Smart Growth Citichat 7 September 2001

Citichat 35/2001 - 7TH SEPTEMBER 2001
More Smart Growth

I mentioned the press report of Cape Town's proposed "Smart Growth" policy that caught my eye some time ago (Citichat 27 of 13th July). I subsequently listened to a detailed presentation on the proposal by Michael Farr, CEO of the Cape Town Partnership. Their proposal cleverly brings together a variety of initiatives, identification and declaration of re-development areas, tax increment financing (TIFs), urban growth boundaries, etc.

Inevitable that the proposal would generate opposition as there are two diametrically opposed views when it comes to any discussion on 'smart growth'. On the one hand, those that are seeking better planned, more compact city and town development (that will result in savings of millions of rands spent on public infrastructure whilst protecting established urban centres - which in turn promote a better quality of life and enhance economic competitiveness.) On the other, those, mainly major property developers and their lackeys (in this country mainly pale males), who obfuscate about so-called 'free market principles.'

Some of the arguments being trotted out by one well-known property economist are quite puzzling. "For instance to force the citizens of Bellville or Boksburg to sit for nearly two hours per working day in a car to and from work smacks of authoritarianism. Neither does it make economic sense to enforce lower productivity and lower quality of life in this way." But what about the citizens of Soweto and Mitchell's Plain? Have you ever tried to get into and out of Sandton at peak times? Whose quality of life are we concerned about?

"Ask Gauteng Province what happened when it arbitarily moved the provincial capital from Pretoria to Johannesburg. All of a sudden the Ben Schoeman highway was running at full capacity necessitating the construction of another freeway." Before the move, which was the subject of many months deliberation and planning, the majority of Provincial Government employees were decidely pale and domiciled in and around Pretoria. Today that level of government reflects the demographics of the country and most employees come from the south of Johannesburg. Any Gautie knows that the traffic congestion on the highway is actually the direct result of uncontrolled sprawl along almost its entire length, the very thing that smart growth seeks to avoid!

Anyone who claims that Century City, the outcome of free market principles in planning, is good for the Cape Town CBD, let alone for itself, is living in cloud cuckoo land. Anyone who says 'so what?' doesn't understand the first thing about the critical importance of a city in the role of the region. Margaret Thatcher's 'free market' approach to development almost killed the traditional British High Street and South Africa's historic laissez faire planning approach is doing just that for many of its towns and cities. Johannesburg, Durban, Roodepoort, Nelspruit, Paarl, the list grows and the results are certainly not in the best interests of their citizens. 'Free market principles' in property development is more accurately translated as 'greed'! Or maybe more politely, "Dumb Growth!"

The Maryland statutes which cut state subsidies for new sprawl development has largely led the way in the US and some 30 states now testify to Main Street revitalisation and preservation of open space through 'smart growth' policies.. The Governor of Maryland Parris Glendening who visited here last year made this comment recently; "If growth patterns don't change, development will consume in the next 25 years as much land as was developed in the first 368-year history of Maryland. We just can't continue that way." Neither can we!

So what does "Smart Growth" actually mean? Here is an extract from the Executive summary of 'Why Smart Growth?: A primer': "In communities across the nation there is a growing concern that current development patterns - dominated by what some call "sprawl" - are no longer in the long-term interests of our cities, existing suburbs, small towns, rural communities or wilderness areas. Though supportive of growth, communities are questioning the economic costs of abandoning infrastructure in the city, only to rebuild it further out. They are questioning the social costs of the mismatch between new employment locations in the suburbs and the available work force in the city. They are questioning the wisdom of abandoning "brownfields" in older communities, eating up the open space and prime agricultural land at the suburban fringe and polluting the air of an entire region by driving farther to get places. Spurring the smart growth movement are demographic shifts, a strong environmental ethic, increased fiscal concerns, and more nuanced views of growth. The result is both a new demand and a new opportunity for smart growth. Smart growth recognises connections between development and quality of life."

Here is a quote from some testimony before a US Select Committee on Jobs and Housing: "Smart Growth means promoting land development patterns that reduce land consumption and vehicle trips while at the same time challenging automobile-dominated projects and automobile-dependent development patterns. Smart Growth encourages compact development in the urban core while saving the greenbelt from development. Smart Growth provides safe and reliable public transportation for those who cannot, or choose not to, drive, and targets mixed use development along those public transportation corridors. Smart Growth recognises prime farmland as an irreplaceable resource and directs development away from those valuable lands."

A nationwide poll conducted recently in the US shows that a remarkable 78% of Americans support policies to curb sprawl. Over 80% think government should give priority to maintaining services and infrastructure in established communities before subsidising new sprawl.

An article on Brownfields redevelopment states "Smart growth focuses on reducing public costs and increasing private returns, saving natural resources, creating better access to goods and services, and preserving a sense of place."

That's what Cape Town and Johannesburg are striving to achieve!