Car ownership in growing Lagos and Johannesburg, Africa: Urban planning and user views

Abstract

In many cities, the rise in car ownership has been recorded as it has brought about impediments to urban planning. Dissatisfaction with the available public transport options has resulted in a motive to personally resolve transport challenges. The comparative study of determinants of car ownership, rapid population increases and their impacts on the planning of two African cities is the subject of this research and surveys were used to collect data for the analysis. The perception of car owners was considered in this study as it was the impetus for car ownership amongst other determining factors. A correlation analysis revealed a strong positive association between the growth in car ownership and income. In comparison, for every increase in income in Johannesburg, there is likely to be a 0.6207 rise in the number of car ownership, and for every increase in income in Lagos, there is likely to be a 0.5456 increase in the number of cars purchased. The study also revealed that while Lagos respondents purchased private cars because they wanted a comfortable, faster, and convenient transport, Johannesburg respondents purchased cars because they wanted a convenient, safer, and comfortable means of transport. The study concluded that the perception of car owners is similar in both cities but are not in the same hierarchy.