The identification of possible future provincial boundaries for South Africa based on an intramax analysis of journey-to-work data

Abstract

National census data contain information on place of residence and place of work. It is possible to combine this information and create journey-to-work flows. The process of establishing these flows are presented in this paper. The intramax method is explained and used to identify functional regions based upon these flows. Interesting applications, such as the demarcation of regions in South Africa are considered and solutions to disputed areas are put forward. The process of the creation of the current provincial boundaries are discussed. New boundaries, based on the intramax analysis of the journey-to-work data are proposed for four or five new provinces. Results compare favourably with those from a principal component and cluster analysis, which has previously been used to demarcate the South African space economy into a hierarchy of development regions.

Keywords: Journey-to-work flows, provincial boundaries, intramax method, principal component analysis, functional regions, demarcation of regions.

ORiON Vol. 24 (2) 2008: pp. 131-156