MAPPING POST APARTHEID SETTLEMENT GROWTH PATTERNS USING REMOTE SENSING AND GIS: A CASE OF SELECTED SOUTH AFRICAN CITIES

D.L. Dechlan1, M.D. Sebake2

1 - Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Meraka Institute (African Advanced Institute for Information and Communication Technology)

2 - Council for Geoscience

dlpillay@csir.co.za

 

The spatial contexts in which South African towns have been planned have its roots in the principles of Apartheid as a system of maintaining separation between the various racial groups. As a result cities in South Africa have taken on distinctive spatial pattern that have resulted in socio spatial inequality and a generally dysfunctional urban form. In this light, the previously disadvantaged and socio economically marginalised inhabit the peripheral regions of cities while the groups in higher social levels enjoy the prime areas and benefit from products of these areas. Landsat ETM satellite data was used to assess post Apartheid settlement growth in pre-selected cities. High resolution aerial photographs were used to create base classes of land use for the nine cities for 2002/3. These were then assessed and remapped using past Landsat images for the ten year period. A unique raster based manual classification procedure was used. This ensured that the classes remained the same for the ten year intervals and that the growth of each class was easily recognised. The areas were mapped using the GIS utilities present in ERDAS Imagine 8.7.  The mapped classes were then transformed into GIS format and analysed using the appropriate GIS tools. The analysis of the spatial change within each city was complemented with theoretical data such as census information and integrated development plans from each municipality. The results showed divergent development between socio-economic strata with new development taking place largely in the peripheral areas of South African settlements. These trends maybe attributed to, amongst others, efforts by local governments in formalising previously disadvantaged settlement areas alongside contemporary processes of urban sprawl characterising new development around decentralised nodes.