The Gauteng City-Region (GCR) incorporates the three major metropolitan municipalities of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni and is the most important polycentric urban area in southern and South Africa. This article explores the interplay between the politics and planning of urban space in the post-apartheid context in which the GCR is located. This article applies theories of postcolonial and post-apartheid urbanism to analyse the dialectics of politics and planning in city-regions and in relation to their component cities, to help answer the key question: How is politics shaping planning in the GCR in the democratic period, and with what future impact?
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