Neil Fraser
November 5, 2004
OVER the next four to five weeks I want to look critically at how the inner city has done during 2004 and then to do some crystal-ball gazing for 2005 and beyond. It's also a good time to award some brickbats and bouquets or orchids and onions, roses or cabbages none of which sound very city-ish but you know what I mean! As last year, I will produce an illustrated compilation of the review so if you want one, drop me a line.
We'll start this week with the northern part of the inner city, running east from the high-density residential suburbs of Yeoville, Berea and Hillbrow, the Hillbrow Health Precinct, Constitution Hill, Braamfontein, the Wits Campus to Milpark (which I know isn't really the inner city but is worth reflecting on.)
Yeoville
Yeoville, on the north-east of the central city area, was a very early 1890 - and important suburb producing, as Clive Chipkin noted, a vast array of professional and entrepreneurial talent. Up to a decade ago it had a strong middle income residential community with vibrant economic, social and entertainment activities.
Vibrant or vibey are in fact appropriate words to describe the Yeoville of yesteryear. I remember Sunday newspaper articles extolling the funkiness of the area with its hip retail, unusual food offerings and fun drinking holes. My wife and I often went there on a Saturday to browse and enjoy the somewhat off-beat shops and eating houses. However, over the past decade or so it has changed and, sadly, not for the better. It attracted an influx of illegal activities associated with high crime and grime, drugs, illegal bars, prostitution, etc., and the area went into a tailspin.
The physical environment started decaying and Yeoville became a no-go area for the many Joburgers who had previously supported it. Its main drag, Rockey/Raleigh Street, went from hip to horrible and the residential area surrounding it saw a great deal of illegal conversion to business or retail much of which dealt in liquor and drugs. Earlier this year the JDA undertook a detailed examination of the precinct and came up with a good proposal that focused on the regeneration of the high street, Rockey/Raleigh, but the required investment was substantial and a greatly scaled down initiative is now being considered.
The latest development is that the city's planning department, evidently after advertising its intent and holding the requisite public meetings, is to amend the Johannesburg Town Planning scheme to recognize and legalise the numerous house shops that have mushroomed in the suburb.
Evidently there will be rigid rules that will restrict the trading area, number of people serving and goods that can be sold. Good, bad or indifferent? I think the jury must be out on this one to see how the granting of permission is going to be done and, more important, how the conditions of approval are going to be enforced. If this is not done properly, it will add to the general degeneration of the area.
The Yeoville Market was the prototype for informal trading markets in the inner city. It was supposed to take all informal traders off Rockey/Raleigh but lack of adequate enforcement has nullified this objective and we can only hope that this new initiative is not going to be equally marginalized.
With all of its difficulties, Yeoville has a powerful positive a small band of Yeovillites who are passionate about the area, its survival and its ultimate resurgence as a highly convenient, accessible community centre.
Hillbrow/Berea
"Five men were found with their ribs ripped off by what appeared to have been a butchers knife…Two women were raped and then killed in Quartz Street... Three Nigerians who evaded arrest at Jan Smuts Airport were finally arrested in Pretoria Street for drug dealing... Street kids, drunk with glue, brandy and wild visions of themselves as speeding Hollywood movie drivers, were racing their wire made cars through red robots, thus increasingly becoming a menace to motorists driving through Hillbrow, especially in the vicinity of Banket and Claim Streets... At least eight people died and thirteen were seriously injured when the New Years Eve celebrations took the form of torrents of bottles gushing out of the brooding clouds that were flat balconies... Men going anywhere near the corner of Quartz and Smit Streets were advised to beware of the menace of increasingly aggressive prostitutes. A few men had allegedly been raped there recently…Welcome to our Hillbrow…" (extract form novella entitled Welcome to our Hillbrow by Phaswane Mpe)
Yet, many of us still cherish our memories of Hillbrow as the cosmopolitan capital of Africa. Remember the book and record shops, the international newspapers and magazines, the movie houses, the coffee shops and eating places, the clubs and hotels? The vibe on the streets as white, black, brown, pink and yellow rubbed shoulders and had fun together?
For too long it hasn't been like that! Crowded streets and pavements exude a nervousness during the day, palpable fear at night.
The perception is sleazy strip joints, prostitution and an abundance of drugs. However, this past year, investors in residential property have again begun to see Hillbrow - and Berea which doesn't quite have the same reputation as its neighbour - as great opportunities.
