Mega-city of Gauteng, South Africa
A mega-city / mega-metropolitan area is a metropolitan area containing over 10 million people.

Gauteng is not yet included in the U.N.'s list of mega-cities; nor is it mentioned as one of the mega-cities in any of the popular demographic websites.

However, there is reason to believe Gauteng has now become a mega-city in its own right. Formerly known as PWV (Pretoria - Witwatersrand - Vereeniging), it covers only 1.4% of the land area of South Africa, but contributes over a third of the whole country's GDP. The Gauteng Mega-City contributes approximately 12% of the GDP of the entire continent of Africa.

The present population of the Gauteng Mega-City (including Sasolburg urban area) is 11.4 million in an area of 18,300 sq km.

Actually, this Mega-City is quite densely populated. The Cradle of Humankind UNESCO World Heritage site, the huge nature reserves of Suikerbosrand, Kromdraai, Wonderboom and Rietvlei, and the Tswaing crater comprise a large portion of this area.

Data sources are satellite and map info, and following links-
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12284151

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauteng
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannesburg

and 2010 Statistics South Africa publications such as-

http://www.statssa.gov.za/publicatio.../P03022010.pdf (http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022010.pdf)


The following urban components (population provided as per 2007 Census) comprise this Mega-City:

(1) City of Johannesburg (economic engine):
3,888,180 (4 million people estimated as of 2010); 1645 sq km (area)

(2) Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (formerly known as East Rand):
2,724,227 (3 million people estimated as of 2010); 1925 sq km (area)

(3) City of Tshwane (including Pretoria- the administrative and national capital): 2,345,908 (2.5 million people as per 2010 statistics); 6368 sq km (area)

(4) West Rand (the hub of gold mining industry, this urban area extends from Randfontein in the west to Roodeport in the east, including Krugersdorp, Carleton and Westonaria): 1 million people as per 2010 statistics

(5) Vaal Triangle (industrialized urban area, comprising Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark, Sasolburg - Vaal Park - Zamdela (located in Free State and not in Gauteng), Meyerton, Sharpeville, Boipatong, Bophelong, the greater Sebokeng area (including Evaton, Orange Farm, etc), Heidelberg and Potchefstroom): 0.9 million people as per 2010 statistics from 2007 Census


All five urban components are completely contiguous and are merged in several ways, such as road numbering system, phone codes, common public transit system, sharing the same international airport etc.
Gautrain, a public rail transit system interconnecting Johannesburg, Pretoria and surrounding urban areas, opened in August 2011, and has recorded over a million riders in its first 100 days.

Do you agree / disagree, and why; please provide your comments and info.

I saw this in the Urban Issues Forum


Once the Waterfall City project is completely finished (located between Sandton and Midrand) then Johannesburg and Pretoria will be connected.

It lacks a strong CBD, which is Joburg's. The majority of its population is the uneducated poor. The infrastructure & services in relation to population size are inadequate. So, the population number in itself is not enough to classify it as a mega city. Unless the real issues of poverty and housing are overcome I wouldnt be proud to call it a mega city, more like a mega slum in the likes of Sao Paulo, Mumbai, Bangkok.
Strides are made though, so one day Joburg could be counted among the top Alpha cities.

It lacks a strong CBD, which is Joburg's. The majority of its population is the uneducated poor. The infrastructure & services in relation to population size are inadequate. So, the population number in itself is not enough to classify it as a mega city. Unless the real issues of poverty and housing are overcome I wouldnt be proud to call it a mega city, more like a mega slum in the likes of Sao Paulo, Mumbai, Bangkok.
Strides are made though, so one day Joburg could be counted among the top Alpha cities.

I wouldn't say it's that bad but I get your point, especially about the strong CBD.

If Sandton grows substantially then it could have the potential to be the CBD of the Gauteng Mega-City.

i would say not yet not until ...mid-rand still has a long way to go in terms of expansion , but the gautrain is a major boast .....sandton will also start facing competion from the likes of centurion , joburg cbd and midrand thanks to the gautrian

plus theres a lot of emtpy spaces between joburg and the likes of the vaal ...... gauteng won't be a mega city ....bt. pretoria joburg will eventually become 1

I saw this in the Urban Issues Forum


Once the Waterfall City project is completely finished (located between Sandton and Midrand) then Johannesburg and Pretoria will be connected.

Yes, you're correct I had posted this in the Urban Issues forum; however, I didn't receive any feedback or criticism and the readers there accepted it without comment.

