The report says cities will play a crucial role in government’s drive to accelerate economic growth. It aims to update government leaders as well as social and economic partners on trends in cities, with emphasis on the 21 major urbanising areas.

The report also makes several suggestions about the future planning of cities. It calls for better co-ordinated planning between the different spheres of government to eliminate “wasteful competition” between cities.

Cities will also need to target informal settlements because these are where most new urban residents are accommodated on their arrival, the report finds.

The report, released yesterday, says that the 21 key urban areas, which occupy only 2% of the land area, are the primary contributors to the national economy. However, about 5,8-million people in these areas live below the minimum living level.

It warns that although city population growth has slowed down, mainly due to HIV/AIDS-related deaths and reduced fertility rates, housing and infrastructure backlogs are worsening due to an increase in the number of households. The average household size was estimated at 3,31 people last year, down from 3,96 in 1996.

“Even with the relatively slow city population growth, the rapid decline in city household size will result in serious implications for municipal service delivery demands and for the sustainability of our cities,” said Cities Network CE Sithole Mabanga.

The report says although emphasis has been placed on service delivery at a municipal level, the percentage of households without access to adequate services remains high. There was a small drop in levels of inequality in cities between 2001 and 2005.

“We see a distinctly increasing gap between the wealthy and the poor to the point where the poor are squarely located in urban areas. This calls for interventions at a city level — a collective approach from our cities to finding collective, yet customised, solutions,” Mabanga said.

Growth in most cities has been driven by the commercial and finance sectors, and in several cases also by construction and transport. The consumer and property booms were especially noticed in cities, the report says.