ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLIMENTATION OF JOHANNESBURG INNER 
CITY RENEWAL STRATEGIES 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
Mokela Elvis Nkokoto (student number: 0200613w) 
 
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the 
Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfillment of 
the requirements for the degree of Master of Property 
Development and Management. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Johannesburg, 2005 
 
 
 
 2
 LIST OF CONTENTS 
 
 
Declaration????????????????????.?.??..?..?????..9 
 
Abstract??????????????????????.??.?.??..?????10 
 
Key words???????????????????????????..????..11 
 
Acknowledgements??????????????????...?..????....12 
 
Reference???????????????????????????????.?.116 
 
CHAPTER 1: Introduction 
 
1.1 Background?????..????????????????????.?..13 
 
1.2 Johannesburg Inner City??????????????????.?..14  
 
1.3 Problem statement ???.??????????????????.?.16 
 
1.4 The Research Question???????????????.??????17 
 
1.5 The Hypothesis????????????????????.??????17 
 
1.6    Objectives????????????????????????.????..17 
 
1.7    Methodology??????..????????????????????..18 
 
1.8 Scope and Limitations??????????????????????18  
 
1.9    Relevance of the study??????????????.??????..19 
 
CHAPTER 2: Literature Review 
 
2.1 Overview?????????????????????????.?????..20  
 
2.2 Partnerships?????????????????????????.????20 
 
2.2.1 UK Renewal Partnership Process???????????.????..21 
 
2.2.2 Thatcherism Urban Policy Privatisation???????????...21  
 
2.2.3 Scottish Renewal Partnership Process?????????????22 
 
2.3 The Manchester Urban Renewal Strategy????????.??..?23 
 
 3
 2.3.1 Aims and Objectives of Manchester Renewal?????.???.24  
 
2.3.2 Inner Manchester problems and Policy Environment????.25 
 
2.4 Urban Renewal in the United States (US)????????????.26 
 
2.4.1 City of Baltimore Case Study??????????????????..27 
 
2.5 Urban Renewal in Hong Kong???????????????????..28 
 
2.5.1 The structure and functions of the LDC????????????..28 
 
2.5.2 LDC?s Operation constraints???????????????????.30 
 
2.5.3 Government approach to renewal????????????????31 
 
2.6 Urban renewal in Australia?????????????????????.32 
 
2.6.1 The strategy objectives??????????????????????.33 
 
2.6.1.1 Industrial renewal????????????????????????.33 
 
2.6.1.2 Residential renewal???????????????????????.33 
 
2.6.1.3 Commercial renewal??????????????????????..34 
 
2.6.2 Real Estate investment and investors?????????????.34 
 
2.6.2.1 Owner-Occupier?????????????????????????.35 
 
2.6.2.2 Investor??????????????????????????????35 
 
2.6.2.3 Developer?????????????????????????????35 
 
2.6.3 Inhibiting factors in the inner area land succession?????.36 
 
2.6.3.1 The problem of site assembly?????????????????.36 
 
2.6.3.2 High acquisition costs??????????????????????36 
 
2.6.3.3 Demand factor??????????????????????????.37 
 
2.6.3.4 Town planners and urban administrators??????????.37 
 
2.6.3.5 Tenants displacement???????????????????.??.37 
 
2.6.3.6 Legislative conflict???????????????????.????.37 
 4
  
2.6.3.7 Property tax????????????????????????????38 
 
2.6.3.8 Lending policies?????????????????????.????.38 
 
2.7 Urban renewal in Mozambique????????????????.???38 
 
2.7.1 Urbanisation in Mozambique????????????????.???38 
 
2.7.2 Political economic background??????????????.????39 
 
2.7.3 Maputo renewal??????????????????????????..39 
 
2.7.3.1 Maputo housing cooperatives???????.???????.??.40 
 
2.7.4 Maxaquene renewal????????????????????????.41 
 
2.7.5 City executive councils and renewal???????????????42 
 
2.8. Urban renewal Zimbabwe: the case of Makokoba Bulawayo?44 
 
2.8.1 Evaluation of Makokoba renewal strategy???????????.48 
 
CHAPTER 3: Research Methodology 
 
3.1 Research strategy???????????????????????????51 
 
3.2 Data gathering?????????????????????????????51 
 
3.2.1 Questionnaire????????????????????????????.52 
 
3.2.2 Observation?????????????????????????????.53 
 
3.2.3 Others????????????????????????????????..54 
 
3.3 Planning and sampling techniques?????????????????54 
 
