JOBURG INNER CITY URBAN DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 25

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1 2.3.8 Key Role as Significant Residential Node of the City (See Plan 7) The Inner City is playing an increased role as residential hub within the broader City and Gauteng City Region. In terms of the Johannesburg Inner City Regeneration Strategy Business Plan (2004), the Inner City residential population were already calculated at, at least, at people in (The 2008 CSIR Toolkit for Integrated Planning used an estimate of for 2007.) The Inner City further plays multiple roles as a place of residence. Since its inception, the Inner City has been a place of reception for newcomers. It is a foothold for first time migrants to Johannesburg, from urban areas or small towns or even outlying townships within South Africa as well as for immigrants from other African countries. An overview of trends and dynamics (provided at the Inner City summit 2007) indicated that Johannesburg Inner City has residential units, with a 120 people moving in each day. The presentation also states that 12,5% of the youth (18 25) in Gauteng live in the Inner City. The Inner City provides a wide range of housing options. Amongst these are rental accommodation for newly formed households, first time home renters, single people and small families. Increasingly, it is also hosting both lower middle income households, in private rental and social housing developments, as well as poor families, in a variety of accommodation types, many of them inadequately serviced, overcrowded and informal and/or illegal. Historically the commercial core was devoid of residential use. Housing was concentrated in neighbouring high density areas of Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville and in medium-rise residential zone of the eastern and western suburbs of the inner city. Distinctive residential areas include: The retail, light industrial and residential mix in medium rise historic neighbourhood of Fordsburg, with its peculiar fine grain and vibrant street life. Areas like Fordsburg and Mayfair, from where Indian South Africans were removed, have been repopulated by some of the original residents. Home to a cohesive Muslim community, they have attracted Muslim migrants and refugees, particularly from India, Pakistan and Somalia. These changes have been reinforced by faith-based social networks, where the Muslim community provides support and rents housing to non-nationals sharing the same faith (Majodina and Peberdy, 2000). The high-rise residential neighbourhoods of Hillbrow and Berea with retail and entertainment activity strips. The medium-rise neighbourhood with distinctive high street of Yeoville. Areas like Yeoville and Hillbrow have traditionally been home to migrants. In the apartheid years, these migrants were largely white. Today, they are largely black Africans from elsewhere in the City, South Africa and Africa. The historical fabric in low-rise, fine-grained residential neighbourhoods of the eastern suburbs including Bertrams, Troyeville, Jeppestown. Illegal conversion of commercial buildings into overcrowded, poorly serviced accommodation in declining buildings in the eastern band of the inner core, including the areas of Jeppestown and New Doornfontein. The housing needs of people living in the Inner City are varied. Much of the housing need is for short stay, rental accommodation for very low-income persons. This need is poorly serviced. In Johannesburg specifically, the informal invasion of buildings originally designed to accommodate other uses, is a clear indication that the poor also consider the Inner City as a good locality for residential purposes. Provision of formal accommodation for so-called transitional housing, short-term stay accommodation for very low income, has been limited. But several such projects, including those managed by faith-based organisations, have been provided. There is a big drive behind conversion of low-grade commercial, (some) light industrial, and older residential hotel buildings into rental accommodation directed at the lower middle income and the affordable housing market. The new residential development has been able to take advantage of low property values in the inner city and has created pockets of gentrification. The result is, on the one hand, the provision of accommodation to serve the massive demand for lower middle income rental. On the other hand a consequence of the upgrading has been the displacement of poorer households who have occupied buildings that have suffered decline. As the residential population of the inner city as a whole grows and as the Inner City is increasingly occupied by residential uses, the need for the externalities that support housing environments is exacerbated. This includes social, educational and recreational facilities, health care and public open spaces, public transport, libraries and access to livelihoods and job opportunities. While these are present in the outer band of the Inner City CBD, they are not found in the inner core. An increasing need is found for affordable facilities for Early Childhood Development to support single mothers. Recent studies (2007) also indicated the increase in homeless (estimated at ), the numbers of street children, as well as substance abuse under the youth again highlighting the serious plight for social facilities and support in the Johannesburg Inner City. In order for the Inner City to efficiently play its role as residential hub and home to the wide range of groups and often vulnerable communities, it is critical that community service facilities are provided and that these as well as other services in the Inner City be well-functioning and accessible. In its role as a place to live for a diverse range of people, the Inner City has already spawned all sorts of economic activity with specific spatial implications, including malls, but also the small shops, cooperative barbers, localized informal and small scale economy as well as bulk wholesale trade across borders, informal trading as well as corner cafés and cultural tourism. It can be argued that currently the locational conditions for living in the Inner City are absent, and need to be retrofitted into the space in order to make it a successful place to live and create/carve out a living. JOBURG INNER CITY URBAN DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 25

2 PLAN 7 KEY ROLE RESIDENTIAL NODE otha is B Lou M1 Current distribution of residential density Jan Smuts Recent conversions into residential units or construction of new housing units by 4 major residential developers (AFHCO, CityProp, JHC, Joshco). Jorissen Rissik Biccard Harrison Smit ut nho uide Bez Bree Jeppe Market er Commission Anderson Jules Eloff Ext Boo yse ns M2 JOBURG INNER CITY URBAN DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 26

3 2.3.9 Key Role as Major Office Node of the City Historically, the Inner City was the focus of intensive investment by both the public and private sectors in office development. With the major decentralisation of office buildings and corporate activities to nodes such as Sandton and Randburg, the requirement for office space declined and changed in character. However, with more than 1,7 million m² rentable office space ( m² according to Viruly, 2009), the Johannesburg Inner City not alone remains the largest single office node in the City but also in the country (JICBC, 2005). It provides more than double the A and B-grade office space area provided by the next biggest office node, Sandton (Inner City Regeneration Strategy Business Plan , 2004). It is the most central location for companies with a large corps of office workers, mainly depending on a central location and access to public transport. In an overview of trends and dynamics (2007), it was Office Total identified that the Inner Rentable City houses Area formal businesses, estimated at providing a R 87 billion annual turnover. The distribution of office space between P, A, B and C-grade is illustrated in the pie diagram. 234, sqm sqm C 15% B 34% m 2 P 3% A 48% The largest component is A-grade, explained by the large presence of corporates such as Anglo American, Absa, First National Bank, Standard Bank, Transnet and the Gauteng provincial government who are still using the Inner City as their base. The JICBC (2005) is, however, of the opinion that new demand for office space in the Inner City is likely to come from an emerging market of smaller and newly established NGOs, lawyers, accountants, private colleges and BEE companies who are attracted to both the affordability and the accessibility of the node (JICBC, 2004). Many of the building conversions in the Inner City include the refurbishment of C-grade office space into residential properties as these properties are much more affordable to obtain. This causes a reduction in the supply of affordable office space (see table highlighting the reduction in C-grade office space). The affordable office stock thus seems to be declining, with conventional buildings being upgraded and redeveloped and the property market being completely restructured. This trend could have a serious impact on the Inner City in terms of ensuring an adequate supply of office space to fulfil the future need as pointed out by the JICBC and it needs to be managed. Rentable office space per category SAPOASource: Viruly, 2009 Availability for P-, A-, B-, and C-grade office space in the Inner City Source: Viruly, 2009 The Inner City thus not only becomes the space marked by the major corporation who have taken a conscious decision to stay but should also be protected and enhanced as location of a wider range and growing array of SMMEs. JOBURG INNER CITY URBAN DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 27

4 Key Role as Transport and Interchange Hub The biggest transport interchange in the country is located within the Johannesburg Inner City with many different modes (i.e. car, taxi, bus and train) with a wide range of local, national and international origins and destinations. It is also one of the places of the highest accessibility in the Gauteng City Region (see figure). taxi associations and routes (Greater Park Station Precinct Urban Design and Heritage Management Framework, 2008). Waiting time seems to range between 10 and 20 minutes. In addition to the 14 formal minibus taxi holding facilities, another 39 informal holding facilities are in operation. These are supported by seven formal longdistance holding facilities. The intensity, coupled with the informal nature of this industry, contributes to major congestion in some parts of the Inner City. This is worsened by the general shortage of parking for private vehicles coming into the Inner City every day People are using the Inner City rail network on a daily basis with embarking and disembarking on weekdays (Inner City Summit: Overview of trends and dynamics, 2007). Many people, especially from the southern part of the City, enter it via public bus on a daily basis. Park Station Apart from coming to the Inner City via public transport, people are also walking from residential areas on the periphery of the Inner City, including Yeoville, Hillbrow, Jeppestown, Fordsburg, Bertrams and the like. Due to the prominence given to cars in the design of the City, this is often a cumbersome experience. With the new Gautrain and the supporting BRT system, a new dynamic will be overlaid over the Inner City. This will not only improve connections to other parts of the City and the province but also to the airport and thus also internationally. Being a destination point for numerous buses coming via road through the borders of the country, the Inner City becomes a direct reception space for visitors from the rest of the African continent sometimes to stay and sometimes just to pass through and connect. Prominence of Inner City as origin and destination in Gauteng Source: CSIR, 2006 The daily flows of commuters in the Inner City, especially pedestrians and users of public transport, are exceptionally high. According to the City Centre Development Framework, about people are employed in the Inner City (City Centre Development Framework, 2007). However, it is estimated that well over people pass through the Inner City daily on their way to their different destinations (Johannesburg Inner City Regeneration Strategy Business Plan , 2004). It is further estimated that 72% of all public transport trips are made in taxis, with about minibus taxis being organised into approximately 30 short-distance Transportation hubs and transfer points are not only key points in terms of the departure or arrival for a specific transport mode. It also provides the point of connecting with other modes and other places. It also provides the opportunity to connect with other people. Intermodal facilities thus provide opportunities for social activities but also for economic activities and trade. Of critical importance are aspects such as infrastructure maintenance, safety and access to basic services such as sanitation and water for users of these facilities. In addition to being a hub of public and private transport for Johannesburg and Gauteng, the Inner City also plays key roles as a centre of freight, a centre of movement of goods (small and big) and a place of movement of money. JOBURG INNER CITY URBAN DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 28

5 Key Role as Focus of Niche Markets (See Plan 8) The Inner City, as one of the contributors to the City s economy, plays a critical role in providing anchor points for and access to international, national, regional and local niche market networks and clusters. Some of the well-known niche markets are, for example, the Fashion District and Jewel City. These are anchored both in terms of identity and spatial clustering of businesses, manufacturing, SMMEs and other related services within particular precincts in the Inner City. The Inner City also houses Johannesburg s major educational, sporting and artistic institutions and venues; the latter are mainly clustered in the Greater Newtown Cultural Quarter. These spatial clusters provide anchor points not only in terms of location but also in terms of agglomeration advantages, marketing opportunities, input and output linkages and tourism. In some cases, spatial clustering provides opportunities for increased public space management and security, with Jewel City being a case in the extreme. These anchors also provide focus points to link and connect to a network of services and/or production activities taking place in other areas in the Inner City, the bigger City, the City Region and even globally. A fashion-related niche market is focused around Kapitol Square in the Fashion District, located towards the eastern edge of the Inner City. The district houses over 100 fashion-related businesses, including Cut, Make and Trim operators, a budget clothing retail industry and studios of several emerging and established designers like Clive Rundell. The trade within the precinct is largely focused on textiles and clothing but includes other merchandise as well. It is estimated that the Fashion District employs workers and generates an annual turnover of R120 million. To further strengthen this niche market, fashion-related activities taking place in other parts of the Inner City (e.g. at the Oriental Plaza and at 1 President Street) should be linked to the network of activities associated with the fashion industry. Jewel City, in contrast, operates as a secure enclave for the diamond (and jewellery) industry. It consists of three interlinked and adjacent buildings. It houses the Diamond Bourse, the South African Diamond Board and the Diamond Foundation. All the units within this successful cluster are currently fully let with about eighty on a waiting list. Jewel City provides a home to about 46 rough dealers, 44 manufacturing firms and Jewel City 58 polished dealers. It houses 66% of Gauteng s diamond cutters, 54% of its polished diamond dealers, 48% of its rough diamond dealers and two training colleges. In 2006, it was estimated that the Jewel City tenants employed people, in total produced a monthly turnover of about R11 million and catered for about visitors in just one week. Another success story in terms of niche market development is concentrated in the north-western corner of the Inner City in the Newtown Cultural Precinct. Local, African and international cultural and heritage tourism, activities and entertainment industries have been drawing audiences, facilitating an increase of visitors per month between 2003 to Miriam Makeba Faraday Market The Inner City of Johannesburg further provides ample opportunities in the niche market selling muti and delivering services through traditional healing practices. The Mai Mai Market and Faraday Market are both focal points for this activity. The markets are tourist attractions but the activity should be deliberately promoted as a niche market integrated in the economy of the Inner City. Of specific importance for niche market development in the Inner City of Johannesburg is manufacturing, as a lot of production-related activities take place throughout the area. However, most of these are linked to the current niche markets and should deliberately be integrated within the network of activities. It is a function that should be enhanced and supported as a value-adding initiative within niche markets in the Inner City. Fashion in... President Street Fashion District Oriental Plaza The Inner City belongs to (and needs to provide services to support) a wide range of people, activities and also niche markets. Services should support those visiting the Inner City as tourists as well as the niche day-tripper. It should also serve those who are part of the industry. Needs for visitors are for temporary accommodation, efficient public transport, tourism information centres, specialised market information and clear signage. Services should also support the niche market through effective basic service provision and network information. JOBURG INNER CITY URBAN DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 29

6 M1 Louis Botha PLAN 8 KEY ROLE - FOCUS OF NICHE MARKETS Fashion Jewellery Traditional market Culture-related industries Jan Smuts Jorissen Smit ORIENTAL PLAZA NEWTOWN 1 PRESIDENT STREET Biccard Bree Jeppe Harrison Rissik FARADAY MARKET FASHION DISTRICT Market Commissioner Anderson JEWEL CITY KWA MAI-MAI MARKET Bezuidenhout Jules M2 Booysens Eloff Ext JOBURG INNER CITY URBAN DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 30

7 Key Role as Place of Inclusivity The Johannesburg Inner City (as many others in South Africa) is still marked by the impact and scars of historic segregation policies and socio-economic inequalities. Yet, over the last decade it started to grow and celebrate the vibrancy, inclusivity and diversity that have been part of many communities and places through the City s history. The Inner City is playing an increased role as a centre of multicultural diversity, providing the Gauteng City Region and the City of Johannesburg with an identity of inclusivity, vibrancy and diversity often associated with African cities. The City of Johannesburg, branded as the Cultural Capital of the country, is depicting the diverse history, heritage and culture in an inclusive space (Regeneration Charter, 2007). approach that ensures safe and clean environments without being over regulatory. Being inclusive also means the application of universal design principles to accommodate the physically challenged and a diverse range of people with different language and knowledge skills, abilities and base experiences. The Inner City is in many ways playing a significant role in terms of providing an inclusive identity for its residents and users for the broader City of Johannesburg, for the Gauteng City Region and (as a leading centre connecting South Africa to Africa and the rest of the world) for South Africa as a whole. As such, the Inner City belongs to people who use it the office workers, the shop keepers, the entrepreneurs on street, the corporate managers and the informal traders. They need an enabling environment, both in spatial and in institutional terms. The Inner City also acts as point of entry for people, through emergency, temporary and permanent housing for new migrants from other African countries or from rural areas and smaller towns in South Africa. A significant proportion of the residents of the Inner City are actually part of a transient population (60% of respondents in a survey in the Ellis Park area during 2004 indicated that they have homes somewhere else (Ellis Park Development Feasibility Study Urban Design Framework, 2004)). The recent outbreaks of xenophobia and the dire circumstances in Zimbabwe once again highlighted the role of the Inner City in providing emergency and temporary shelter. It also illustrated that the size and make-up of the Inner City s population is not stable and continually undergoes shifts in composition, with the accompanying shifts in medium- and short-term needs and governance responses. Obviously this transient population has certain implications for housing and service delivery, and for social and economic programmes to capture the cultural diversity and heterogeneous nature of the area. Amidst the transience of people and an ever-changing social environment, the City should provide stability and security to private investors and corporate users. As a place of inclusivity the Johannesburg Inner City should cater for a wide range of income groups. This should be done in a manner that is inclusive through the creation of opportunities for interaction and sharing of spaces and resources. On the one hand it needs to cater for the poor in terms of providing a range of housing types, shelter and emergency housing, access to opportunities for social services and opportunities to create livelihoods. At the same time, the Inner City is also home and destination for medium and higher income groups, corporate business and investors, as well as a wide variety of day-to-day users and a diverse range of tourists. This challenge implies inclusive design and governance for the most vulnerable communities, as well as for the power house of the South African economy. This requires an urban management JOBURG INNER CITY URBAN DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 31

8 Key Role as Place of Entrepreneurial Innovation and Creativity From its establishment in 1886 until this day Johannesburg has shown a strong survivalist character. It was never expected that Johannesburg would survive after the initial gold rush. Neither this premise nor the policies of Apartheid could break the spirit of the City. In the 1980s and 1990s urban decay as a result of uncertainty, decentralisation and neglect placed enormous pressure on the future of the Inner City. In true reflection of its spirit of survival, the City and its people showed character and the last decade has seen a remarkable, positive turnaround in the City! This could be ascribed to the City's ability to think creatively amidst a mode of survival. Johannesburg Inner City has always been a place of possibility, a place where since its inception people have flocked to, to seek their fortunes. Despite setbacks, the City grew from a small mining town to a premier global African city. Migrants, entrepreneurs, corporate organisations, investors, residents, traders and even government institutions need to be extremely innovative, flexible and creative to tap into the opportunities brought by a dynamic, complex, ever-changing Inner City. In many ways the Inner City is a place of extremes, stretching the imagination and capabilities of those engaging with it. It is a place of crime and a place of opportunity; a place of access and a place of chaos and congestion; a place of decline and a place of regeneration; a place of the rich and a place of the poor; a destination of desperation and a place of hope; a place well-endowed with infrastructure and a place where people do not have access to services and shelter. At one time, the Inner City was the focus of intensive infrastructure investment by the public sector that provided ample opportunities for the private sector to latch onto. This contributed to the buy in from large multi-national and national corporate institutions. It also triggered private sector responses, which included public upgrading initiatives. However, the infrastructure investment, asset base, accessibility and character of the Inner City also enable it to increasingly play a role as incubator and entry point for SMMEs. The City plays a key role as catchment area for African traders and for manufacturing associated with the niche market activities. In order to further encourage entrepreneurship and to establish a more enabling physical and institutional environment for SMMEs to establish themselves and to grow, a creative approach is required. As the leading city in Africa and the leading Inner City in South Africa, creative investment in the space and innovative management of the space is critical. Creative means should be explored to maintain investor confidence through sustainable and efficient service delivery and maintenance, whilst also supporting entrepreneurs on the street through an enabling spatial and institutional environment. JOBURG INNER CITY URBAN DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 32

9 2.4 IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ICUDIP Policy (or the lack thereof) impacted on the City from the early days. The original grid design with narrow streets and small street blocks are a direct result of planners not realising or expecting the (future) growth potential of the City. After 1948, Apartheid policies resulted in large-scale relocations of communities, hence significantly impacting on the character of the Inner City. Economic growth in the 1960s and 1970s resulted in huge growth in and development of the CBD. Lack of proper Original grid clearly visible (1896) policies and strategies resulted in urban decay during the 1980s and early 1990s. The City survived through it all and today the City, in general, and the Inner City, in particular, is (again) poised to take on the planning challenges of a constantly evolving City/Inner City in a coherent way. The successes of the last 15 years started to bear fruit. However, despite the successes achieved over the last 10 to 15 years, the Inner City has not been stabilised yet. Urban decline has accelerated in some areas. This manifests in deteriorated public environments, poorly supported and uncontrolled informal activities, appropriation of streets for taxi ranking, illicit building conversion to residential use, slum-lording and building hijacking and continued high levels of petty crime in areas not covered by CIDs. In the face of these challenges, City efforts have sometimes been seen as localised, fragmented and episodic, and have been critiqued as not always sensitive and responsive to the circumstances of poorer residents and informal businesses. providing in the needs of communities and entrepreneurs, and pro-actively guiding private-sector investment towards an extraordinary Inner City. The challenge in going forward thus lies in rethinking regeneration efforts to ensure more rapid, even and sustained positive impacts on the entire Inner City, without having a detrimental effect on (some) Inner City communities. This challenge is poignantly stated in the following: At the moment, the Inner City is not geared to absorb the increasing number of poor people trying to move closer to the centres of learning, economic opportunities, transport infrastructure and social infrastructure only found in dense urban settings. In line with the new GDS and IDP, a bold new agenda for the Inner City is needed to ensure that many more people wanting to live and work in this central location are able to do so in dignified conditions not detrimental to their health and Inner City squatter settlement) safety ( Some buildings still experiencing decline Given the new dynamic of a diverse and large resident population requiring supporting facilities, the responsibility of the City reaches much further than merely tackling crime and grime issues. However, although important, efficient day-to-day management of the urban environment is of critical importance for private and successful public investment, this cannot anymore be the only focus of the City. Embarking on the public upgrading (paving, lighting, landscaping and the like) is not good enough anymore. The time has come for the City to start playing an active developmental role. This role should be seated in pro-actively supporting the poor and vulnerable, pro-actively JOBURG INNER CITY URBAN DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 33