Investigating social, demographic and economic dynamics in the Maputo Development Corridor

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Years after being launched, the Maputo Development Corridor (MDC) is still facing a number of socio-economic challenges. The problems include: failure to create adequate employment opportunities; development processes that are biased towards urban areas; a top down functional approach which excludes ordinary citizens from decision making processes; and a focus on GDP growth rather than being people orientated. Apart from these problems, the MDC also suffers from a lack of clarity on key conceptual issues such as the extent of its area of utilisation and empirical assessment of the level of economic influence exerted by its nodes. The aim of this study was to empirically establish the area of influence of the MDC and to ascertain the statistical significance of the impact of the corridor over distance away from the N4 spine. In order to achieve this aim, census data for the urban settlements that lie within the 100 km buffer zone (50 km on either side of the N4 spine) was extracted. The variables that were used include access to services (water, electricity, sewerage), level of education and income levels. The process of ascertaining the economic influence of the nodes required GVA data hence data from CSIR was used. ArcGIS, standards statistical analyses and multivariate regression analysis were subsequently used to calculate the relative 'strength of subsets of the corridor and to determine the degree to which centres at different distances from the N4 spine were impacted by the corridor spine.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University