November 9, 2005
By Ndaba Dlamini
IN the five years since its ambitious plan to rejuvenate the inner city was implemented, the City of Johannesburg has built the confidence of businesses and property dealers to invest in the region through several successful regeneration initiatives.
The City this week held a media briefing to explain the strategic framework of the inner city's development, as well as unpack the progress over the past five years. Yakoob Makda, Region 8 director, and Lael Bethlehem, the chief executive of the Johannesburg Development Agency, attended.
Speaking at Tuesday's briefing, member of the mayoral committee for the inner city, Councillor Sol Cowan, said the City had faced many challenges.
"The inner city team set up an Inner City Task Force to deal with the issues of by-law enforcement, building control, land use, the environment and health."
The result was a clamp down on crime, drug dealers, child prostitution, wanted criminals and robbery, Cowan said.
Through central improvement districts in the inner city, private property owners are funding supplementary and council services, giving the inner city a much-needed shot in the arm.
Constitution Hill has been one of the key development zones
Cowan said projects like Constitution Hill, Newtown and Braamfontein were initiated and many bad buildings were converted through the Better Buildings Programme.
"Through the Better Buildings Programme, we addressed the problem of 'sinkholes', that is, deteriorating buildings that caused investors to take their businesses out of the inner city," said Bethlehem.
"We had the difficult task of identifying these bad buildings and tackling the issue of squatters and people hijacking buildings."
Most of these bad buildings are in Hillbrow and Berea. The programme is working with about 100 buildings and the private sector is refurbishing a similar number.
Over the past five years a block-by-block inspection of buildings in the inner city was conducted. Building inspectors issued 5 000 notices to owners of bad building.
Makda said 60 court orders were issued in the last nine months. Previously, the City could get only one court order in 18 months.
Huge urbanisation, however, has presented set backs. The inner city is now home to about 260 000 people. An additional 850 000 people pass through each day, boosting the city's day time population to more than a million.
"This has put a huge strain on our resources, especially in terms of maintaining a clean city," said Cowan. "Also, many people living in the inner city don't have a sense of belonging - that is why there is always a general unkempt air.
"We need to inculcate a sense of responsibility in our residents and dispel the myth that the inner city is a place of transience," he said.
Makda said the face of the inner city was changing and seven strategically placed clinics now provided better healthcare for inner city residents, including the Esselen Street Clinic in Hillbrow.
Johannesburg had achieved a lot within a short space of time, although there was "still quite a lot to do".
Bethlehem echoed Makda's comment, saying it was still too early to declare the battle won.
The inner city was 18kmē in size and rejuvenating such a huge area would take time. "Catalytic projects" had been implemented to bring investment back into the region.
"Newtown, the refurbishment of Turbine Hall, which is soon to be home to one of South Africa's biggest companies, Number 1 Central Place, Constitution Hill and the new residential developments at Brickfields are projects that are already bearing fruit by bringing back business into the inner city. The property market is back," Bethlehem said.
A number of other projects were also planned. Fashion Square along Pritchard Street and the rejuvenation of the Rockey-Raleigh Street axis in Yeoville would start soon. A High Court precinct would also be developed.
"The Noord Street taxi rank needs to be redeveloped as well [to] look more like the Johannesburg International Airport. We face a big mountain in Hillbrow. The refurbishment of the Europa Hotel is only the starting phase," Bethlehem added.
Permission to use web site material
Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
- Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website
(www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency
(www.joburg.org.za)";
- If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original
article on this website;
- The name of the article's author is acknowledged;
-
The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill
in this brief online form).
Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 |