3.3.1 Method of gathering information??..??????????????55 
 
3.3.2 Interview strategy?????????????????????????.55 
 
3.3.3 Sampling technique adopted??????????????????..56 
 
3.3.4 Sample size?????????????????????????????57 
 
3.3.5 Analysis tools???????????????????????????..57 
 
 5
 3.4 Limitations??????????????????????????????..58 
 
CHAPTER 4: Johannesburg inner city renewal strategy  
 
4.1 Renewal Background????????????????????????.59 
 
4.2 Inner city Profile???????????????????????????60 
 
4.3 Overview of the city?????????????????????????61 
 
4.4 The overall approach of the strategy???????????????62 
 
4.4.1 Encouraging and supporting the growth of SMMEs?????.62 
 
4.4.2 Encouraging growth and support of creative industry and  
        Cultural tourism??????????????????????????.64 
 
4.4.3 Investment attraction???????????????????????66 
 
4.5. Guiding principles??????????????????????????.67 
 
4.5.1 Focusing on the basics???????????????????????67 
 
4.5.2 Working collaboratively??????????????????????.68 
 
4.5.3 Creating an enabling and profile investment?????????.69 
 
4.5.4 Maintaining and increasing momentum????????????..69 
 
4.6 The strategy??????????????????????????????69 
 
4.6.1 Economic development framework???????????????70 
 
4.6.1.1 Braamfontein???????????????????????.???.71 
 
4.6.1.2 Constitution Hill?????????????????????????.72 
 
4.6.1.3 Newtown?????????????????????????.????75 
 
4.6.1.4 Fashion District???????????????????????.?..78 
 
4.6.1.5 Faraday??????????????????????.???????.80 
 
4.6.1.6 Jeppestown??????????????????????..?????80 
 
4.6.2 Housing??????????????????????????..????.81 
 
 6
 CHAPTER 5: Analysis of the strategy 
 
5.1 Analysis of the strategy??????????????????..?.??.87 
 
5.2 Strategy formulation and Institutional set up evaluation?..?86 
 
5.3 Comparison with other cities?????.??????.?.????.??88 
 
5.4 Overall strategy performance/progress.??.?????..??.??.91 
 
5.5 Overall Progress???????????????????????????.94 
 
5.5.1 Economic Indicators???..???????????????????..94 
 
5.5.1.1 24 Hours City??????????????????????????.94 
 
5.5.1.2 Property Rentals????????????????????????..94 
 
5.5.1.3 Property Market?????..???????????????????.95 
 
5.5.1.4 Business Impact???????..?????????????????.95 
 
5.5.2 Indicators Relating to Perception????????.????????95 
 
5.5.2.1 Confidence in the Inner City..?????????????????.95 
 
5.6 Economic (projects/programmes performance)?..??.????..96 
 
5.6.1 Braamfontein???????????????..????????..????98 
 
5.6.2 Newtown?????????????????????????..???..100 
 
5.6.3 Constitution Hill??????????????..???????????103 
 
5.6.4 Fashion District..????????????..????????????.103 
 
5.6.5 Faraday????????..???????..??????????????.105 
 
5.6.6 Jeppe??????????????????????.?????.????.106 
 
5.7 Housing??..?????????????????????????????108 
 
5.7.1 Mixed income and transitional housing???.??????.??119  
 
 
 
 
 7
 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION 
 
6.1 Success?????????????????????.????????.??112 
 
6.2 Shortfalls??????????????????????????????..114 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8
  
List of Figures 
1. Figure 1. An Aerial view of Constitution Hill????..??..73 
2. Figure 2. Newtown Map?????????????????..?..78 
3. Figure 3. Brickfields Project Preparation Process and 
Stakeholders???????????????????????.??..84 
4. Figure 4. Nelson Mandela Bridge in construction???..?100 
5. Figure 5. Portion of completed Newtown???????..?..103 
6. Figure 6. Portion of completed Jeppe Precinct??????.107 
7. Figure 7. Jeppe store facility???????????????.....108 
8. Figure 8. Brickfields Project in construction????..??...111 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9
 DECLARATION 
I declare that this research report is my own unaided work. It is 
being submitted for the MSC Building Degree (Property 
Development and Management) in the School of Construction 
Economics and Management, University of Witwatersrand. It has 
not been submitted before for any Degree or examination in any 
other University. 
 
 
 
____________________________________________ 
Signature 
 
 
_____________ day of_______________________ year__________________ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10
 ABSTRACT 
This paper is a report on the research undertaken to evaluate the 
implementation of the Urban Renewal strategies that the City of 
Johannesburg adopted for the CBD renewal through the Blue IQ. 
The study was restricted to the views expressed by the general 
community, business community, Johannesburg Development 
Agency (JDA). Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC), Blue IQ, 
Gauteng Development Agency and Gauteng Economic Development 
Agency (GEDA), which are the main role players in the CBD renewal 
effort. There was administered questioner to the members of the 
Business and general communities that were randomly picked using 
the fish bowl method. Interviews were conducted with the senior 
executive staff of JDA. Blue IQ, JHC. Statistics derived from the 
above company?s websites was used as well. 
 
The results of the study show that the renewal strategy has been 
largely successful in so far as a number of factors, which have 
contributed to the CBD decay such as poor infrastructure and 
slumps. There have also been considerable efforts to address acute 
shortage of parking space by private partners such as financial 
institutions. Although crime has decreased it is still posing a serious 
challenge as most people still consider the CBD high risk. However 
there is still a room for improvement, which includes: the 
enhancement of safety and security, the infrastructure maintenance 
policy and the enforcement of the municipality by laws and town 
planning scheme. Overall the strategies have also improved the 
economic performance of the city significantly though 
unemployment still remain high with the ever increasing number of 
people coming to seek opportunities. 
 
 
 11
 KEY WORDS 
1. Urban Renewal 
2. CBD Decay 
3. Johannesburg City 
4. CBD Renewal 
5. Renewal Strategy 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12
 Acknowledgements 
First and for most I would like to thank the Almighty God for the 
strength he has afforded me to finish this work. Special thanks to 
my Supervisor Mr. Akindele for his patience, sir I have really 
learned a lot and really appreciate your support. To my colleagues 
Killer and Tman, finally guys we have made it thanks for your 
support through all the years it has been a long but worth a while 
road. 
 
Special thanks also go to my parents for always being there by and 
my sister and my niece and a very special person in my life Pinks, 
girl you have really been a blessing to me and have inspired and 
brought confidence in me. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13
 CHAPTER 1 
 
Introduction 
 
1.1 Background 
Johannesburg has grown from a roaring wide open mining camp 
when gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand in 1886, to a now 
?African economic power house?(Abramwitch, 1989) The township 
of Johannesburg was established under the instruction of Paul 
Kruger who at the time saw the city as developing into nothing 
more than just a mining camp. Ever since then over a period of 
seventy years the town center was reconstructed more than three 
times and each time being denser, higher and more expensive than 
the one replaced (Abramwitch, 1989.) According to South African 
Builder/ Bouer no.903 (1999) decay in Johannesburg?s inner city 
and the drift of business to the suburbs probably started in the 
1960?s and no cognisance was taken of this till recently. The City of 
Johannesburg is putting substantial resources into effecting the 
urban renewal and turning around the troubled inner city, a victim 
in the 1990s of capital flight to the northern suburbs. 
 
It is estimated that today the Johannesburg Central Business 
District (CBD) has about 217,000 residents in 37,000 dwelling units, 
800,000 commuters enter the city daily and 300,000 to 400,000 
migrant shoppers visit the city each year. The city generates about 
16% of the South Africa?s GDP and employs 12% of the national 
workforce. The CBD has 7 million m2 of floor space, 3 million of 
office space with office buildings representing a 19 billion worth of 
investment, 102 billion capital investment in houses and 3, 75 
billion investments in a 2, 5 km2 radiuses of core area, 
(www.joburg.org.za cited 11 March 2004). 
 
 14
 1.2 Johannesburg Inner City 
The term inner city is used to refer to the areas of poverty, which 
often surround the city center, (Ally 1998). In some instances it 
may be used to refer to the older parts of the city including the city 
center. In the case of Johannesburg the inner city includes the city?s 
retail, legal and financial precincts as well as the sky scrappers of 
Barea and Hillbrow, commercial areas of Doorenfontein and 
Braamfontein. 
 
Franklin et al (1969) describe urban decay as a natural 
phenomenon that can be controlled to a certain degree. Its progress 
can be halted or even prevented completely by certain remedial 
fossilisation or major surgery. He further says that the very word 
decay conjures up a number of unpleasant images and implies 
undesirable change. He says that, many town writers have used it 
to describe various states of affairs, some implication of an 
undesirable change, which includes the ?physical decay of buildings, 
the declining attractiveness of the environment, the disappearance 
of activity, and the growth of some undesirable activity or even the 
quality of its administration? 
 
One of the conditions of urban decline according to M.Middleton 
(1991) is the declining service. Property decays because owners can 
no longer afford to undertake the needed repairs and the rent 
received is so insufficient that it is no longer worth a while for an 
investor to hold on to such property. This is the case with Joburg 
CBD. The upper floors usually for office rental are virtually empty; 
some shops had gone down and eventually out of business. In 
response to the decay that brings about economic and social 
pressure, cities embark on the process of ?urban renewal?.   
 
 15
 The purpose of this research is to analytically review the 
effectiveness of the renewal strategy that the City of Johannesburg 
has adopted through Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) to 
address the issue of the inner city decay. 
 
Chris (1990) defines urban renewal as the ?physical change or the 
change in the use or intensity of use of land and buildings, that is 
the inevitable outcome of the action of economic and social forces 
upon urban areas.? He also regards it to be a powerful force for 
urban change and is predominantly a market led process. Whipple 
(1971) describes it as a programme, which aims at transforming an 
area into its highest and best use. Although he views this 
explanation as lacking due to its generality, he never the less 
considers it as adequate as it emphasizes that objectives are to be 
interpreted as applying to the whole area but not just an individual 
site. A shorter definition is given by Muchnick (1970). He says that 
it is a short term used for a total approach to the problems of 
blighted and decayed urban areas, revival of the city?s economic 
structure, rationalization of its physical design and building and 
preservation of its physical design. 
 
From an economist?s perspective decay can be viewed or explained 
as the deterioration of an asset in the value over time and a crucial 
question arises as to whether resources should be committed 
further in an attempt to maintain or redevelop the property or just 
leave it as it is in the state of deterioration. Jim Berg et al (1993) 
say that urban renewal is a lengthy and complex process requiring 
substantial funding to pump prime developments. Public capital or 
fiscal measures often act as the lever, which attracts such injections 
of private sector monies to targeted urban areas in need of 
regeneration. 
 
 16
 1.3 Problem Statement 
South African cities are currently experiencing a severe stress. 
Many of them are in physical and social decline, resulting in the loss 
of valuable resources and infrastructure. This deterioration, it can 
be said is a result of both world wide trends    which has a major 
impact on most CBD?s and local forces specific to the South African 
context, Ally (1998). The Joburg CBD presents some conflicting and 
very diverse sentiments both from the property investor?s view and 
the user. Joburg CBD property market has been hard hit by the 
capital flight in the 19990?s to the northern suburbs and hence 
contributing to the urban decay. Crime had also contributed in 
pushing the decay. Those who remained in the CBD due to poverty 
reside in the rundown buildings without proper sanitation and 
amenities such as water, electricity and municipal services. They 
are mostly unemployed and resort to vandalism and mugging. 
Small business which could not afford high rental costs in these 
suburbs remained behind. This migration had left larger areas of 
property empty and had also had negative effects on the revenue 
base of the Metro Council as rates and taxes plunged. 
 
The results of decay are as much varied and complex as their 
causes. According to SAPOA (South African Property Owners 
Association) vacancy rate rose from 10% in 1990 to 24% in 2001 
and this resulted in the fall in rental rates. To illustrate this problem 
Joburg is compared with other two major cities of Cape Town and 
Durban. The rates are as follows per individual CBD; In Joburg the 
rate is R40/m2, Cape Town R50/m2 and Durban R57/m2. The 
capitalization rate for the CBD offices also increased from 10.1% in 
1995 to 16.8% in 2002 (Viruly Consulting), which has resulted in 
fall in the value of properties hence disinvestments in property 
industry, SAPOA, 2003:32. 
 
 17
 The decay of the Joburg CBD had resulted in the big businesses 
leaving thus leading to the high vacancy rate, which let to the fall in 
property values. 
 
1.4 The Research Question 
To what extend does effective urban renewal strategy redress the 
urban decay? 
 
1.5 The Hypothesis 
In pursuance of the statement problem, the hypothesis to be tested 
is as follows. 
 
! That effective urban renewal strategy reverses urban decay 
and enhances city?s socio economic conditions. 
! That Institutional framework makes the urban renewal 
strategy effective or ineffective. 
 
1.6 Objectives 
The objectives of this study are to: 
! Establish if there is any relationship between economic 
growth and renewal strategy. 
! Determine to what extend does the renewal strategy 
impacts socially and economically on the inner city. 
! Establish the shortcomings and the effectiveness of the JIC 
renewal strategy of housing and economic development. 
! Determine to what extent the inclusion of all the relevant 
stakeholders important. 
 
 
 
 
 
 18
 1.7 Methodology 
The methodology employed in this research is outlined as follows: 
 
(a) An elaborate review of the literature was done using both 
published and unpublished material on the subject stating the 
strategy in details. The countries that were covered for these 
purposes are: Australia, USA, UK, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. 
 
(b) A study of the JIC renewal strategy was carried out to 
ascertain if projects adhere to time and an assessment of 
whether the expected out comes had been realized as of today. 
There were also visits to the projects site to observe the 
completed projects. 
 
(c) Interviews questionnaire, and observation were carried out 
and the following corporations and government departments 
were interviewed: Blue IQ, JDA, Gauteng Housing Company 
(JHC), Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) Business 
community and general public. Workshops, presentations and 
conferences were also attended over and above these for 
gathering data. 
 
(d) The findings from the foregoing were used to form the basis 
of conclusion and recommendations. 
 
1.8 Scope and Limitations 
Due to the scarcity of time and financial resources the study was 
limited, as not all of the sub- strategies were reviewed. Focus was 
on the Housing and the economic development strategies. 
 
 19
 1.9 Relevance of the study 
The findings of the study will be very helpful to the city council, as it 
will highlight the progress that has been made on the strategy 
implementation. Review of the objectives achieved will also be 
helpful. All these will be the views of parties at the grass roots, 
which are the intended  
beneficiaries. The city council can be able to act appropriately with 
the help of the study findings and take corrective measures where 
necessary. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20
 CHAPTER 2 
 
Literature Review 
 
2.1 Overview 
In this chapter a review of urban renewal will be done. Several 
countries that will be focused on are: Australia, United States, 
United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.UK and 
US had been the for runners of the concept. Hong Kong as a 
growing economy is of interest as South Africa is also a growing 
economy as well. The institutional set up to drive the renewal 
process in Hong Kong will be a point of focus.  The problems faced 
by these countries will be briefly looked at and the strategies that 
they engaged to solve these problems.  Beside UK and US being 
forerunners of the urban renewal they also had an influence on the 
South African urban planning.  Cities of Baltimore in the US and 
Manchester in the UK will be looked at as case studies. There will be 
emphasis also on the process of partnership in the renewal process 
in the UK. This will mostly highlight the formation and role of such 
partnership in the renewal of England and Scotland. 
 
2.2 Partnerships 
Partnerships had been described as the vehicles through which the 
public sector gets a chance to shake up the public sector, thus 
bringing about more streamlined thinking on decision making 
process or a more enterprising way of working. It is also viewed as 
a mechanism through which the public sector challenges the private 
sector to play a role in social development without being driven by 
short tern gain, Mackintosh (1992). 
 
 
 
 21
 2.2.1 UK Renewal Partnership Process 
The UK renewal policy formulation was very much based on the 
consensus that a multi-sect oral partnership approach is crucial, 
Lawless (1991). Accessibility to renewal funding was limited to 
those organizations that were willing to form partnership with the 
private investors. 
 
Edward (1994) argued that the reason for partnership was to 
promote the enterprise culture in urban renewal and to challenge 
the bureaucratic, non-entrepreneurial culture of the public sector 
dominated initiatives. This agenda seem to have been largely 
understood by many sectors. Bradford City Council claimed to have 
for instance, to instigate a revolution and go where no other local 
authority has gone before by removing the ever-present 
bureaucracy, (Sheffield City Polytechnic, 1999). Another is North 
Tyneside council, which adopted the management style that the 
central government preferred so as to access the renewal funds and 
other resources made available for renewal. It established a city 
challenge board with a management style to emulate that of the 
private sector and providing training to its staff members so as to 
capacitate them to feel comfortable in such an environment. 
 
