Chapter 14: The Use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Understanding Building Material Price Dispersion in South Africa
South Africa is a vast country, and there are significant variations in building material prices across the country. This chapter will use Geographic Information System (GIS) technology in explaining the role of distance in the differentiation in building material prices in South Africa. The research employs a quantitative research approach based on a cross-sectional survey research design and GIS technology in analyzing the data collected from each location. It emerged from the study that when distributed by provinces, the relationship between price and distance varies between inverse and direct. For example, while the price of clay bricks increases with distance in the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa, it decreases in the distance from the manufacturers in Western Cape province. The same ambivalent relationships are observed between timber, steel, bitumen, cement prices and distance. Based on these findings, the study concludes that the distance of a building material manufacturer from the retailer is not a predictor of price in the Western Cape province of South Africa, while the most uniform relationship is found in KwaZulu-Natal province. Further studies are therefore required to explain the other extraneous factors responsible for the irreconcilable retail prices of building materials in the Western Cape province when compared to other locations in South Africa.