Urban Strategy Citichat 14 March 2007

CITICHAT 9/2003 - 14 March 2003


Sinkholes and Ripple Ponds (2)

Picking up from last week when we started looking at the proposals of the newly formulated Inner City Regeneration Strategy (which I pointed out wasn’t so much ‘new’ but rather an updating, a restating and a fresh consolidation of what has gone before and a correction to where we’re going in the future!) The Strategy “To raise and sustain private investment leading to a steady rise in property values is predicated on five supporting ‘pillars’ which are:



1. To decrease and eventually eliminate the sinkholes

2. To increase the ripple pond investments

3. To support the economic sectors

4. To intensify urban management

5. To maintain and upgrade infrastructure.



So what does this mean practically? Well, in relation to the first ‘pillar’ a survey of the problem buildings and problem areas has been underway for some time as reported in Citichat last year. Arising from the survey a variety of actions have been implemented, some buildings have been closed down and demolished, others have been completely sealed off and a number of entertainment venues have been shut down. The survey has led to an increase in enforcement and legal actions have been instituted where there are infringements. It is now necessary to capitalise on that start.



Thus, decreasing and eventually eliminating sinkholes will see an acceleration of this work – in addition to closing and demolishing buildings that are beyond hope of saving, there will be a focus on closing illegal businesses, shebeens and slums and a close look will be taken at the number of liquor outlets operating in the city in an effort to reduce and rationalise this activity. At the same time, areas of the city zoned for a certain activity but where the original activity has disappeared will be examined to see if a rezoning isn’t now appropriate. Changing activities result in buildings built for a certain use now being used for other uses with all the attendant problems. Parts of Jeppe are a good example – zoned for industrial use the buildings are now being used for housing whilst vacant lots are not being re-developed due to the lack of demand for industrial in that area. One needs to recognise these macro changes – a rezoning to residential will encourage legal housing provision.



Then there is a need to pay special attention to transitional areas. I mentioned these last week – the regions between decayed and prosperous areas, the edge of Parktown contiguous to Hillbrow; West Bezuidenhout Valley between Bertrams and Observatory and parts of Joubert Park. It is critical that transitional spaces remain buffers or become ripple ponds and not sinkholes.



Citichat has previously covered the ‘Better Buildings Programme’ – the implementation of the programme over the past year has revealed many practical limitations and these have now been addressed and a Mark 2 version has been developed. It was run past the Inner City Committee last week and is now on the Council ‘approvals’ route. More about the programme in the future.



Finally, under this section, an interesting query has been raised as to whether existing slum by-laws are effective and this aspect is to be investigated.



The second ‘pillar’is to increase ‘ripple pond’ investments. Ripple ponds are the mirror image of sinkholes –they lift the adjacent areas by providing an incentive for investment. Like sinkholes they can be private (Bank City and Gandhi Square, the new Score retail development next to Jack Mincer Square, etc), or public (Metro Mall, Constitution Hill, Faraday, Newtown) or they can be public/private such as the upgrading to the urban environment in Braamfontein. The proposed medical precinct between Braamfontein and Hillbrow is another good example of both ‘ripple pond’ investment and attention to a transitional area. Another is the provision of middle class housing.



But there are many, many other opportunities largely untapped as yet. The pending bid for the 2010 Soccer World Cup (and there can now be no doubt in anyone’s minds as to the huge value that such events provide as one looks at the positives from the current Cricket World Cup event) provides an incentive to upgrade the much neglected Bertrams area. It lies on the border of sports facilities that will undoubtedly be used in the World Cup and would certainly earn a demerit if adjudicators visit the area now. Joubert Park, revamping areas such as Clarendon Circle and Rocky Street, Louis Botha Avenue, the list is formidable The Gautrain project demands that we address the precinct around Park Station. Potential ripple ponds exist in abundance and offer many opportunities.



The third pillar is to support existing and act as midwife in developing new economic sectors. I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the Fashion District, a great opportunity in terms of potential human development, SMME support and environmental upgrading which we are not developing fast enough for whatever reason. The same can be said for the jewellery district, the medical precinct mentioned earlier, the cultural district, the legal precinct, the financial district, retail, sports, education. Some years ago the Johannesburg Inner City Business Coalition published a spatial development framework for the inner city. I was interested to see that the presentation of this new Strategy initiative included the ‘precinct’ diagram that was included in the JICBC document. I really believe that this focus on precinct development has largely been ignored and am delighted to see it emerging again. The Strategy, under this ‘pillar’ also highlights the need for a high tech area as well as the potential of tourism an aspect that the city has done little to capitalise on. Hopefully, this new strategy will bring a sharper focus and more action in each of these areas.



The fourth pillar relates to an issue very close to my heart, urban management. Currently the strategy for informal trading is being finalised and will result in a more rapid roll-out of informal trading markets and spaces. There is also the building audit I mentioned earlier resulting in focused enforcement. And there is a growing recognition of the value that City Improvement Districts offer the city.



What is now being proposed is that

an audit• of all public properties needs to be done so that we don’t repeat the problems associated with buildings such as Drill Hall,

that a more comprehensive• safety and security plan is developed which will deal with the roll-out of CCTV particularly to the residential areas,

assessments as to whether we• require more taxi rank facilities and

creating a social development• strategy.



Yes!!!! This latter aspect is just so critical – I have long been critical of the authorities that we don’t have a social development strategy. Now its on the screen.



But here I also think we can add that City Improvement Districts (CIDs) are capable of adding a lot more value than they do at present and it certainly this is an area that we will be taking up with the city as part of the strategy.



Finally, the issue of maintaining and upgrading the infrastructure. Whilst the Task Team carrying out the audit on all inner city buildings is identifying existing infrastructural issues on a block-by-block basis, we need to also identify where the key problems lie. Problems abound with traffic lights, water and sewer, stormwater, electrics, etc etc and we need to develop a plan to deal with these. There may have to be a longish programme to deal with the issues because of the costs involved but even a 10 year programme which realistically assesses the city’s needs in maintenance, upgrading and modernisation must be an important consideration if we are to get where we want to be.



The Strategy acknowledges obstacles when looking at the way forward. ie The public sector budgets are peaking, no new Blue IQ projects have been announce and existing capital budgets are small. In addition links between the Council and big business are fragmented.



Taking all of this into account the recommendations on the table are that a

renewed strategy based on the five ‘pillars’ be• developed covering not just the CBD but also the adjacent residential area

• a better Better Buidings Progamme be implemented

new projects linked to the• 2010 soccer bid be identified

plans be reviewed against a detailed economic• strategy and

implementation be closely monitored and reported on.•



I for one am excited about this infusion of fresh thinking which consolidates a lot of what we have been doing with some new approaches. Viva the Inner City, Viva!



Regards, neil