August 20, 2002
By Jonews reporter
THE World Summit on Sustainable Development will be over by mid-September, but the changes it has brought to Johannesburg will last considerably longer.
The city's legacy from the Summit ranges widely. New businesses, large and small, have been set up and jobs created, and many of these will continue well after the expected 60 000 Summit visitors depart. So will many of the visible changes - cleaner parks, wider roads, an improved bus service and upgraded street lighting.
Entire depressed areas - like Newtown and Alexandra - are well on their way to reclamation. The city centre has gained a new bus and taxi terminal, and a mall is planned nearby, as improvements designed for the Summit, or speeded up to make a Summit deadline, spawn similar ventures.
Here are some examples of the benefits the Summit has brought to Jo'burg:
The Johannesburg Roads Agency has been busy. The widening of Sandton's roads - Katherine Street, Rivonia Road, William Nicol Drive, Republic Road, the M1 north and south, and upgrading of intersections in Sandton - is now complete and will have immediate benefits for the tens of thousands of commuters stuck in traffic jams along Rivonia Road each morning.
Major repairs have been done to sewers in the neighbourhood of key summit venues to cope with the massive population influx. The sewer upgrades will benefit all residents of Sandton, where the population has exploded way beyond the limits of existing infrastructure.
City Power has increased lighting in problem areas in and around the Summit venues.
Metrobus has recently acquired 200 new buses, and once the Summit is over, they will be welcomed by ordinary commuters.
Some 150 surveillance cameras have been installed around the city, reducing the crime rate by 80%.
In early August Pikitup ran a successful Clean Up Jo'burg Day and was involved in the province's competition for the cleanest school. It has also run a similar competition of its own, thus raising awareness in the city's schools of the need for environmental awareness. Pikitup is involved in establishing buy-back centres, and seven have been established. Two more sites are being developed, one in Yeoville and the other in the CBD. The centres aim to create jobs for the poor, and recycle paper waste, glass and metal.
Johannesburg has many delightful parks and open green spaces, all of which have been spruced up. Millions of trees have been planted and dams have been cleared, particularly Moroka Dam in Soweto. Parks that will be improved include Masupha/Ben Naude in Diepkloof; Van Onselen in Meadlowlands West; Marlboro Drive and Rivonia Road in Sandton; and Katherine Street, also in Sandton.
Turbine Hall in Newtown has been renovated in time to serve as the major music centre for Summit delegates, and Mary Fitzgerald Square has been entirely remade for arts events.
Some of the showcase projects prepared for the Summit include Eco City in the township of Ivory Park in Midrand where residents are making paper from recycled waste and vegetable matter, in the process creating jobs; and the Greenhouse Project in Joubert Park, which demonstrates and encourages sustainable development practices.
The Summit benefits Johannesburg in a great many ways, says the acting head of communications for the City, Tasneem Carrim, who lists five reasons why the Summit will boost the city's economy:
Much of the world's media will focus on the Summit during the critical fortnight, which will help raise the city's international profile. This will have long-term benefits for investment and tourism. There are plenty of precedents, such as the Olympic Games and the World Cup, to confirm the power of a single, large international event to put a city on the world map.
The arrival of tens of thousands of visitors, all armed with foreign exchange, will have huge benefits for retail in the city - everything from taxis to restaurants, curio shops, museums, Internet cafes and entertainment venues.
The Summit has provided a catalyst for much-needed upgrades to city infrastructure. Most of these upgrade projects were already in the pipeline - but it required the urgency of the Summit deadline to ensure that so many were executed so swiftly.
New businesses have been established to organise the Summit; for example, the Johannesburg World Summit Company, creating employment. The infrastructure upgrades have created new opportunities to employ the city's poor: building roads, digging trenches for drains and clearing away waste to make way for green areas.
The Summit has helped focus the attention of the local public on issues of sustainable development. There is now a far more widespread understanding that sustainability has relevance to our daily lives in a developing country.
Johannesburg:
The legacy of hosting the WSSD
Why does Jo'burg need the World Summit?
Johannesburg has spent about R65-million to host thousands of delegates attending the fortnight-long World Summit on Sustainable Development. The head of media liaison for the city, Tasneem Carrim, says this is money well spent as the summit will benefit Johannesburg in many ways.
Read more
Jo'burg goes greener for World Summit
Johannesburg's parks and roads will be greener and cleaner this winter as delegates arrive for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). The City of Johannesburg undertook a massive project during which it refurbished 12 parks in the inner city, restored two nature reserves and planted trees and lawn on arterial routes.
Read more
It's all go on the Sandton roads
THE massive project to upgrade the roads and intersections in and around Sandton - at a cost of R74 million - in preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development was completed on schedule and well ahead of the official opening of the summit.
Read more
Jo'burg gets a good scrub
Joburg residents gave the city a good scrub in a campaign declared "Clean-up Jo'burg Day." The day was part of the "Joburg Unite" campaign to spruce up the city ahead of the World Summit. Pikitup, the city's environmental and waste management company, plans to make the "Joburg Unite" an ongoing campaign and the "Clean-up Joburg" drive an annual event.
Read more
Police rip down illegal posters
A special 10-man police squad has removed illegal posters from public places ahead of the arrival of delegates to the World Summit on Sustainable Development. This was carried out in terms of by-laws promulgated last December that outlaw the displaying of posters on council property.
Read more
Alexandra to get a facelift
Johannesburg's overcrowded township of Alexandra, is getting a facelift. The upgrade started shortly after President Thabo Mbeki announced in February that the township was to be redeveloped at an estimated budget cost of R1.3-billion over a seven-year period.
Read more
A resource centre for Alex
The Johannesburg World Summit Company (Jowsco) is to donate a multi-media resource centre to Alexandra township at the end of the World Summit. The centre was given to Jowsco by the Norwegian government to help the company in its preparations for the summit.
Read more
A makeover for historic Kliptown
The Gauteng Provincial Government and the City of Johannesburg have jointly committed more than R375m towards the renovation of Kliptown, the city's oldest all-race settlement. The revival will include the establishment of a monument in Freedom Square - the site of the adoption of the Freedom Charter in 1955 - upgrading the main road that runs through the area and the construction of 1 400 housing units.
Read more
Turbine Hall set for a jol
THE Turbine Hall, recently renovated at a cost of R4 million, will be abuzz with action as a diverse mix of Africa's musicians perform as part of the entertainment programme of the World Summit.
Read more
Soweto goes green for World Summit
In preparation for the visit to the township by delegates to the World Summit, Soweto has turned 2 000 hectares of open space greener and more user-friendly in a R1.5-million project.
Read more
The people get behind Soweto dam project
A R20-million mayoral showcase project to restore Soweto's neglected Moroka Dam and Thokoza park in Rockville has rekindled community spirit among local residents.
Read more
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 |
