Neil Fraser
October 26, 2004
TWO more aspects of continuing progress in the Inner City Regeneration Programme announced whilst I was away the promulgation of the long awaited Urban Development Zone Tax Incentive and erection on certain streets of new Hawker stands.
Both emanate from work spearheaded by the Economic Development Unit of the Council. I have no doubt that the UDZ announcement at this stage being limited only to Joburg and Cape Town, well certainly in our case, was due to the excellent submission made by the City Council's Economic Development Unit. They also presented a strong motivation for the inner city rather than the CBD being defined as the UDZ a critical issue when it comes to our regeneration efforts. So well done EDU and Trevor Manuel!
I'll be coming back to both these issues in my year-end wrap up starting in November but you can pick up all the relevant info regarding the Joburg UDZ on the City's website www.joburg.org.za
Lessons from Mexico City
Following my business related visit to Vancouver, I took some leave from work and travelled down to two cities that I have always wanted to visit and from which we can undoubtedly learn Mexico City and Havana. Could only afford a few days in each but enough to gain an overall impression and add to my knowledge as I get older I am just so aware of how much there is still to learn! Here are some impressions that I gained of Mexico City mainly written over the few days I was there.
Groups of hunters first visited the area where Mexico City now stands some twenty thousand years ago. Their descendants began to cultivate the land and the population gradually expanded with the initial isolated groups of huts eventually becoming villages. By the fifth century BC a large urban community with their public environment dominated by great religious buildings existed on the south edge of where the modern city sits today.
This was evidently wiped out by a massive volcanic eruption and a new city, Teotihuacan, was built in its place. By the eighth century AD Teotihuacan was the largest pre-Hispanic urban conglomerate in Mesoamerica and existed for about six centuries. In 1325 the Aztecs settled on an island in the middle of a lake establishing their city, Tenochtitlan, connecting it to the mainland with a network of canals and roads.
At the height of its power, Tenochtitlan consisted of magnificent temples, market place, roads, canals, aqueducts, sanitation, and, of course, homes for both the wealthy and poorer classes. Its Tlatelolco Market accommodated 60 000 people who gathered to barter a wide range of products, so hawkers restricted to a market place was a part of their urban economy more than 500 years ago! When the city fell to the Spanish in 1521 it had a population of 600 000.
The Spanish basically razed the Aztec city and built their own over it and proceeded to drain and fill in the surrounding lake. Over the centuries this has proven to be a rather soggy platform for the buildings that eventually covered the filled area. In 1548 the new metropolis that had been established was given the name Most Noble, Distinguished, Most Loyal and Imperial City of Mexico.
A census taken between 1789 and 1794 numbered the inhabitants as 4 483 569! By comparison, London only reached a population of one million by 1800! Following the War of Independence the Mexicans finally overthrew their Spanish colonial oppressors in 1821.
Various forms of government then came and went including a monarchy, an empire, a republic and a 30 year dictatorship under General Porfirio Diaz which ended in the Mexican revolution in 1910 but with the Revolution lasting to 1921.
A 71-year-rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party followed but Mexico City chose a democratic approach in 1997 with the election of their own Executive Mayor probably second in power only to the President himself and has been seriously on the move to clean up the city for some years now.
So, after the energy of Barcelona and the people-first urban design of Vancouver, how does one describe Mexico City? In many ways chaotic, but with a population of twenty million that should hardly be surprising! Over large areas the public environment is stressed with every form of pollution whether it is visual, aural, noise or the air itself! But areas are and have been emerging that offer clean and well controlled public environments.
Buildings range from baroque, neo-classical and art deco to historic and contemporary Mexican architecture then plunge to the worst of twentieth century faceless American glass and aluminium. Contrasts are enormous - the magnificent 15th century Mexico City Cathedral cheek by jowl with an informal trading market with thousands of hawkers selling everything from braaied sweet potatoes to religious artefacts and medicines.
The second largest plaza in the world, Constitution Square, simply known as the Zocalo, is surrounded by wonderful historic buildings, including the Cathedral and National Palace, but the day I was there it formed an amphitheatre for an over amplified speech to some political rally whilst bicycle-rickshaw taxis dodged between hawkers, rallyists and tourists; a chanting protest march complete with the requisite banners threaded itself through what space it could find whilst the riot squad looked on, fairly bored.
Wide boulevards, (I should add long Ave Insurgentes, one of the main thoroughfares is 34 km in length) are solid with vehicles but their pavements are broad, heavily treed and planted - the boulevards are broken regularly by huge traffic circles with splendid monuments and fountains, the air is punctuated by the shrill whistles of the traffic police at each intersection urging vehicles to travel ever faster and faster through these intersections.
Here the car is king, the pedestrian comes off a bad second best. Vehicles weave from one lane to the next, those in far right lanes turning left and vice versa.
This is one city where I wouldn't even think about driving! On my initial taxi trip into the city late in the evening, I sat white-knuckled whilst we wove from one lane to another (a five lane highway) until we so seriously cut off another vehicle that he forced us off the road and proceeded to charge my taxi driver with reckless driving on the spot a process that consisted of the two drivers screaming at each other in Spanish whilst being restrained by two policemen! Maybe we need more of that here, the charging not the screaming!
To reduce the smog from anything between three and six million vehicles, new legislation prohibits you from using your car one day a week controlled through the last number on your number plate!
Surprising, for me, the large number of parks of all sizes throughout the city, well kept with lots of art and sculpture, classical and modern. The city appears to have a very large force of cleaners, very visible, and, except in hawking areas, appears to be reasonably well maintained and clean. A recent article on the city says, Mexico City has spruced up its act, it's never been so sexy, I would agree.
The city's downtown is called El Centro. It actually is the area where the Spanish conquerors founded their city on top of the original Aztec city of Tenochtitlan.
In the early 20th century it suffered all the negative effects of decentralization when the wealthy residential inner-city communities moved to newer areas that allowed for easier security provision. Heard that before! In the 1950s however, El Centro suffered a major blow when the university moved out of the area to a decentralized campus. Their buildings were generally abandoned and the area became infested with informal traders, crime sharply increased and the downtown went into what was prophesied as terminal decline. Heard and seen that before!
More recently, Mexico's richest businessman, Carlos Slim, established a private initiative known as the Fundacion del Centro Historico into which he initially invested $300 million and developed a long term regeneration plan for the area.
The Fundacion initially bought seventy historic buildings and set about a major refurbishment programme to turn them generally into middle to high income residential. But it brought the city government into the act in upgrading the infrastructure - pavements, beautiful period lampposts, etc as well as providing a new Centro police force complete with a CCTV system. AND relocating all the informal traders, they are now banned from El Centro! The result is a highly walkable public environment amongst some truly beautifully refurbished historic buildings. The refurbished residential has in turn attracted new restaurants and high quality retail.
Had lunch at one of the restaurants, a two storey historic building with a wonderful courtyard, great atmosphere and great Mexican food! But the Fundacions work has also sparked off a revival in the refurbishment of and new uses for other historic buildings.
I gave a talk on Johannesburg's revitalisation in a modern carbon copy of a Harvard Business School lecture theatre. Yet it was situated in an 18th century building built originally to shelter widows and orphan girls of Basque origin. The beauty and historical essence of the building has not been lost in the changed use.
A building of an even earlier period, that in fact was the Palace of the Inquisition, is being converted into modern offices for a cultural organization with the interior modernisation in no way prejudicing the integrity of this remarkable building. Although these buildings may represent periods of colonial rule and oppression, they are the history of the city and are being lovingly restored and celebrated AND drawing thousands of tourists!
Something that catches your eye immediately as you stroll through the area is the number of the buildings that appear to be totally out of plumb or sinking. They are this is Pisa multiplied by a 100! Many buildings had been built on the reclaimed area that surrounded the original Aztec inhabited island and the centuries old marshes created as infill are resulting in some buildings to slowly subside. This is particularly pronounced where the edge of the original island and the fill meet. Much work has been done to underpin many of the buildings but not always to return them to their original level.
A large excavation on the edge of El Centro has revealed walls and artefacts of the original Aztec city. The history of the area is now cleverly displayed in a new Museum built on the site. Surrounding El Centro are large blocks of run down buildings in narrow streets with pavements so clogged with hawkers (relocated from El Centro!) that you simply cannot get past. Here you can buy not just pirated music CDs but pirated research CDs from such a wide range of subjects that the hawkers even supply a catalogue. Oh, and here there is also aural pollution, the smells of dozens of different foodstuffs being cooked on the pavements permeate the air whilst the CD sellers blast the eardrums creating noise pollution. Visual pollution of course is apparent as soon as you exit the airport I have never seen as many billboards in my life.
Imagine the highway from Joburg International to the City with billboards every thirty metres, all the way! In both directions! Then many of the buildings in the city itself are crowned or festooned with huge billboards. This is what happens when there is no planning or control or local government greed! I fear we may fast be moving in that direction!
Attended a private dinner party in an architect's home in an exclusive walled community area. Overstated in its minimalism soaring spaces with white marble floors, white leather furniture, white sculptures lit by pinpoint lighting, glass walls and exceptionally thick glass sliding doors - every view has been minutely detailed so that the eye is always at rest whilst the ear is seduced with music that elegantly fills every bit of the space.
The architect/owner says he designed the space as a counter to the chaos outside. The discussion flows from politics and corruption to architecture, music, crime, back to corruption then to economics, and back to politics and corruption. One of the guests is an economist who has just released a book containing his finding regarding the place of art and culture in the economy, now only second and third to oil.
My hostess tells me that her two children live in Europe because of the fear of kidnapping - their area is targeted by gangsters, four kidnappings have occurred in recent times in her street notwithstanding the gated security. The police are perceived as incredibly corrupt and are known to be involved in mugging, drug trafficking and kidnapping. Crime is common because criminals are rarely caught and punished. A recently published study claims that 96% of all crimes went unpunished between 1996 and 2003.Yet, I cant remember ever seeing such a high visible police presence in any city. On foot, motorbikes and cars.
At each of the numerous large traffic circles there are never less, often more, than 6 all working energetically to keep the traffic flowing at breakneck speed. But there is also one at every traffic light as well as those walking the pavements. I understand that literally dozens of different police forces operate in the city with no co-ordination and worse still, viewing each other as rivals. Despite all the numbers, the police evidently see their job as maintaining public order rather than preventing or solving crime. The police force is also not seen as a respectable career, wages are extremely low.
In regard to public transport, there appears to be a hierarchy of taxis and buses. At the lower level are thousands (and I mean thousands) of VW beetles all painted green and white (Mexico was the largest producer of VW beetles up to a year or so ago).
Then there are larger cars, then the equivalent of our combi-taxis - they are called peseros when they first appeared they used to have a flat rate of one peso a trip - and you appear to be able to get on and off at will. And then there are a variety of formal buses of varying sizes. There is also a good, cheap but very crowded underground system.
Urban upgrading isn't limited to buildings. In the mid 1860s, the Emperor of Mexico, an Austrian, Maximilian of Hapsburg cut a grand avenue through the city's rectangular grid pattern as an imperial promenade and this now a main thoroughfare Paseo de la Reforma, is in the final stages of a grand restoration and upgrading. As with many European cities it has two central four-lane roads in each direction with a concrete barrier between, but interspersed with regular flowerbeds.
On the outer side of each road is a wide well treed and beautifully planted pavement, then another narrow two-lane road in each direction and another pavement on each side of those edging the buildings. Many historic bronze busts line the Avenue. No hawkers allowed except numerous shoeshine stands, all the same design and quite unobtrusive. Every two or three hundred metres is a large circle usually containing a fountain or a massive monument. The buildings lining much of this magnificent Avenue are generally a great disappointment you could be in any American city!
Then there are of course fashionable areas such as Polanco, a choice residential suburb whose avenues are lined with Versace, Hermes, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Giorgio Armani, et al and also the requisite Ferrari showroom. They are interspersed with pavement cafes that stretch to the edge of the kerb so that you can't pass other than in the street.
Trendy areas such as Zona Roma where many streets have been partly pedestrianised and offer boutiques, jewelry and leather goods, antique shops interspersed with cafes and restaurants and art galleries. These areas support a vibrant night life dinner starting at nine to ten and ending much, much later in a variety of venues where the tequila flows! San Angel, a quiet barrio of narrow cobbled streets with magnificent haciendas behind high creeper covered walls, a feeling of old wealth.
A visit to one of the many university campuses University City which has 300 000 students! Varied and striking local architecture and many parks and sculpture gardens the large 9 or 10 storey Library completely covered in a mural by Juan OGorman, the Admin building a massive sculpture painting reliefs covered with mosaics by Davis Alfaro Siqueiros. The campus also houses the National Library and I was fortunate to have a visit to its Mexico Room where priceless books dating back to the mid 1500s are kept with huge pride and love.
This is a city of sushi bars, great food, music, tequilas and marguaritas and a constant stream of humanity. But it also is a city of palpable culture and pride. It has over 80 museums, opera houses and art galleries. But it is a city that really celebrates its history and culture both inside and outside. Outdoor art and colour flourishes throughout the city.
A huge black and white photographic display of the city's history lines one major street. I spent hours at its National Museum of Anthropology, the Palace of Fine Arts and other galleries and had great difficulty in deciding into which other cultural institutions I should invest my short time.
A visit to the ancient city of Teotihuacan with its pyramids to the sun and moon eventually won out. It takes a good hour drive to get there and I'm staggered by the sheer volume of low income residential dwellings that spread over every hill and valley on both sides of the road leading there. Some new, ugly, low income developments look as if little thought has gone into the planning and design. The drive emphasises that this isn't a big city, it is huge! Teotihuacan was built in 100 AD and the urban planning is highly disciplined with every building and every room strictly aligned to the four points of the compass and with the pyramids built precisely in relation to the movement of the sun. The streets and squares and palaces are all in such wonderful proportions, individually and in relation to each other that one immediately feels the unity of this ancient city.
Lessons for Joburg
Our ripple pond approach to urban renewal is good but could obviously be so much more effective at scale. Carlos Slim's investment in 700 buildings in the CBD for refurbishment into residential has acted as a magnet for others. We need to embark on more Main Street type developments.
This kind of precinct wide development is useless if it doesn't include the public environment and some hard decisions regarding informal trading and a willingness to enforce again this has been partly successful in Main Street although enforcement by JMPD of traffic violations is lacking.
We are losing great opportunities by not forcing historic/heritage building owners to either fix their buildings up or sell them to someone who will. We need organisations like the tourist agencies to understand the huge asset for tourism that these buildings provide and help us to put pressure on the process to get them back in shape. In Mexico City, tourism and culture are top economic contributors and their historic buildings and precincts are a huge drawcards.
We need to be more flexible in our historic/heritage refurbishment so that we don't sacrifice one bit of the essence of what we are trying to retain but allow the buildings to be put to practical uses and not treated as non-income generating museums.
We need to remember that our cultural roots do not start in 1886 they go back to the original inhabitants of this area and their culture we need to celebrate that culture and expose and display the colonialism that destroyed it. People want to see where Mexico City came from and its origins are far older than the Spanish arrival in 1521!
Johannesburg should have the most comprehensive anthropology museum in Africa. It's a great opportunity. We need to lift our cultural celebrations to a far higher, better marketed and inclusive level.
We need more green space, public space good public space.
Now I need to get over my jet-lag! Hasta luego!