This thread, on the other hand, has already met with knowledgeable response and critique. The topic has reached home in actuality.
:cheers:

Don't you agree Midrand and Sandton are already contiguous along Woodmead Road, Malindi Road and MacGregor Road?

It lacks a strong CBD, which is Joburg's. The majority of its population is the uneducated poor. The infrastructure & services in relation to population size are inadequate. So, the population number in itself is not enough to classify it as a mega city. Unless the real issues of poverty and housing are overcome I wouldnt be proud to call it a mega city, more like a mega slum in the likes of Sao Paulo, Mumbai, Bangkok.
Strides are made though, so one day Joburg could be counted among the top Alpha cities.

Interesting to read your opinions on this matter. :colbert:

However, wealth has nothing to do with being a mega-metropolis / mega-city. A metropolitan area containing over 10 million people is necessary and sufficient. A mega-city plays a dominant role in the country, surrounding regions, and often globally. However, that is usually a result of its population size, not necessarily the cause of.

Sao Paulo and Mumbai are undoubtedly amongst the world's largest metropolitan areas, and both wield overwhelmingly dominant influence in their own countries and surrounding regions.

Gauteng is no different; over 10% of the GDP of the entire continent of Africa is contributed by Gauteng- that is very significant by any measure, in any case.

plus theres a lot of emtpy spaces between joburg and the likes of the vaal ...... gauteng won't be a mega city ....bt. pretoria joburg will eventually become 1

Let's take some examples of officially, statistically and popularly known mega-metropolitan areas / mega-cities.

In Europe, Rhein Ruhr, Germany, has over six times the amount of open spaces and countryside between its "contiguous" towns. Please compare the satellite maps of Rhein Ruhr and Jo'burg - Pretoria, and let me know if you still feel differently.
Also, Rhein Ruhr is completely polycentric, unlike the Gauteng mega-city centred on only Jo'burg, Pretoria and Vereeniging.

Another example- the London commuter belt: except the urban core of only 7 million people, the London metropolitan area contains more countryside and green belt than urbanity. The remaining 7 million people in this mega-city live in dozens of small towns, each separated from the other by many miles of countryside but considerable and unrestricted inter-commuting.

Almost every MSA in the USA is more sparsely populated than the Gauteng mega-city.

I can cite similar prominent examples in South America and Asia as well.

Gautrain further strengthens the public transit aspect of Jo'burg - Pretoria's connection. What remains is mass transit connecting Jo'burg to the Vaal Triangle- or do we have that already as well?!!

Also, Rhein Ruhr is completely polycentric, unlike the Gauteng mega-city centred on only Jo'burg, Pretoria and Vereeniging.


That's the ideal set up, in order for development to spread. The Gauteng conurbation actually does consist of many smaller centres beside the main JNB & PTA cbds.

Some interesting thoughts on mega cities...though not specifically related to SA...looking at Gauteng as a region and competing on a global scale might be the correct way to approach things...there's a small video in the link as well...

Advice to Aspirational Mega-Cities

By 2030, two out of every three people worldwide will live in cities. If cities are surpassing corporations as the principal economic organizing units of our time, mega-cities — clusters of great cities, which in many cases cross national boundaries — are on track to replace nation-states as the world's most important global political units.

At the Aspen Ideas Festival last Friday, I asked former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley if he thought mega-cities were here to stay. He reminded me that political power resided in city-states for centuries, and that cities were built on water to facilitate trade. Now that we have air travel, interior cities are becoming much more important.

Looking ahead, he said, mega-areas will only become more important. In the future, he concluded, "it’s not going to be Chicago, it’s not going to be L.A., it’s not going to be Toronto. It’s going to be regions."

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/07/advice-aspirational-mega-cities/2467/

As Gauteng urbanizes into one mega-urban region, Gautrain will become the primary public transit connector feeding Tshwane, Jo'burg and surrounding cities. Although there aren't yet enough passengers on the Gautrain (http://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2012/08/08/da-urges-investigation-of-low-gautrain-passenger-figures), these numbers will increase only if the intermediary region witnesses increased industrial growth and urbanization.

A recent map of this connection, from Wikipedia:-

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Gautrain_map_on_OSM_base.svg
source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Gautrain_map_on_OSM_base.svg

An interesting 2012 article on how Johannesburg-Gauteng is uniquely positioned as a city-region that straddles the developed and developing world, and serves as a creative, cultural and commercial gateway to the rest of the continent:-

http://www.worldcitiesculturereport.com/cities/johannesburg-gauteng

Interesting...

Funny since the North-South peak time trains are all over capacity.