted territory; many ofthe mega-cities with large populations occur in the developing world and this means thatprecedents exist. In addition, many of these mega-cities occur in developing nations withdisproportionately sized urban centres compared to cities in developed countries. Forexample, major urban population concentrations in the USA include many major cities closetogether, each with smaller populations in mega-city terms - New York (8.27 million), LosAngeles (3.84 million) and Chicago (2.83 million).SECTION 2: THE GSDF AS A CONCEPTGAUTENG SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK 2011GAUTENG GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY20