More than half of the black middle class still live in townships, the majority of them by choice, the Future Fact research project said on Thursday.

"More and more, facilities are available and people don't have to leave the townships to do their shopping and get their entertainment," future fact researcher Lauren Shapiro told a conference in Johannesburg.

In a survey conducted in the second half of 2007, 69 percent of black respondents said they lived in townships by choice.

Fifty two percent of the black middle class live in townships and 32 percent live in formerly white suburbs.

Among the black upper middle class, 37 percent still stayed in townships.

"Townships are becoming suburbs with all the same conveniences," said Shapiro.

"In the next decade there will no longer be a clear distinction between suburbs and townships."

Sapa