Unemployment and urban development in Gauteng

One aspect of the unemployment crisis which has not received much attention in South Africa is the spatial distribution of unemployment within cities. Concentrated unemployment within cities may be seen primarily as a product of market and non-market housing allocation processes or of the spatial location of employment opportunities. This article examines the situation in Gauteng province using the 1991 population census and a 1995 survey of employers and using regression analysis to explain the unemployment rate in residential areas. It was found that there is no clear link between the location of employment opportunities and concentrated unemployment, suggesting that housing allocation factors play the decisive role. The findings raise some difficult questions about the appropriateness of urban development strategies which vigorously pursue the collocation of places of residence and work.