Abstract
South African townships are areas that are traditionally marginalized from places of economic and social opportunity and affluence. Built originally as places of cheap labour in the apartheid era, there is no denying that townships today carry a deep sense of culture, both historical and modern. With townships such as Soweto (previous black township), this cultural history has developed in the modern world to create a unique identity of vibrancy, zill, and creativity. Despite its incredible resilience over the years, there is no doubt, however, that townships are today plagued with poverty, joblessness, and unemployment. Using the Creative City theory as a strategic urban planning tool this paper looks at how a Decision Support Systems can be developed to improve urban development policy that will create a wealth of economic and urban experiences in distressed areas such as townships and informal settlements. Using GIS and the Rough Set Theory method, map illustrations are used to identify secondary and tertiary nodes along strategic areas that can transform and regenerate townships and informal settlements from an urban design as well as a spatial perspective. These strategic nodes are then able to attract economic activity by rebuilding marginalized urban areas through rich culture and vibrancy.
