Backyard structures in Gauteng

The September map of the month shows the spatial location and density of backyard structures, using the GeoTerraImage 2010 (release 2012) land use per building dataset. Backyard structures (land use class 7.2.3) are defined by GeoTerraImage as “All backyard structures associated with formal housing that may be used for housing purposes (formal or informal)”. The individual backyard structures, reflected as points within the GIS data, were aggregated using a randomly generated hexagonal grid across Gauteng. City of Johannesburg (270 315) had the highest count of backyard structures followed by Ekurhuleni (241 841) and City of Tshwane (124 780). The highest concentrations of backyard structures were found in Diepsloot, Katlehong, Soweto and Mamelodi. These values show that high numbers of backyard structures are found in the metro regions, indicating they are the preferred location for low income people to stay. The latest Census data reveals a total of 305 682 households living in informal backyard structures in Gauteng and 219 104 households in formal backyard structures, a growth of 58.7% and 10.9% respectively, from 2001 to 2011. In contrast, households in informal settlements decreased by 8.8% from 475 840 to 434 078. Households living in informal backyard structures represent 7.8% of all households in Gauteng (according to Census 2011 results).