Mass rapid rail development in South Africa's metropolitan core: Towards a new urban form?

Abstract

Since the mid 1990s the Johannesburg–Pretoria corridor, and to a lesser extent the corridor to the Johannesburg International Airport, has been the fastest growing development area in South Africa. The Gauteng Provincial Government plans to create an intensive zone of development along a rapid rail line where at the nodes (where the stations are to be developed) intensification in a mixed land use mode is to take place. The aim is to attract potential train passengers to live within walking distance of these nodes (stations) or to make use of the feeder system. This paper will argue that by overlooking the legacy of urban apartheid and the reorganization of urban spaces in a democratic society, the current planning for a rapid rail transport corridor is contradictory. The proposed new urban form—corridor city—will perpetuate spatial segregation (and essentially exclusion) rather than promote integration, the aim of numerous post-apartheid policies. The proposed alignment in Pretoria illustrates the main arguments.