Settlement Patterns

Urbanisation, land use and spatial planning

Urbanisation and Land Use

Urbanisation is cities growing as people move from rural areas. Cities have different zones: CBD, industrial, residential and open spaces. In SA, apartheid created racially separated townships far from city centres.

Example

SA Settlement Patterns

Apartheid planning: White suburbs near CBD, Black townships far away • Townships: Soweto, Khayelitsha, Mamelodi (far from jobs) • Post-1994: informal settlements grew • RDP houses built to address housing backlog

Note

Remember

Apartheid's spatial planning forced non-white people far from economic centres. This legacy continues — many people still travel long distances to work. Integrated planning is needed to fix apartheid's spatial injustice.

Key Vocabulary

UrbanisationGrowth of cities as people move from rural areas

CBDCentral Business District — commercial heart of a city

TownshipA residential area historically for non-white people

Land useHow land in an area is used

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Urbanisation

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