Research findings from in-depth household surveys, supplemented by GIS and transport supply data illustrates that key factors defining the settlement-mobility-livelihoods relationship are regional accessibility (relative to large urban centres and secondary towns), local accessibility, and household characteristics. Of particular importance to regional employment access is the spatial envelope of job opportunities that can be reached with the existing public transport network.

For key findings and implication on the implication of recent location, migration, labour market research and analyses conducted by the HSRC as part of the stepSA initiative: Read more >>

For in-migrants in the prevailing economy, not all of South Africa’s large cities appear to be providing employment effectively in their core zones. Findings suggest that for all South Africa’s urban centres averaged together, for the in-migrant poor the economic pull of the periphery aligning the indicators tends to be stronger than the pull of the core. It appears that the city core zones can still often perform well for the working poor and settled middle classes in the townships and backyards, who are already urban economy participants, but this does not seem to hold true for the in-migrant shacks population.

For findings related to zonal structuring in the rural space economy: Read more >>

For findings related to spatial location: Read more >>

For implications on housing demand investment: Read more >>

For more information on research and innovative analyses used to identify and understand the spatial dimension of migration and labour market choices in cities and settlement, see:

Access Envelope Technologies: Read more >>

Methodologies to understand and depict implication of migration and population dynamics on settlement location choices: Read more >>