Mapping the intensity of ward-level barriers to youth’s participation in local development planning in Gauteng province, South Africa

Abstract. Acknowledging that barriers to youth’s lack of participation in local development planning – using the case of ward committee (WC) meetings – in Gauteng province varies over space, the paper investigates the intensity of these barriers across the province. The paper employs a geographically weighted regression (GWR) approach that allowed for localized spatial modelling. The GWR results showed that the percentage of employed youth, average household income, percentage of youth who have never interacted with the government, percentage of youth dissatisfied with the local government, and youth’s average education level were barriers to participation in WC meetings. Mapping of these barriers showed their intensity, where these covariates are singly or cumulatively barriers to participation in WC meetings. Overall, the results illustrate the need for the formulation of appropriate spatially targeted policies for necessary implementations.