The recently released Trafalgar Inner City Report 2004 states that anecdotal evidence suggests that successful landlords can achieve yields on high-density residential blocks in Hillbrow or Berea as high as 30% to 35%.
Later in the Report the typical inner city renters of accommodation in Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville are described as young, black and single and probably have dependent family members or children. Usually male and have most likely lived in the inner city for no more than 18 months although their original plan was to stay between three and five years. The next suburb they'd like to move to is Sandton, but they're more likely to rent than buy.
Investors include Neville Schaefers Trafalgar; the Financial Mails Ian Fife; Taffy Adlers Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC) and the ever ebullient Brian Miller. All of them believe in one overriding factor - if you want to succeed in a tough environment, GOOD MANAGEMENT is the name of the game. All of them practice what they preach!
In addition, a strong emphasis on upgrading and managing the public environment around the precincts in which their investments are located. However, Brian Miller, who apart from being a major property owner also heads up the Property Owners and Managers Association (POMA), is concerned at the number of properties in both Berea and Hillbrow that have been badly vandalized and illegally occupied. The biggest problems appear again to be around the issues of lack of enforcement by the JMPD and the reluctance of the SAPS to act against the building hijackers and illegal occupants.
Well, as we move west, the news gets better!
Hillbrow Health Precinct
Progress on the consolidation and physical upgrading of the Hillbrow Health Precinct has been slow and accompanied with little fuss or publicity. The precinct centres around Essellen Street but fits between Hillbrow and Braamfontein just south of Constitution Hill.
It is bordered in the north by Kotze Street and in the south by Smit Street. It stretches east to west between Klein and Joubert. This is actually a strategic position relative to inner city medical facilities within a close radius are the Donald Gordon Medical Centre, Brenthurst Clinic, Park Lane Clinic, Rand Clinic, various medical research institutes, the mortuary and the Esselen Street Clinic as well as the Memorial Hospital for Children. The initiative is a partnership between the City, Wits University's Reproductive Health Research Unit (RHRU) and Provincial Government. Its medical vision is the development of a centre of excellence in the research and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDs, etc but its broader regeneration vision is to create an integrated, safe secure and functional area by :
- being the preferred location for primary health care providers
- consolidating the research base and operational connections among stakeholders
- enhancing the existing residential accommodation and
- creating world class educational and training facilities.
A fair amount of work has been completed to the streetscaping but I understand that the steadily increasing understanding of the medical focus of the area has led to a dramatic increase in its usage specifically related to HIV/AIDs.
Constitution Hill
This past year has been a positive one for the massive development taking place on the northern edge of the inner city. The Constitutional Court building, I think one of the most important new buildings to emerge in the city for many decades, architecturally as well as symbolically, was opened on Human Rights Day earlier this year.
The Chief Justice, Arthur Chaskalson, writing in a recent publication celebrating the first ten years of South Africas Constitutional Court says; A little more than a hundred years ago a high security prison was built on the Braamfontein ridge in Johannesburg. A few years later the establishment was strengthened and given a military capacity through the building of a series of forts around it. That site became a landmark in Johannesburg. It was known in some circles as the Johannesburg Fort, and in others, as Number Four, the name given to the frightening section of the prison in which black male prisoners were incarcerated.
That was typical of the times through which we have lived. Racial segregation prevailed even in gaols, for it was considered by those who wielded power, to be necessary in every sphere of life.
This site, rich in history, has now become the home of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. The Court was established some ten years ago when, almost miraculously, after centuries of repression and exploitation which caused degradation on a massive scale and unconscionable suffering, we committed ourselves to building an open and democratic society based on human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms. The Court is a symbol of that commitment which lies at the heart of our new democracy. It stands in place of the prison, a symbol of repression that occupied the site before it.
The three prison buildings previously used to incarcerate hundreds of thousands of South Africans particularly relative to apartheid crimes, the Fort, Number Four and the Women's Gaol have been carefully cleaned up rather than restored - and the former two are in constant use as venues for a wide range of activities and launches as well as being an increasingly important tourist attraction. The Women's Gaol is still being refurbished as well as being the site for a new office building that will appropriately house a number of the country's commissions. This work should all be completed by the end of this year.
