Constitution Hill; IC Perception Survey Citichat May 11th 2001

CITICHAT 18/2001 - May 11th 2001


Constitution Hill, Inner City Perception Survey

Local readers of Citichat will no doubt be aware of the ground swell of positive publicity the inner city has been receiving particularly over the past few weeks. Some excellent media coverage on the announcements regarding the Mary Fitzgerald Square Design award as part of the upgrading programme for Newtown (including the MetroMarket project) a fortnight ago was followed by positive reporting this week on the announcements regarding the Constitution Hill project. This took place on Wednesday at the handover of the South African Heritage Resource Agency’s report on the history of Constitution Hill to the Constitutional Court and the presentation of plans for the future of the site.

The Constitution Hill Development is one of the major and pivotal developments in the Johannesburg Inner City regeneration process and comprises the following elements:

• The new Constitutional Court

• Provision for office space and shared facilities for a number of bodies provided for in the Constitution

• The development of the site’s important and significant heritage components which include the Old Fort, the “Native” Prison (Sections 4 and 5), and the Women’s Gaol

• High quality public spaces including new gardens and public art

• Newly upgraded and calmed surrounding roads

• New Commercial Development including major shared car parks.

• Upgraded community and physical recreation facilities

This is captured in a detailed Urban Design Framework for Constitution Hill the development of which was made possible by the Department of Arts Culture Science and Technology and the Department of Public Works.

Funding of the development has been secured from National, Provincial and Local Government. The major financier being Blue IQ, the investment arm of Provincial Government. The Department of Public Works and their professional teams have worked on this project over a number of years but the newly established Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) is now managing the development. Construction of the Constitutional Court will commence in July this year.

In his comments at the session on Wednesday, Graeme Reid, CEO of the JDA, said the following; "The Hill, its Fort and its Gaol contain the twentieth century in South Africa. It tells the stories of our colonial and apartheid past, stories of the abuse of the power of the state, stories of personal and political triumph.

When completed the new Constitution Hill will be:

• an internationally important symbol of the new South Africa

• the home of the Law of the Constitution

• the home of the guarantor of Human Rights for every South African citizen, and

• an extraordinary place to visit, to experience and reflect on our history and our future.

The development creates important opportunities for Johannesburg. It is designed as a place that will empower people to access the city and its facilities and its opportunities. It is designed to have important economic and social regenerative impact on surrounding areas, especially in Hillbrow and Braamfontein. And it creates substantial economic opportunities, in the short-term in the construction of the site and in the longer term in tourism and heritage activities. Once completed it will be a cornerstone from which to realise our aspiration of the African world class city."

Another positive milestone reached!

Positive sentiment too, was the outcome of a Perception Survey carried out in the latter months of 2000 and the early months of 2001 by Business Against Crime (BAC) as part of their CCTV project for the Inner City.

Yes, the major issues of concern remain crime together with real concern being expressed in regard to the lack of enforcement of by-laws and consequential lack of control of hawkers, lack of cleanliness, outdated infrastructure, unacceptable anti-social activities and lack of parking in certain areas. We had hoped that the new Metro Police Service would come in positively and in force with a focus on this enforcement issue. Generally there is a feeling of disappointment and I personally have had a number of experiences that give rise to a feeling that the entrenched attitudes of the past few years have not changed.

But against these concerns:

• 87% of respondents believe that we can become a world class city

• Political will was viewed as strong because of local and provincial government support for many of the projects/processes which are underway or are planned

• 53% of respondents said that they would consider relocating to or investing in the inner City (with only 13% saying 'no')

• The BIDs/CIDs received very positive comment - "an extremely positive catalyst in reviving the area" - 73% or respondents perceive crime as lower in these areas, 63% that the areas are noticeably cleaner than non BID/CID areas.

• 84% believed that doing nothing to revive the Inner City would be a huge loss financially and unacceptable for South Afric'a reputation overall

• Nice comment "the CBD is a place conducive to business activity not so much in the traditional sense any more as the city has become more reflective of the African demography"

• Access good, traffic not unacceptably congested as previously

• 92% gave the following advantages to the Centre City; central location; no area better developed and access.

Finally, I was also interested to see from the Survey that 60% of respondents said the number and types of restaurants in the city were inadequate. In fact I often have people passing the comment that "there is nowhere in the city to eat lunch." It makes me wonder if they ever in fact look for places, or are not prepared to find, or are still fixated on what once was! Sure, the city is not exactly a food court but it has some interesting (and good) eateries if only you are prepared to look. So I am going to include a short report each week on an eating establishment I've tried. A while ago I did mention the Hotel School which is a great eating place but if you like Portuguese, try the Cuana in Polly Street between Pritchard and Kerk. I was at a lunch there this week. Don't like the area? It is fine, in fact it is in the proposed Fashion District - the reason for the lunch - which is now reaching an advanced stage of planning. Quite a bit of on street parking available which I found safe. Seems to be a favourite with Mozambique 'locals' and those from other African Portuguese-speaking countries. Small establishment with quite a comprehensive menu in Portuguese and English and its food basic, but good. I dipped a piece of calamari into their peri-peri and my tongue still has the burn marks to prove it!

Have a great weekend!