Gauteng’s 25-year integrated trans- port master plan (ITMP25) should be completed by the end of October, with the period for public feedback on the document now closed, says ITMP25 project leader Jack van der Merwe.

He notes that the completed ITMP25 will now be presented for approval to all the metropolitan councils in Gauteng, as well as the provincial government.

“We hope to have it approved by the end of 2013, with implementation to follow,” says Van der Merwe.

The ITMP25 has been developed on the back of the realisation that current traffic congestion, fragmented transport planning and land use patterns in Gauteng do not support the long-term economic growth and development of the province.

“The ITMP25 vision wants to deliver a world-class, sustainable transport system,” says Van der Merwe.

However, he adds that the plan has to be managed as a social project, rather than a transport project, as it seeks to reshape Gauteng in more aspects than the construction of mere road and rail systems.

Gauteng makes up only 1.42% of South Africa’s land area, but is home to 12.27-million people, or 23.7% of the country’s population. This equates to 675 people per square kilometre – a number which is expected to rise sharply over the next few years, as 20 000 people flock to the province each month as urbanisation intensifies.

In turn, however, the province generates 33.7% of South Africa’s gross domestic product.

Van der Merwe says the Gauteng government is “trying to develop” the small province as a global city region, similar to Singapore, especially as its three main cities continued to merge as the population expanded.

He adds that the ITMP25 project has to consider several key issues, such as a change in approach to the provision of low-cost housing, as more units are needed per hectare in order to ensure land densification in the fast-growing province.

This will require, for example, multiple-storey buildings, such as three-storey to five-storey walk-ups, rather than single-storey dwellings.

Van der Merwe says the plan also addresses, among other issues, the strict enforcement of the urban periphery; enabling road-based public transport delivery; improving the efficiency of the rail system; mainstreaming nonmotorised transport; and finding solutions to the increasing freight tonnage reaching Gauteng each year.