Construction of the large multilevel parking basement is well-advanced and next year it will become operational. Still to be built over the parking basement are the tourist centre, hotel and offices. Refurbishment of the previous Queen Elizabeth Maternity Home buildings into residential has also not yet commenced.
Braamfontein
Braamfontein is a great example of the value of investing in the quality of the public environment. Yesterday I was asked to show some British property experts the urban renewal efforts in the city and, driving through Braamfontein, I was freshly struck by the huge improvement in the general ambience of the place.
This was clearly heightened by the fact that the new planting along the roads is all taking and the precinct is becoming distinctly green. The new park in front of the Civic Theatre funded by Sappi, the Sappi piazza and the general feeling engendered by a well designed, light, planted, clean and safe public environment is just so strong and positive.
A very comprehensive exercise has been carried out over the past year into the branding of Braamfontein and the results will be launched shortly. Still on the positives, the public environment upgrading programme resulted in the development of a pissoir public urinal - in fact two, one for males and one unisex. This has proved to be so successful that I believe Development Bank funding could be made available for rolling it out throughout the city and possibly nationally! Can't be soon enough lest we drown in a sea of urine!
On the negatives, the area however is still pockmarked by a number of slum lorded properties the Council says that there is nothing they can do as no bylaws are being contravened, but I don't buy that. The other major problem not yet tackled is that of the infamous Braamfontein alleyways.
The town planning scheme in Braamfontein resulted in the creation of a large number of alleyways between buildings. In many cases these are not kept adequately clean, they have become collection places for the homeless with all the sanitary and other problems engendered by the indigent and are places where criminals gather. There are very definite plans to address the situation but no money! An application has been made to the Lotto for funds, can't say that all avenues aren't being explored!
By contrast to the upgraded northern half of Braamfontein, the lower or southern section is not in good shape. Here the public environment is poor, in places bad, and the buildings in the area are generally poorly maintained.
The area has developed a reputation for being crime ridden and, in fact, has experienced major criminal activity in the past few months. I hear talk of gangs operating out of this area and again, feel that lack of enforcement is at the heart of the problem.
It is however increasingly being looked at as an area for residential and, particularly, student accommodation. I know that there is a huge need for appropriate accommodation for students and that many students are currently being exploited in sub-standard and overcrowded accommodation, but we do need to have a sensible approach to ensure that what is provided is optimal and where it is provided offers a good public environment. Here I find our City Planning problematic, both in quality of existing town planning controls but also in providing a strong lead.
My recent visit to Vancouver showed me what a good planning regime can accomplish. Ours is sorely lacking.
Wits University
I previously reported on a number of new buildings that the university is planning in order to meet the demands of rapid growth and changes in academic structure. Wits has 25 000 students currently - dramatically up from 18 000 in 2000.
I don't think that the proposed building programme has commenced yet although I believe that some R200 million has been spent in capital investments over the past few years. There has recently been a proposal call for a new arts or museum facility to add to its existing stock of 14 museums and two art galleries. The policy of becoming more outwardly connected through a more permeable boundary between it and Braamfontein does not yet appear to have been implemented.
One very exciting development is the current discussions between the university, the City and business at how relationships between these sectors can be practically enhanced.
Of particular interest to me is a long held view that Johannesburg is at the cutting edge of urban development and as such should house a vibrant Urban Institute to record and promote good urban practice and undertake research. This is at last being seriously considered and will continue to be addressed over the coming months.
Milpark
Finally, in regard to the western end of the area we are reviewing is Milpark and the Auckland Park boundary. This has seen some major private sector investment over the past two years in the refurbishment of old commercial and industrial buildings into a state of the art major film studio, loft apartments and a trendy commercial and entertainment area.
Some concerns have emerged in regard to crime in the area and we are looking at the possible establishment of a CID to counteract this.
The Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) is planning an innovative new residential development in the area whilst the JDA is undertaking a study into the redevelopment of the Gasworks site and buildings this could be a really exciting project.
Over the road from the Gasworks is the new R50 million School of Tourism and Hospitality which will be opened before year end and next to it the new School of Art and Design is under construction. Both of these are part of the Wits Technikon development programme. Wits Tech will amalgamate with the Rand Afrikaanse University early next year together forming the Johannesburg University.
Summing up, there has been a lot of good progress in this geographic area on the north of the inner city stretching from Berea to the eastern edge of Auckland Park. There are also lots of problems and issues to resolve but I believe that the positives of 2004 far outweigh the negatives.
