the gauteng spatial development framework - Gauteng Online

THE GSDF AS A CONCEPTThe spatial extent, shape and form of the GCR as envisaged in the GSDF are indicatedconceptually in Figure 2-16 to Figure 2-21. The intention is to define a compact, complexurban structure around which the urban system can consolidate as population and economicgrowth dictate. These growth rates are variable and the urban structure defined has to berobust enough to maintain a logic over time yet remain flexible enough to adapt to changingpressures, technologies and challenges into a dynamic future. In essence, the concept distilsdown to the precepts of the sustainable city:• The horizontal spatial extent of the urban system is kept tight within the existing urbansystem to prevent unbridled, ill-considered and unsustainable horizontal urban sprawl;• The greater part of the province is kept rural for agricultural, recreational, biodiversityand aquifer management purposes;• The intensity of urban development and the densities at which people are accommodatedwithin the urban area are increased significantly through time as populationincreases;• An integrated open space network is embedded in the urban system as one of theprincipal spatial ordering principles, both for reasons of bio-diversity, ecologicalsensitivities and the making of a liveable city for a densely populated area;• Mass public transport is used as a fundamental shaper of the urban logic with theexisting rail systems and now, more recently, Gautrain and the BRT routes, forming thebasis of the movement system;• Urban structuring elements (consolidation zones, urban corridors, urban activity nodes,activity spines) are defined to create a 'skeleton' on which urban development formsover time;• Strong relationships between movement, particularly public transport routes, andurban intensification are formed as a fundamental spatial logic;• The shape and pattern of the urban system's existing and proposed road networkis used to reinforce and shape the urban form;• Within these areas noted for urban intensification, emphasis moves away fromseparation of land uses at defined maxima in terms of intensities or densitiesof development as a basis for development control versus inclusionary zoningand mixed-use development to minimum intensities or densities as a basis for urbanmanagement;• The push for higher intensities and densities notwithstanding, there issensitivity to the qualities of the existing patterns of lower-density districts andsuburbs and the value, lifestyle and heritage these represent. Nevertheless, withinthe constraints placed by environmental character and heritage, there is a generalpush towards increasing the densities within suburbia and broadening the profileand range of housing opportunities within these; and• With an urban logic in place as defined by the open space network, the movementsystems and the urban structuring elements noted above, the pattern ofpopulation agglomeration within the GCR becomes the result of people distributingthemselves according to the opportunities they find and the spatial choices they make.That is, the accommodation of population growth and pressure is never a matterof allocating or assigning population to various parts of the urban area. Rather,population distribution, and the profile of population, is a consequence of the urbanstructure defined and the fundamentals of how the urban system functions.Population distribution is thus more a reflection of naturally occurring urban processes(reflecting the spatial choices people make given individual needs in terms of accessto opportunities, affordabilities, access to transportation, and accommodation) thanthe 'social engineering' of population allocation and others.From the analysis of the municipal SDFs, it is noted that the development intentions of localgovernment are not far off from the proposed concept and the municipal SDFs. The latteronly need some modification to be in line with this concept. The proposed developmentcorridors, nodal development, intensification of development and finding more continuityin the overall open space system need to be explored in more detail at the local municipalitylevel in order to harmonise the development intentions of each individual SDF with thewider provincial intentions.Remarkably, when the extensive system of passenger rail is overlaid on the Gauteng region,together with the Gautrain system, the only sectors of the proposed consolidated urbanarea not structured on rail are the north-western quadrant of Johannesburg and the southeasternquadrant of Tshwane. It is strongly recommended that a further rail route fromJohannesburg out to Lanseria Airport be explored since this has been possibly the mostheavily consolidated quadrant over the past 20 years.SECTION 2: THE GSDF AS A CONCEPTGAUTENG SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK 2011GAUTENG GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY30