CITICHAT 47/2001 - 30 November 2001
Year-End Update
This is the last Citichat for 2001 as I'm off on leave today, a week in the bush to unwind and then a couple of weeks at home, unwound!
But what a year for the city it has been, the best in ten years - so exciting to see plans (yes, and some hopes and dreams) turning into reality. The beginnings of real investment, an increase in lettings, stirrings in positive perceptions and a year of real on the ground change.
Using my project update of 12 April 2001 (Citichat 14/2001) with appropriate additions, let's have a look at what has now been completed ('done that, so shake off the dust and buy the tee-shirt'), what is in progress ('raising dust'), the next in line ('watch for dust'), those that have shown little movement ('the dust has settled') and those that are a big disappointment ('dust to dust').
CATEGORY 1 - COMPLETED:
"Done that, so shake off the dust and buy the tee-shirt!"
Park City Taxi Rank
De Villiers Street Upgrade
Jewel City (which is still expaaaaaanding)
AAC's Main Street Pedestrianised Precinct
Gandhi Square
Fox Street Pedestrianisation - phase one, west of the Carlton
Hollard Street - public space upgrade
Landdrost Hotel - conversion to residential (JHC)
Carr Gardens - new residential (JHC)
Bertrams - new residential (Cope)
Newtown Housing Co-operative (Cope)
Troyeville Housing Co-operative (Cope)
Tswelopele Housing Co-operative (Cope)
Yeoville Informal trading Market
Carlton Centre Offices
ABSA Campus
The Business Centre (58 Marshall)
90 Market Street (new home of the CJP and JDA)
Cida City Campus (55 Fox) - now looking for residential accommodation for 1000 students
Wolmarans Street Synagogue (from ‘food for the soul’ to ‘soulfood’)
Major investment by JD Group in their new Head Office in Braamfontein
Metamorphoses of the Civic Theatre to the city’s Entertainment Centre (and watch this space for much, much more!)
Westgate Inter-Modal Facility.
Old Mutual Properties – 60 lettings this year! From a low of 300 sq metres a month in 1999/2000, this past year has seen a sharp rise to 1 500 square metres minimum sometimes rising to 2 500 square metres. The 5 year African Bank letting of 273 sq m was at R110.00/sq m.
CATEGORY 2 – IN PROGRESS:
“Raising Dust!”
MetroMarket
In my April report, work had just started on site. Now the western edge of the CBD contiguous with Newtown is a hive of construction activity as the massive R300 million MetroMarket project takes shape. This is a multi-functional development which is structured around a multi-nodal transport facility. About 600 residential units will cater for a broad range of income groups from subsidised to upper middle-income. Taxi and bus centre and informal trading facilities make it a necessary and welcome addition to the city.
Faraday Precinct (previously called South-East Sector Development)
My April report was that a proposal-call for the development was going to be advertised and this did in fact take place resulting in the appointment of a consortium of design, transport, social/community, project management and financial specialists. Their recommendations were approved at the November Inner City Committee meeting and the project moves next year into its implementation stage. It is a complex project which centres around Faraday Station's conversion into a multi-nodal transportation node but includes for facilities for commuters, taxi operators and drivers; a market for traditional medicines and consulting and treatment rooms for traditional healers, an informal trading market; a neighbourhood centre; retail; a motor industry service and retail centre and residential accommodation.
Nelson Mandela Bridge and on-off ramps to M1 elevated motorway.
The contract was awarded some months ago and if you drive south down Jan Smuts/Bertha, where the road dog-legs over the Queen Elizabeth Bridge you will see workmen busy removing the Queen Elizabeth commemorative obelisk (wonder where that will end up!) and generally preparing the site for construction.
Drop down to Newtown and drive east down Carr Street and you will see the columns for the on-off ramps to the M1 motorway now well out of the ground .
Joubert Park
What has been really buzzing in Joubert Park has been the Public Art Project Walkabouts which showcases artwork that deals with issues in the Park. A number of artists have led the Walkabouts over weekends and tours of the project exhibition take place every Saturday at 12 noon. Safe parking in the Art Gallery. Exciting photographic project to be launched shortly.
Constitution Hill
Demolitions of the old Awaiting Trial block have been completed, apart from those sections which will be incorporated in the new building. The tender for the first phase of construction has been awarded (approximately R80 million - Rainbow/WBHO Joint Venture - the first sod has been turned and construction activity will move into full swing in the New Year.
Newtown and Mary Fitzgerald Square
Talk about construction activity and then visit Mary Fitzgerald Square to view hyper activity! The Square must be ready for the State President opening on 17 December and the virtually continuous rain of the past month hasn't helped. But the area is already starting to exude the feel of a great public space. The design of the first of the commemorative Landmark 'towers' has not yet been accepted but the massive 55 square metre LED screen will be installed albeit temporarily by the 17th December. Ultimately it will be attached to the Landmark Tower. LED screen? Light Emitting Diode for the uninitiated similar to those you see at sports stadiums but much bigger. On the 17th the screen will be used to highlight proceedings, later for advertising and numerous other uses are planned. Lighting by internationally acclaimed French lighting expert, Patrick Rimoux, will be unique and will also carry through to the double-decker portion of the M1 Motorway and the Nelson Mandela Bridge as well as permanently recording three important ‘night skies’ of our history.
The Bus Factory Craft Centre in Newtown is also progressing well but some of the other proposed projects look as though they should be in another category as little progress is evident.
The Fashion District
The past year has been one of research and planning and, although there is some more research to be done before the Business Plan for the area can be finalised, the first private sector initiative, Rees Mann’s SEWAFRICA, has been opened and is well underway. Next year will see a major increase in activity as this initiative comes on stream.
Johannesburg CCTV Project
BAC’s John Penberthy and team have done a great job in expanding the original pilot programme over an ever-increasing geographic area as they move towards their target of 350 cameras over the entire city core by the latter part of next year. They have recorded some spectacular successes and are a major contributor to the reduction of inner city crime.
Quartz Street Linear Market
This linear market in Hillbrow should be opened in the next week or two.
‘Elangeni’, Albert Street Housing
JHC’s 168 unit residential development is progressing steadily. It is something of a milestone project as it is being financed by a commercial loan through ABSA, one of the first major residential loans in the inner city for many years by a financial institution.
Tribunal Gardens
Another JHC project, 148 residential units in Fordsburg.
Better Buidings Programme
A number of projects are underway, all upgrading existing residential stock. Connaught Properties 250 unit ‘The Sentinel” in van der Merwe Street, Hillbrow will be officially opened in February 2002
.CATEGORY 3 –NEXT IN LINE:
“Watch for dust!
Braamfontein. A Business Plan for the upgrading of Braamfontein and the establishment of a CID has been completed and there is some really large scale and exciting private sector commitment to the area which will see major physical works underway early in 2002.
Park Central Precinct
This is a 'gritty' area between Noord and Bree, King George and Quartz Streets. Whilst the Park Central Taxi rank was completed in 1999 and the Landrost Hotel conversion to residential earlier this year, the surrounding area is something of a shambles - shacks, informal trading and taxis still parking all over the streets and of course the Drill Hall just to the east of the precinct. I previously reported on the lack of progress in regard to the retail component but a major feasibility study has now been approved and will be undertaken next year as a comprehensive project development plan for the area.
Johannesburg West City Initiative
The developers tell me that this mixed use development is well advanced in planning and design and the first spade in the ground should happen in the first half of 2002.
Greater Ellis Park Precinct
There have been a number of reasons for the delay in this precinct project which aims to redevelop, reinstate and promote the mixed use precinct (predominantly sport and education) as an important and sustainable node. These include issues around the Athletics Stadium and the change in management at Ellis Park and, of course, the soccer tragedy that occurred in April. However an updated feasibility study is being undertaken and the project should be in full flight by mid 2002.
Main Street
A second phase of pedestrianisation of Main Street from McLaren to Rissik Streets is in the final planning stages and should be started early in 2002.
Major retail project
A multi-million rand private sector retail project in the CBD will be announced early in the New Year.
Carlton Hotel
I understand that the re-opening of a portion of the ‘grand dame’ of Johannesburg hotels is more than a dream for 2002.
Provincial Legislature and Precinct
The sale of the old City Hall and the Harry Hofmeyr Parking Garage under Library Gardens to the Provincial Legislature can only be good news and we can look forward at last to an upgrading of this important building and space.
‘The Shilowa Express’
Preliminary planning and feasibility studies for Gauteng Premier, Mbhazima Shilowa’s ‘Gautrain’ - a state of the art rail connection linking Johannesburg and Pretoria and the Johannesburg International Airport consisting of 80 km of railway lines - has steadily advanced during 2001 with construction planned to commence in 2003.
Brickfields Residential Project
Massive Johannesburg Housing Company project in Newtown which is likely to be the forerunner of some new ideas in inner city residential accommodation should see a start in late 2002 maybe 2003.
CATEGORY 4 – LITTLE MOVEMENT:
“The dust has settled”
Rissik Street Post Office
The only outward progress is that a new corrugated iron hoarding now borders this beautiful building which, sadly, continues to deteriorate apace.
Ernest Oppenheimer Park
The ‘leaping sprinboks’ have gone to better pastures but the space deteriorates as rapidly as its neighbour, the Rissik Street Post Office.
Drill Hall
Lots of behind the scenes negotiations but little evidence of on-the-ground advancement.
High Court Precinct
Keeping it in this category rather than the next in the hope that something might still emerge in the New Year.
CATEGORY 5 – BIG DISAPPOINTMENT:
“Dust to Dust”
The first big disappointment for the year is the lack of progress in getting Informal Trading under control. Yes, Quartz Street is practically complete and MetroMarket under construction but the city has new traders on the streets every day and the enforcement of informal trading by-laws appears non existent. One would have thought that the negative contribution that this sector makes to the urban environment through waste and mess and the untold damage it has done to the formal retail trade would have made the authorities determined to deal with it as a priority issue. But no, it is a ‘lip-service’ item (like managing the gatherings and marches on Library Gardens!). Managed, it could be a major positive for the city. The result is that I can see no future at the moment for three projects I have referred to through the year, Eloff Street; Kerk and Joubert Street Linear Markets and the conversion of the CNA Building on Commissioner Street.
The second major disappointment is the new Metropolitan Police Department and the who;e issue of enforcement. I recorded my excitement some months ago at seeing a distinct visible presence of officers in the city, roadblocks, etc., but over the past few months this has again faded away. I see a lot of white ‘Metro Police’ cars driving all over the place, but that is not the way to police the city, as New York found out many years ago. I have heard some good reports of specific initiatives, Yeoville the most recent, but what we need is a sustainable effort over the city.
The third major disappointment is the lack of progress in what is admittedly very difficult and sensitive territory, illegally squatted buildings, street children, etc. The nettle does appear to be in the progress of rather gingerly being grasped but there is a huge amount of work to be done in this area.
2001/2002
SO MUCH FOR 2001, next year is going to see an acceleration in the positives achieved this year and hopefully a massive reduction in the negatives. The City is on the move and there are some truly exciting projects that I am not at liberty to share at the moment, but watch this space in 2002! In the meantime to all readers of Citichat my warm wishes for a very blessed and safe time over the Festive Season. Citichat 1/2002 will be out on 5 January – talk to you then!
Friday, November 30, 2001
Friday, November 23, 2001
Heritage Trust; GPG Citichat 23 November 2001
CITICHAT 46/2001 - 23 November 2001
Heritage; GPG Plans to reduce traffic congestion
The newly established Johannesburg Heritage Trust had its second meeting earlier this month and is starting where it should, at the beginning, as it develops its strategy.
heritage n. 1 anything that is or may be inherited 2 inherited circumstances, benefits, etc. 3 a nation’s historic buildings, monuments, countryside, etc. esp. when regarded as worthy of preservation. Concise Oxford Dictionary.
“Historic areas are part of the daily environment of human beings everywhere. (They) represent the living presence of the past which formed them….(They) afford down the ages the most tangible evidence of the wealth and diversity of cultural, religious and social activities…..Their safeguarding and their integration into the life of contemporary society is a basic factor in town planning and land development.” 1976 UNESCO Recommendations
“The goal is to preserve the city’s human face, thereby connecting contemporary life with the past, and contributing to group identity and civic pride." The Organisation of World Heritage Cities
“Johannesburg never stood still long enough to have its portrait painted. A restless city, it grew at a spectacular rate, with bigger and better buildings elbowing out the original shantytown. These buildings were in turn demolished, until little of original Johannesburg was left except in the memories of its people. An exciting place, certainly, but could such a brash and bold city inspire tender memories?” C Robertson ‘Remembering Old Johannesburg’.
“Following up from our discussion regarding heritage and how South Africans relate to history in the apartheid era, I wanted to let you know how one of my friends reacted when I posed the question of whether or not he was interested in the historical value of the Rissik Street Post Office, and whether signage posted to relate the historical significance of the site was important. He replied 'no, I really don't care about that at all. Putting up a sign outside a building built in the apartheid era, where neither my family nor I was allowed to enter, would be kind of like displaying a framed picture of an abusive ex-boyfriend in your home.'” Work colleague (American)
How do you deal with the enormous tensions that are reflected in these quotations? If we are going to preserve the city’s human face thus connecting contemporary life with the past, how do we do so if that very past is totally abhorrent? How does one foster “group identity and civic pride” when there is nothing in the urban environment that has been contributed by the vast majority of the group whose identity one is trying to foster?
In thinking about other countries and cultures, the uniqueness of these tensions that we have to deal with came home to me forcibly. In the USA the buildings and monuments that draw the American people together are almost entirely post their Independence in 1776. There was extremely little built infrastructure in place before then, so that the physical icons that bind Americans together were all developed and built by Americans after the country had dealt with internal and external divisiveness. (This is what makes this city’s Constitution Hill development so important – it is the first major new building in the country that will be an icon for all future South Africans,) In England, the natural ongoing development of their built environment was only interrupted relatively briefly 2000 years ago by the Romans. What is left of the Roman occupation in physical terms is miniscule and has to be sought out by those who may have an interest therein. The cities of Europe, the Middle East and East as well as North Africa generally reflect centuries of their own local and unique cultures sometimes infused with but never dominated by those of temporary marauders. Even the icons of Nazism within Germany were, as it were, ‘homegrown’ But in Central and Southern Africa, colonialism and, in our case apartheid, were dominant forces which basically obliterated all physical traces of the indigenous cultures. Take away Nazism and you are left with a German infrastructure with the odd reminders of the aberration. Take away colonialism and apartheid and the whole infrastructure remains. We don’t have to create museums we are one! But divisive.
The debate at the Trust meeting was therefore interesting.
"when we talk about education whom should we focus on?"
"knocking down every old building because they are symbols of oppression must be countered with the fact that they today represent political and human rights victories"
" shouldn't we be looking at experiential solutions to celebrating heritage rather than traditional?"
"easier to address this issue to young people who are receiving an education and have no personal experiences or hang-ups of the past rather than with the generation who had no proper education because of the political situation and see many structures as negative reminders of why they are where they are today and of what should never of happened"
"developers often see heritage as barriers to profit"
"how do you make heritage accessible to PABs? (Post-apartheid babies)
"one must have a balance between differing attitudes each of which is firmly based and justified in people's minds - there isn't necessarily a single truth or a single history, there are many truths and many histories"
"buildings have stories to tell and a building doesn’t have to be old or architecturally pleasing to tell that story - we must identify individual significances"
"a major misconception is that the only history is white or black"
"buildings are not the sole source of heritage, one must look at the contemporary culture that surrounds them"
"places mustn't be dead memorials but living, vital places"
Prof Alan Lipman told the story of taking some visitors to the Voortrekker Monument. How it had struck him that there was adequate place above or below the friezes that depict one side of history for the other side to now be equally shown. “After all,” he said, “There is never one history, there are many histories”. I seem to remember someone once saying that "the conquerors always write the history." Pallo Jordan in a newspaper article made the comment that “historical amnesia accompanies commemoration of conflict”. There is a clear acknowledgement of those statements in the change in the name of “the last gentleman’s war” from “die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog” (“the second war of liberation”) or “Boer War” to the “Anglo-Boer South African War.”
Maybe in this we have the key for the Heritage Trust and for all who seek to preserve that which is considered worthy of preservation in a city and a country such as ours. As we seek to preserve the city’s human face we must seek ways to always incorporate both faces of history. As a result, preservation is going to require a massive education process. We'd welcome input.
STOP PRESS! Check out the Provincial Government website on www.gpg.gov.za for a brief report on Provincial Government plans "aimed at reducing the levels of congestion on roads and streets of Gauteng" The responsible MEC Khabisi Mosunkutu plans to promote public transport incentives and car disincentives. The report states: " Measures designed to make car travel less attractive include physical measures, such as redesigning streets to reduce or eliminate traffic, and regulatory or organisational controls, prohibiting traffic from using certain facilities. Other measures use economic or pricing instruments to charge motorists for driving or parking, land use planning controls to reduce reliance on cars, and imposing taxes on the purchase of cars. Effective implementation of these disincentive will reduce the vehicle-kilometres travelled, and will encourage people to make multi-purpose trips, to try ride-sharing and car-pooling, which lead to increased occupancy rates and also switch to public transport trips."
“We are also developing a policy on congestion pricing, as well as a provincial policy on parking supply and pricing, which are expected to discourage car use and encourage the use of public transport,” Mosunkutu pointed out.
Oi vey! I wonder just where the public transport is that the MEC is planning to stimulate? And remember when the City Fathers decided to introduce measures to curb traffic and parking in the city way back in the late sixties/early seventies? That was what started the exodus to the north and the resultant decline of the city. Now the MEC is planning a pilot project in the north to be launched in Sandton! I guess that's one way to revitalise the CBD that I hadn't thought about! Watch out for the porsches, mercs and beemers streaming back south!
Heritage; GPG Plans to reduce traffic congestion
The newly established Johannesburg Heritage Trust had its second meeting earlier this month and is starting where it should, at the beginning, as it develops its strategy.
heritage n. 1 anything that is or may be inherited 2 inherited circumstances, benefits, etc. 3 a nation’s historic buildings, monuments, countryside, etc. esp. when regarded as worthy of preservation. Concise Oxford Dictionary.
“Historic areas are part of the daily environment of human beings everywhere. (They) represent the living presence of the past which formed them….(They) afford down the ages the most tangible evidence of the wealth and diversity of cultural, religious and social activities…..Their safeguarding and their integration into the life of contemporary society is a basic factor in town planning and land development.” 1976 UNESCO Recommendations
“The goal is to preserve the city’s human face, thereby connecting contemporary life with the past, and contributing to group identity and civic pride." The Organisation of World Heritage Cities
“Johannesburg never stood still long enough to have its portrait painted. A restless city, it grew at a spectacular rate, with bigger and better buildings elbowing out the original shantytown. These buildings were in turn demolished, until little of original Johannesburg was left except in the memories of its people. An exciting place, certainly, but could such a brash and bold city inspire tender memories?” C Robertson ‘Remembering Old Johannesburg’.
“Following up from our discussion regarding heritage and how South Africans relate to history in the apartheid era, I wanted to let you know how one of my friends reacted when I posed the question of whether or not he was interested in the historical value of the Rissik Street Post Office, and whether signage posted to relate the historical significance of the site was important. He replied 'no, I really don't care about that at all. Putting up a sign outside a building built in the apartheid era, where neither my family nor I was allowed to enter, would be kind of like displaying a framed picture of an abusive ex-boyfriend in your home.'” Work colleague (American)
How do you deal with the enormous tensions that are reflected in these quotations? If we are going to preserve the city’s human face thus connecting contemporary life with the past, how do we do so if that very past is totally abhorrent? How does one foster “group identity and civic pride” when there is nothing in the urban environment that has been contributed by the vast majority of the group whose identity one is trying to foster?
In thinking about other countries and cultures, the uniqueness of these tensions that we have to deal with came home to me forcibly. In the USA the buildings and monuments that draw the American people together are almost entirely post their Independence in 1776. There was extremely little built infrastructure in place before then, so that the physical icons that bind Americans together were all developed and built by Americans after the country had dealt with internal and external divisiveness. (This is what makes this city’s Constitution Hill development so important – it is the first major new building in the country that will be an icon for all future South Africans,) In England, the natural ongoing development of their built environment was only interrupted relatively briefly 2000 years ago by the Romans. What is left of the Roman occupation in physical terms is miniscule and has to be sought out by those who may have an interest therein. The cities of Europe, the Middle East and East as well as North Africa generally reflect centuries of their own local and unique cultures sometimes infused with but never dominated by those of temporary marauders. Even the icons of Nazism within Germany were, as it were, ‘homegrown’ But in Central and Southern Africa, colonialism and, in our case apartheid, were dominant forces which basically obliterated all physical traces of the indigenous cultures. Take away Nazism and you are left with a German infrastructure with the odd reminders of the aberration. Take away colonialism and apartheid and the whole infrastructure remains. We don’t have to create museums we are one! But divisive.
The debate at the Trust meeting was therefore interesting.
"when we talk about education whom should we focus on?"
"knocking down every old building because they are symbols of oppression must be countered with the fact that they today represent political and human rights victories"
" shouldn't we be looking at experiential solutions to celebrating heritage rather than traditional?"
"easier to address this issue to young people who are receiving an education and have no personal experiences or hang-ups of the past rather than with the generation who had no proper education because of the political situation and see many structures as negative reminders of why they are where they are today and of what should never of happened"
"developers often see heritage as barriers to profit"
"how do you make heritage accessible to PABs? (Post-apartheid babies)
"one must have a balance between differing attitudes each of which is firmly based and justified in people's minds - there isn't necessarily a single truth or a single history, there are many truths and many histories"
"buildings have stories to tell and a building doesn’t have to be old or architecturally pleasing to tell that story - we must identify individual significances"
"a major misconception is that the only history is white or black"
"buildings are not the sole source of heritage, one must look at the contemporary culture that surrounds them"
"places mustn't be dead memorials but living, vital places"
Prof Alan Lipman told the story of taking some visitors to the Voortrekker Monument. How it had struck him that there was adequate place above or below the friezes that depict one side of history for the other side to now be equally shown. “After all,” he said, “There is never one history, there are many histories”. I seem to remember someone once saying that "the conquerors always write the history." Pallo Jordan in a newspaper article made the comment that “historical amnesia accompanies commemoration of conflict”. There is a clear acknowledgement of those statements in the change in the name of “the last gentleman’s war” from “die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog” (“the second war of liberation”) or “Boer War” to the “Anglo-Boer South African War.”
Maybe in this we have the key for the Heritage Trust and for all who seek to preserve that which is considered worthy of preservation in a city and a country such as ours. As we seek to preserve the city’s human face we must seek ways to always incorporate both faces of history. As a result, preservation is going to require a massive education process. We'd welcome input.
STOP PRESS! Check out the Provincial Government website on www.gpg.gov.za for a brief report on Provincial Government plans "aimed at reducing the levels of congestion on roads and streets of Gauteng" The responsible MEC Khabisi Mosunkutu plans to promote public transport incentives and car disincentives. The report states: " Measures designed to make car travel less attractive include physical measures, such as redesigning streets to reduce or eliminate traffic, and regulatory or organisational controls, prohibiting traffic from using certain facilities. Other measures use economic or pricing instruments to charge motorists for driving or parking, land use planning controls to reduce reliance on cars, and imposing taxes on the purchase of cars. Effective implementation of these disincentive will reduce the vehicle-kilometres travelled, and will encourage people to make multi-purpose trips, to try ride-sharing and car-pooling, which lead to increased occupancy rates and also switch to public transport trips."
“We are also developing a policy on congestion pricing, as well as a provincial policy on parking supply and pricing, which are expected to discourage car use and encourage the use of public transport,” Mosunkutu pointed out.
Oi vey! I wonder just where the public transport is that the MEC is planning to stimulate? And remember when the City Fathers decided to introduce measures to curb traffic and parking in the city way back in the late sixties/early seventies? That was what started the exodus to the north and the resultant decline of the city. Now the MEC is planning a pilot project in the north to be launched in Sandton! I guess that's one way to revitalise the CBD that I hadn't thought about! Watch out for the porsches, mercs and beemers streaming back south!
Friday, November 16, 2001
JHC AGM; COPE Citichat 16 November 2001
CITICHAT 45/2001 - 16 November 2001
JHC AGM & COPE
I first met Edith Monareng probably ten years ago when we both worshipped at the same church in Hillbrow. It didn’t take long to discover that this diminutive lady harbours a passion in inverse proportion to her slight frame, a passion for enriching the lives of tiny children. Shortly after we met she opened a pre-school facility in the church hall. We lost touch when I moved to another church but some years later she contacted me in regard to pre-school premises in the inner city and over the years we have bumped into each other from time to time. On Wednesday, Edith’s tiny tots from her pre-school, ECLAH (Enrichment of Children’s Lives and Hearts) were the star attraction at the Johannesburg Housing Company’s 6th Annual General Meeting.
I’m sure there were quite a few lumps in throats and even the odd tear as we watched about 30 tiny pre-schoolers in yellow tee shirts and blue jeans first sing “The Greatest Love of All” and then act out a simple but meaningful play. The two little lead singers, Mbali Kubaka and Mulalo Makhwara performed with the aplomb of real pros. The play was one that the kids had developed themselves – about ‘Amandla’ who had contracted AIDS as a result of blood contamination through a car accident. How he was then ostracised both in his community and in his school. The teacher contacts a social worker (both played by pre-schoolers) who visits the classroom and explains the disease to the children and how Amandla needs their love and not their rejection. The class, one-by-one, hugs the child and apologises for their previous behaviour.
What has this got to do with the revitalisation of the inner city? How does Edith Monareng’s school and the JHC connect? Firstly, Edith is the Principal of a pre-school facility in JHC’s Carr Gardens development. Secondly, the children, as tiny as they are, are being exposed in the most wonderful way to the contemporary issues and problems of our society. But, thirdly, and for me most importantly, what Edith is doing and what the JHC represents is that revitalising a city like Johannesburg is NOT merely about physical renewal but about transformation – transformation of communities through the transformation of individuals and what better place to start than with children! JHC doesn’t leave it there however, for in CEO Taffy Adler’s presentation he led us through various videos illustrating how the JHC takes this approach all the way through to developing and empowering their tenants by way of various programmes, role playing, etc. - equipping them as communities and not just as tenants. No wonder the Company can boast arrears at consistently below 5% and vacancies at below 5%!
The Chairperson of JHC, Bishop Mvume Dandala, a man whom I believe will have a growing impact on South Africa, captures the essence of what urban renewal is really about in the JHC 2001 Annual Report: “When people think of social programmes, they often think of projects that are shabbily run, with a laissez-faire attitude and without proper accountability. They think of projects that are run by people who lack passion, inspiration and drive because there is little monetary benefit in it for them. Because of this, many people think that such programmes cannot work. In this regard, JHC has taken on a new quest – to demonstrate to the rest of the country, that social programmes can function efficiently, effectively and can be accountable. Our experience has indicated clearly that this cannot be achieved without building on the bedrock of honesty and integrity. If a programme fails to operate on these principles, it intensifies the hopelessness and despair of those whom it is supposed to serve, those who have been victims in our society for too long already. JHC is making a very significant contribution to creating a culture in which people no longer see themselves as victims but as victors and as active players in their own transformation.”
On the pragmatic side, JHC has added 3% to the inner city housing stock since they were esatblished six years ago, and by the end of 2002 they will have created 1 700 units in total which will move that 3% to 5% of inner city housing stock. Construction is under way on new stock, Tribunal Gardens in Fordsburg and the Elangeni project in Albert Street, 148 and 168 units respectively, as well as refurbishment - as part of the Better Buildings Programme - of Lake Success in Petersen Street, Hillbrow, 140 units,. Next year they will tackle the quite massive Brickfield Project in Newtown where Taffy is looking to create something quite unique in the realm of inner city housing.
All in all, this was a week about inner-city housing. Earlier in the week, on Monday, another inner city housing project was formally opened, the 120 unit Troyeville Housing Company Co-Operative developed and built by the COPE Housing Association. COPE has pioneered the concept of co-operative housing provision in South Africa. Again, COPE are not merely developers of housing but through the co-operative housing model democratise home ownership and strengthen communities and the broader social fabric of the inner city. Earlier this year, at the end of August, they also completed the Tswelopele Housing Co-operative through the conversion into 54 units of the old Johannesburg Health Department office building in Hoek Street. As an aside, the opening on Monday was to have been graced and addressed by a number of relevant dignitaries from both local and provincial government. Neither of the dignitaries reflected on the programme arrived - although provincial government did have an appropriate substitute. The fact that local government was reflected on the programme, clearly having agreed to speak, but failing to materialise even on a substitute basis, is quite unacceptable. I think it is time that private sector bodies stopped inviting errant government officials to important inner city milestones rather than endure the embarrassment of ‘no-shows’. This is a personal comment as is all Citichat content!
But, what a contrast these two companies, JHC and COPE, provide to the approach of the slum-lord, whoops, sorry, developer, I mentioned a few weeks ago (Citichat 43, 2nd November). The pious pleadings of “providing for the residential needs of the poor people of the city” resonate with insincerity when one realises that the only beneficiary is the developer’s bank account. The ugly, no, obscene, face of capitalism.
JHC AGM & COPE
I first met Edith Monareng probably ten years ago when we both worshipped at the same church in Hillbrow. It didn’t take long to discover that this diminutive lady harbours a passion in inverse proportion to her slight frame, a passion for enriching the lives of tiny children. Shortly after we met she opened a pre-school facility in the church hall. We lost touch when I moved to another church but some years later she contacted me in regard to pre-school premises in the inner city and over the years we have bumped into each other from time to time. On Wednesday, Edith’s tiny tots from her pre-school, ECLAH (Enrichment of Children’s Lives and Hearts) were the star attraction at the Johannesburg Housing Company’s 6th Annual General Meeting.
I’m sure there were quite a few lumps in throats and even the odd tear as we watched about 30 tiny pre-schoolers in yellow tee shirts and blue jeans first sing “The Greatest Love of All” and then act out a simple but meaningful play. The two little lead singers, Mbali Kubaka and Mulalo Makhwara performed with the aplomb of real pros. The play was one that the kids had developed themselves – about ‘Amandla’ who had contracted AIDS as a result of blood contamination through a car accident. How he was then ostracised both in his community and in his school. The teacher contacts a social worker (both played by pre-schoolers) who visits the classroom and explains the disease to the children and how Amandla needs their love and not their rejection. The class, one-by-one, hugs the child and apologises for their previous behaviour.
What has this got to do with the revitalisation of the inner city? How does Edith Monareng’s school and the JHC connect? Firstly, Edith is the Principal of a pre-school facility in JHC’s Carr Gardens development. Secondly, the children, as tiny as they are, are being exposed in the most wonderful way to the contemporary issues and problems of our society. But, thirdly, and for me most importantly, what Edith is doing and what the JHC represents is that revitalising a city like Johannesburg is NOT merely about physical renewal but about transformation – transformation of communities through the transformation of individuals and what better place to start than with children! JHC doesn’t leave it there however, for in CEO Taffy Adler’s presentation he led us through various videos illustrating how the JHC takes this approach all the way through to developing and empowering their tenants by way of various programmes, role playing, etc. - equipping them as communities and not just as tenants. No wonder the Company can boast arrears at consistently below 5% and vacancies at below 5%!
The Chairperson of JHC, Bishop Mvume Dandala, a man whom I believe will have a growing impact on South Africa, captures the essence of what urban renewal is really about in the JHC 2001 Annual Report: “When people think of social programmes, they often think of projects that are shabbily run, with a laissez-faire attitude and without proper accountability. They think of projects that are run by people who lack passion, inspiration and drive because there is little monetary benefit in it for them. Because of this, many people think that such programmes cannot work. In this regard, JHC has taken on a new quest – to demonstrate to the rest of the country, that social programmes can function efficiently, effectively and can be accountable. Our experience has indicated clearly that this cannot be achieved without building on the bedrock of honesty and integrity. If a programme fails to operate on these principles, it intensifies the hopelessness and despair of those whom it is supposed to serve, those who have been victims in our society for too long already. JHC is making a very significant contribution to creating a culture in which people no longer see themselves as victims but as victors and as active players in their own transformation.”
On the pragmatic side, JHC has added 3% to the inner city housing stock since they were esatblished six years ago, and by the end of 2002 they will have created 1 700 units in total which will move that 3% to 5% of inner city housing stock. Construction is under way on new stock, Tribunal Gardens in Fordsburg and the Elangeni project in Albert Street, 148 and 168 units respectively, as well as refurbishment - as part of the Better Buildings Programme - of Lake Success in Petersen Street, Hillbrow, 140 units,. Next year they will tackle the quite massive Brickfield Project in Newtown where Taffy is looking to create something quite unique in the realm of inner city housing.
All in all, this was a week about inner-city housing. Earlier in the week, on Monday, another inner city housing project was formally opened, the 120 unit Troyeville Housing Company Co-Operative developed and built by the COPE Housing Association. COPE has pioneered the concept of co-operative housing provision in South Africa. Again, COPE are not merely developers of housing but through the co-operative housing model democratise home ownership and strengthen communities and the broader social fabric of the inner city. Earlier this year, at the end of August, they also completed the Tswelopele Housing Co-operative through the conversion into 54 units of the old Johannesburg Health Department office building in Hoek Street. As an aside, the opening on Monday was to have been graced and addressed by a number of relevant dignitaries from both local and provincial government. Neither of the dignitaries reflected on the programme arrived - although provincial government did have an appropriate substitute. The fact that local government was reflected on the programme, clearly having agreed to speak, but failing to materialise even on a substitute basis, is quite unacceptable. I think it is time that private sector bodies stopped inviting errant government officials to important inner city milestones rather than endure the embarrassment of ‘no-shows’. This is a personal comment as is all Citichat content!
But, what a contrast these two companies, JHC and COPE, provide to the approach of the slum-lord, whoops, sorry, developer, I mentioned a few weeks ago (Citichat 43, 2nd November). The pious pleadings of “providing for the residential needs of the poor people of the city” resonate with insincerity when one realises that the only beneficiary is the developer’s bank account. The ugly, no, obscene, face of capitalism.
Friday, November 9, 2001
Fashion District Citichat 9 November 2001
CITICHAT 44.2001- 9 November 2001
Fashion District - Sewafrica
Because of other commitments, missed a great party last week by all reports! It was the opening of SEWAFRICA Training Centre SEWAFRICA is situated at the heart of the Fashion District, an area within the Inner City of Johannesburg identified by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and the Central Johannesburg Partnership (CJP) as contributing to the revitalisation of the Inner City through the support of micro and small practitioners in the garment and fashion industries. Citichat first reported on the Fashion District one day off a year ago (Citichat 42/2000 dated 10 November 2000).
David Mann, freshly out of his apprenticeship in Europe as a bespoke tailor, arrived in Pritchard Street Johannesburg in 1948. He was employed in the building next door to where his son, Rees Mann, opened SEWAFRICA last week. David recalls that the area even then was the centre for local garment manufacture. It was an incredibly vibrant and exciting place to work and his description of the sheer energy of those early days is quite exhilirating. Reminded me somewhat of movies of the rag trade in the early days of New York, the hustle and bustle, clothes hanging on fashion trolleys being pushed across the roads from building to building by young appies in the trade. He describes how the streets were clogged with railways delivery trucks all trying to offload fabrics into six storey buildings with only one or two lifts whilst finished goods were being rushed down the same lifts and staircases. Property developers were building large industrial buildings as rapidly as they could buy up land and the industry employed tens of thousands, mainly female, mainly afrikaans and all white! Their were so many people in the area that manufacturers had to stagger tea times so that the infrastructure around them could cope! Cape Town was, as now, the place for the really large factories, but Joburg was the place for women's clothing.
1962 and a failed merger between manufacturers of summer garments and another of winter garments provided an opportunity for David to buy the latter, "on Tick"! He remembers cutting the patterns, sewing up samples, tearing down to United Purchasing (now the giant national retailer, Edgars),
A damp and cold Halloween evening saw an enthusiastic turn out from the Inner City (and as far as Cape Town) for the opening of the Sew Africa Centre, Pritchard Street. Sew Africa is situated at the heart of the Fashion District, an area within the Inner City of Johannesburg identified by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and the Central Johannesburg Partnership (CJP) as contributing to the revitalisation of the Inner City through the support of micro and small practitioners in the garment and fashion industries. The evening started with drinks and a delicious array of Halloween snacks, a chance to mingle and orient ourselves in the Centre. Thereafter, guests were addressed by Rees Mann, Councilor Sol Cowan of Region 8 and Graeme Reid from the JDA, highlighting general projects and proposals of the Inner City regeneration.
Rees talked us through the company's background and their commitment to remaining in the Inner City at a time when most other manufacturers had taken the decision to leave and head North. This was specifically because the Manns' business believed that the Inner City was, and still is competitive, and that the market which they decided to target (SMME's and people starting out in the fashion industry) were located here. He mentioned some astounding accomplishments the centre has made (with the help of their suppliers) with regard to targeting, encouraging and enabling SMME's access to the industry such as, keeping stock available at prices which only wholesalers could offer, allowing SMME's to buy goods in small quantities, pleating individual garments when other manufacturers would only take large quantities and even making patterns available in six different languages enabling people of different cultures to sew. Thereafter, Rees announced that his incredibly supportive staff had insisted on forming the 'Sew Africa Choir' and everyone was treated to a song of praise, performed in astounding harmony after only 48 hours notice in which to practice.
On the second floor, the Centre has a number of training rooms including a cutting room, rooms equipped with both domestic and industrial sewing machines, lecture rooms and a textile craft room. Wits Tech has come to an arrangement with Sew Africa, whereby their final year, B-Tech students will provide training at the Centre. Three of these students put on a wonderfully glitzy fashion show in a room which the Centre has created as a place specifically to rent out to small business or young designers wherein they can show their designs for the cost of only R1000, including lighting, ramp, music and PA system. The Fashion Cafe and retail outlet on the ground floor add to the vibrancy of Sew Africa, a successful business in the heart of the Fashion District.
Fashion District - Sewafrica
Because of other commitments, missed a great party last week by all reports! It was the opening of SEWAFRICA Training Centre SEWAFRICA is situated at the heart of the Fashion District, an area within the Inner City of Johannesburg identified by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and the Central Johannesburg Partnership (CJP) as contributing to the revitalisation of the Inner City through the support of micro and small practitioners in the garment and fashion industries. Citichat first reported on the Fashion District one day off a year ago (Citichat 42/2000 dated 10 November 2000).
David Mann, freshly out of his apprenticeship in Europe as a bespoke tailor, arrived in Pritchard Street Johannesburg in 1948. He was employed in the building next door to where his son, Rees Mann, opened SEWAFRICA last week. David recalls that the area even then was the centre for local garment manufacture. It was an incredibly vibrant and exciting place to work and his description of the sheer energy of those early days is quite exhilirating. Reminded me somewhat of movies of the rag trade in the early days of New York, the hustle and bustle, clothes hanging on fashion trolleys being pushed across the roads from building to building by young appies in the trade. He describes how the streets were clogged with railways delivery trucks all trying to offload fabrics into six storey buildings with only one or two lifts whilst finished goods were being rushed down the same lifts and staircases. Property developers were building large industrial buildings as rapidly as they could buy up land and the industry employed tens of thousands, mainly female, mainly afrikaans and all white! Their were so many people in the area that manufacturers had to stagger tea times so that the infrastructure around them could cope! Cape Town was, as now, the place for the really large factories, but Joburg was the place for women's clothing.
1962 and a failed merger between manufacturers of summer garments and another of winter garments provided an opportunity for David to buy the latter, "on Tick"! He remembers cutting the patterns, sewing up samples, tearing down to United Purchasing (now the giant national retailer, Edgars),
A damp and cold Halloween evening saw an enthusiastic turn out from the Inner City (and as far as Cape Town) for the opening of the Sew Africa Centre, Pritchard Street. Sew Africa is situated at the heart of the Fashion District, an area within the Inner City of Johannesburg identified by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and the Central Johannesburg Partnership (CJP) as contributing to the revitalisation of the Inner City through the support of micro and small practitioners in the garment and fashion industries. The evening started with drinks and a delicious array of Halloween snacks, a chance to mingle and orient ourselves in the Centre. Thereafter, guests were addressed by Rees Mann, Councilor Sol Cowan of Region 8 and Graeme Reid from the JDA, highlighting general projects and proposals of the Inner City regeneration.
Rees talked us through the company's background and their commitment to remaining in the Inner City at a time when most other manufacturers had taken the decision to leave and head North. This was specifically because the Manns' business believed that the Inner City was, and still is competitive, and that the market which they decided to target (SMME's and people starting out in the fashion industry) were located here. He mentioned some astounding accomplishments the centre has made (with the help of their suppliers) with regard to targeting, encouraging and enabling SMME's access to the industry such as, keeping stock available at prices which only wholesalers could offer, allowing SMME's to buy goods in small quantities, pleating individual garments when other manufacturers would only take large quantities and even making patterns available in six different languages enabling people of different cultures to sew. Thereafter, Rees announced that his incredibly supportive staff had insisted on forming the 'Sew Africa Choir' and everyone was treated to a song of praise, performed in astounding harmony after only 48 hours notice in which to practice.
On the second floor, the Centre has a number of training rooms including a cutting room, rooms equipped with both domestic and industrial sewing machines, lecture rooms and a textile craft room. Wits Tech has come to an arrangement with Sew Africa, whereby their final year, B-Tech students will provide training at the Centre. Three of these students put on a wonderfully glitzy fashion show in a room which the Centre has created as a place specifically to rent out to small business or young designers wherein they can show their designs for the cost of only R1000, including lighting, ramp, music and PA system. The Fashion Cafe and retail outlet on the ground floor add to the vibrancy of Sew Africa, a successful business in the heart of the Fashion District.
Friday, November 2, 2001
CITICHAT 43/2001 - 2 November 2001
Investment
Before September 11th, one of the great stories of urban renewal largely through conversion of vacant office space to appropriate residential accommodation was what was taking place in lower Manhattan. With major technology changes, corporate downsizing and business amalgamations and takeovers, lower Manhattan, four or five years ago, had literally dozens of empty buildings totalling millions of square feet of vacant office space. New York’s Downtown Alliance of Lower Manhattan, a non-profit urban revitalisation and Improvement District organisation, recognised that the new business technologies required lifestyle changes that could be provided and would substantially uplift the area. Lifestyle changes would demand a residential, commercial, cultural and entertainment environment very different to what had historically been available. Workers wanted to be close to their work-place or wanted their work-place to also be their living-space and wanted entertainment, restaurants atc to suit their 24-hour life-style. The Alliance transformed a few buildings with great success and then stepped back to let market forces take the initiative. And millions of square feet of vacant office space were redeveloped as a result. The new residential population were the people who worked in the area, the development was totally compatible with the business of lower Manhattan. The secret was that the accommodation and services provided were totally appropriate for the area.
The Downtown Alliance won this year’s International Downtown Association (IDA) ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’ It was a bittersweet acknowledgment, much of their achievement had been negated by the terrorist attack that devastated that particular area of lower Manhattan! Yet it has a lesson for us and the key word is “appropriate”.
“Appropriate”, sure, that has an element of subjectivity about it, but in terms of city planning it has objective meaning. Some years ago I wrote about how inappropriate I thought the proposal was to turn the massive Ponte residential complex into a prison facility. The argument offered by the promoters was that the building had failed as an apartment block and was blighting the area, that no-one would even know it was a prison facility, that it would bring much needed employment to the area, that there were precedents in many cities all of which worked. All these and others couldn’t allay one’s concern of the inappropriateness of a 50-storey jail in the middle of an inner city residential area even though the residential area itself was under great urban distress. There was a sneaky feeling that the owners were unable to manage the existing use and desperately wanted to sell their problem to someone else, at a profit! The proposal didn’t fly and the building was eventually sold to professional residential accommodation owner/managers who have turned the building around and have turned a liability into an asset. It retains its appropriate use. A year or so ago I was in San Diego and saw a high-rise building with remarkably small windows in the downtown area. I had thought that it was a telephone exchange but it turned out to be the local prison. The city development agency group I was visiting wryly explained that it had been built during a time of extreme depression in the city’s economy when practically any activity was welcomed. With the later strong economic upswing San Diego experienced, the building was an embarrassment and a constant reminder of poor decisions taken for expediency rather than good practice principles. The building is simply not appropriate for the area in which it stands.
In Cape Town in the ‘70s, the SA Reserve Bank decided to grace the CBD with their presence. In those days little could be done about their proposed building because such institutions were a law unto themselves and the protests of inappropriateness were brushed aside. The building is built off a monolithic podium which cover the underground vaults. At ground level, in what is a prime retail area facing onto what is today St George’s Street Mall, the building offers unfriendly blank walls. A similar facility in Johannesburg built in the ‘90s has the same effect but at least is built on the edge of the CBD. Interesting that when the new SARB head office building was built in Pretoria in the early ‘80s, its siting was far more appropriately positioned to the east of the CBD next to civic buildings and educational institutions. Appropriateness.
Ellen McCarthy, the deputy chief planner of Washingtion DC, described at our city’s conference earlier this year the difficulties that they and many US cities are having as developers buy empty CBD office buildings for redevelopment into telephone switchgear buildings – a growing occurrence because of the deregulation of the communication industry in that country. The buildings add nothing to the city, have no employees as are fully automated, are sightless needing no windows and turn their backs on the cityscape particularly at ground level. New laws have had to be drafted to deal with this inappropriate incursion into the city fabric.
Through Citichat over the past few months, I have mentioned the beginnings of welcome investment, both public and private, that has resulted in projects coming 'off the ground' in the inner city. Whilst we clearly need much more investment, for it to be welcome it must actually add value to the city. For it to stay, it needs to be made to feel secure, investment needs certainty. The outcome of investment must not detract from the city, we have enough existing detractors to contend with.
One of the issues that has troubled those of us working towards the vision of a ‘world class African city’ for some time now has been that of such inappropriate investment. So, what happens when an entrepreneur seizes an opportunity to invest in a building that can be acquired cheaply because it has been empty for some time and has been allowed to deteriorate even though it is located in a high quality location? Recognising the demand for cheap residential accommodation he develops it into a just such a usage which is completely inappropriate for the area. In this specific case it is a somewhat run-down office building that has been turned into what can only be described as a residential hostel situated in the inner city’s prime corporate head office area. Communal kitchen, communal toilet facilities and as many beds as can be physically fitted into the space, communal residential accommodation. Is this another free market opportunity which should be lauded? The developer is after all providing cheap accommodation AND making a lot of money. Or is it the result of historic planning in itself no longer appropriate (the existing town panning scheme allows not only housing but a number of other uses on this site) or just a laissez faire attitude to planning that will ultimately have a negative impact on the area probably leading to further corporate flight? And what about the certainty that investment demands? How long will one attract major investment to an area if the corporate investor is to wake up one morning to find low income housing as his new neighbour? Ask Montreal what happened when it provided an environment of political uncertainty when it supported the French separatist movement some years ago. Investment disappeared rapidly to the benefit of Toronto which offered certainty. Money goes where it is welcome and stays where it is made to feel welcome.
There is no doubt that an injection of residential accommodation can have a meaningful impact on the economy of a city, lower Manhattan isn’t the only nor probably the best example. There is also no doubt that the inner city of Johannesburg has too little residential accommodation, we need more housing if we are to make the city work twenty-four hours of the day. And that housing, ideally, should cover the spectrum of low, middle and upper income groups. I personally do not see the high-income group being attracted to existing inner city living just yet, but it will follow. So we need to concentrate on making the other two happen, and as previously covered in Citichat, a great deal of excellent work is being done by the Johannesburg Housing Company and Cope Housing Association in this regard especially related to middle-income housing.
However, two approaches that I don't believe can work, are introducing accommodation at a level either too high or too low for the area in which it is provided. In the former case the likelihood of selling or even filling the accommodation is non-existent requiring a massive investment into the surrounding environment with no guarantee of success. In the latter, there will probably be no trouble in filling the accommodation and even maintaining a waiting list, but at what cost to the existing sound, surrounding environment.
If we place inappropriate housing in an area we are simply asking for trouble. New investment will shy away and, apart from other considerations, it is also unfair to the new residents to place them in an environment which does not nor probably will ever be able to provide the social and cultural support that is required to engender real community.
A working city doesn’t mean that every building must be full and in use if the usages are inappropriate and compromise the precinct or neighbourhood. A working city is where there is synergy between the many. many functions that the city embraces, where appropriate usage of the individual parts comes together to support the whole.
Well, the jury is still out on this one, but will keep you informed!
Investment
Before September 11th, one of the great stories of urban renewal largely through conversion of vacant office space to appropriate residential accommodation was what was taking place in lower Manhattan. With major technology changes, corporate downsizing and business amalgamations and takeovers, lower Manhattan, four or five years ago, had literally dozens of empty buildings totalling millions of square feet of vacant office space. New York’s Downtown Alliance of Lower Manhattan, a non-profit urban revitalisation and Improvement District organisation, recognised that the new business technologies required lifestyle changes that could be provided and would substantially uplift the area. Lifestyle changes would demand a residential, commercial, cultural and entertainment environment very different to what had historically been available. Workers wanted to be close to their work-place or wanted their work-place to also be their living-space and wanted entertainment, restaurants atc to suit their 24-hour life-style. The Alliance transformed a few buildings with great success and then stepped back to let market forces take the initiative. And millions of square feet of vacant office space were redeveloped as a result. The new residential population were the people who worked in the area, the development was totally compatible with the business of lower Manhattan. The secret was that the accommodation and services provided were totally appropriate for the area.
The Downtown Alliance won this year’s International Downtown Association (IDA) ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’ It was a bittersweet acknowledgment, much of their achievement had been negated by the terrorist attack that devastated that particular area of lower Manhattan! Yet it has a lesson for us and the key word is “appropriate”.
“Appropriate”, sure, that has an element of subjectivity about it, but in terms of city planning it has objective meaning. Some years ago I wrote about how inappropriate I thought the proposal was to turn the massive Ponte residential complex into a prison facility. The argument offered by the promoters was that the building had failed as an apartment block and was blighting the area, that no-one would even know it was a prison facility, that it would bring much needed employment to the area, that there were precedents in many cities all of which worked. All these and others couldn’t allay one’s concern of the inappropriateness of a 50-storey jail in the middle of an inner city residential area even though the residential area itself was under great urban distress. There was a sneaky feeling that the owners were unable to manage the existing use and desperately wanted to sell their problem to someone else, at a profit! The proposal didn’t fly and the building was eventually sold to professional residential accommodation owner/managers who have turned the building around and have turned a liability into an asset. It retains its appropriate use. A year or so ago I was in San Diego and saw a high-rise building with remarkably small windows in the downtown area. I had thought that it was a telephone exchange but it turned out to be the local prison. The city development agency group I was visiting wryly explained that it had been built during a time of extreme depression in the city’s economy when practically any activity was welcomed. With the later strong economic upswing San Diego experienced, the building was an embarrassment and a constant reminder of poor decisions taken for expediency rather than good practice principles. The building is simply not appropriate for the area in which it stands.
In Cape Town in the ‘70s, the SA Reserve Bank decided to grace the CBD with their presence. In those days little could be done about their proposed building because such institutions were a law unto themselves and the protests of inappropriateness were brushed aside. The building is built off a monolithic podium which cover the underground vaults. At ground level, in what is a prime retail area facing onto what is today St George’s Street Mall, the building offers unfriendly blank walls. A similar facility in Johannesburg built in the ‘90s has the same effect but at least is built on the edge of the CBD. Interesting that when the new SARB head office building was built in Pretoria in the early ‘80s, its siting was far more appropriately positioned to the east of the CBD next to civic buildings and educational institutions. Appropriateness.
Ellen McCarthy, the deputy chief planner of Washingtion DC, described at our city’s conference earlier this year the difficulties that they and many US cities are having as developers buy empty CBD office buildings for redevelopment into telephone switchgear buildings – a growing occurrence because of the deregulation of the communication industry in that country. The buildings add nothing to the city, have no employees as are fully automated, are sightless needing no windows and turn their backs on the cityscape particularly at ground level. New laws have had to be drafted to deal with this inappropriate incursion into the city fabric.
Through Citichat over the past few months, I have mentioned the beginnings of welcome investment, both public and private, that has resulted in projects coming 'off the ground' in the inner city. Whilst we clearly need much more investment, for it to be welcome it must actually add value to the city. For it to stay, it needs to be made to feel secure, investment needs certainty. The outcome of investment must not detract from the city, we have enough existing detractors to contend with.
One of the issues that has troubled those of us working towards the vision of a ‘world class African city’ for some time now has been that of such inappropriate investment. So, what happens when an entrepreneur seizes an opportunity to invest in a building that can be acquired cheaply because it has been empty for some time and has been allowed to deteriorate even though it is located in a high quality location? Recognising the demand for cheap residential accommodation he develops it into a just such a usage which is completely inappropriate for the area. In this specific case it is a somewhat run-down office building that has been turned into what can only be described as a residential hostel situated in the inner city’s prime corporate head office area. Communal kitchen, communal toilet facilities and as many beds as can be physically fitted into the space, communal residential accommodation. Is this another free market opportunity which should be lauded? The developer is after all providing cheap accommodation AND making a lot of money. Or is it the result of historic planning in itself no longer appropriate (the existing town panning scheme allows not only housing but a number of other uses on this site) or just a laissez faire attitude to planning that will ultimately have a negative impact on the area probably leading to further corporate flight? And what about the certainty that investment demands? How long will one attract major investment to an area if the corporate investor is to wake up one morning to find low income housing as his new neighbour? Ask Montreal what happened when it provided an environment of political uncertainty when it supported the French separatist movement some years ago. Investment disappeared rapidly to the benefit of Toronto which offered certainty. Money goes where it is welcome and stays where it is made to feel welcome.
There is no doubt that an injection of residential accommodation can have a meaningful impact on the economy of a city, lower Manhattan isn’t the only nor probably the best example. There is also no doubt that the inner city of Johannesburg has too little residential accommodation, we need more housing if we are to make the city work twenty-four hours of the day. And that housing, ideally, should cover the spectrum of low, middle and upper income groups. I personally do not see the high-income group being attracted to existing inner city living just yet, but it will follow. So we need to concentrate on making the other two happen, and as previously covered in Citichat, a great deal of excellent work is being done by the Johannesburg Housing Company and Cope Housing Association in this regard especially related to middle-income housing.
However, two approaches that I don't believe can work, are introducing accommodation at a level either too high or too low for the area in which it is provided. In the former case the likelihood of selling or even filling the accommodation is non-existent requiring a massive investment into the surrounding environment with no guarantee of success. In the latter, there will probably be no trouble in filling the accommodation and even maintaining a waiting list, but at what cost to the existing sound, surrounding environment.
If we place inappropriate housing in an area we are simply asking for trouble. New investment will shy away and, apart from other considerations, it is also unfair to the new residents to place them in an environment which does not nor probably will ever be able to provide the social and cultural support that is required to engender real community.
A working city doesn’t mean that every building must be full and in use if the usages are inappropriate and compromise the precinct or neighbourhood. A working city is where there is synergy between the many. many functions that the city embraces, where appropriate usage of the individual parts comes together to support the whole.
Well, the jury is still out on this one, but will keep you informed!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