2.2.2 Thatcherism Urban Policy Privatization 
The urban renewal privatisation policy was most apparent in the 
1980?s, Boyle (1993). The Thatcherism approach was to centralise 
government, shifting balance of power between the central 
government and local authority through diluting the powers of big 
local authorities that were labour-controlled Metropolitan Councils.  
 
 
 
 
 22
 Bailey (1995) argued that the creation of Urban Development 
Corporations (UDC?s) as vehicles for property led renewal was a 
direct exclusion of local authorities by increasing the central 
government role and forging partnership with private property 
investors. Through this process of privatization and centralization 
the participation of those who did not share the same views on 
privatisation was minimized. 
 
2.2.3 Scottish Renewal Partnership Process 
In Scotland as well this was the case as the government made 
funds for renewal available to those local councils that formed 
partnership with the private sector and community interest groups, 
Scottish Office, 1995. The Scottish government however lacked 
concrete reason as to why partnerships should be formed and their 
role in the renewal process. It was argued that it was only 
interested in the benefits arising out of the partnership process. 
Neither was it concerned with the organizational arrangement of 
such partnerships. 
 
Four partnership estates were identified, (Scottish office, 1988). 
They were: Castlemilk in Glasgow, Wester Hailes in Edinburg, and 
Whitefield in Dundee and Fergus lie Park. Even here the urban 
partnerships were conceived during the height of Thatcherism. In 
contrast to the renewal policy adopted in England and Wales, which 
exclude the local government, urban partnerships here included the 
local government as partners. Therefore the two tiers of 
governance: Central and Local that exist in Scotland were involved 
along side the Scottish office, Health Board and the Employment 
Service. There was a new housing agency formed, the Scottish 
Homes.  
 
 
 23
 Its main concentration was on funding and facilitating housing 
changes, especially the tenure system in those urban areas 
identified as problematic. Local Enterprise Companies (LECs) 
focused on economic development. These were employer led 
agencies funded publicly although their boards were pre dominantly 
private sector dominated, Boyle (1993). The private sector was 
represented through the Business Support Groups that were 
voluntary groups of senior private sector managers that aimed at 
coordinating the private sector in put towards area based renewal. 
 
2.3 The Manchester Urban Renewal Strategy 
In the United Kingdom the development industry had been given a 
bigger role in the urban renewal strategy of 1950?s both in the 
areas of construction and in property development, Healey (1992). 
Property development represented the thrust of the urban renewal 
policy within Manchester with the private investors taking a lead 
role. Local authorities of the areas, which were economically 
depressed, promoted industrial estates by giving subsidies to firms 
that created jobs. They experimented with industrial improvements 
area by encouraging industries to stay in the inner city. This 
concept had been promoted together with the small start up 
premises. The private developers came to join the initiative and 
their main focus was the larger units, which were not provided by 
the local authorities. The local authority was cautious of these 
developments and preferred industrial developments to retail and 
warehousing as they provided more employment to the locals. 
Running parallel to this initiative by the local government was the 
central government efforts to bring house builders back to the inner 
city.  
 
 
 
 24
 They provided subsidies and land costs and infrastructure and 
buying some stock for the local council for its housing purposes. The 
government made urban renewal its major priority as stated in its 
1988 policy statement, which mentioned the objectives as: 
# To encourage enterprise and new businesses, and help 
existing business grow stronger 
# To improve people?s job prospects, their motivation and 
skills 
# To make areas attractive to residents and business by 
tackling urban dereliction, bringing buildings back into 
use preparing sites; and encouraging development and 
# To make inner city areas more safe and attractive to live 
and work 
There were also financial incentives announced to facilitate the 
private sector property development: enterprise zone incentives, 
which allows for 100% capital allowance on commercial and 
industrial buildings and urban development grant which provided 
gap finance for projects to continue. 
 
2.3.1 Aims and Objectives of Manchester Renewal 
The aim was to grow the local economy by providing the physical 
structure that caters for the emerging economic activities which 
replaces the old manufacturing industries. The areas targeted were 
financial services, producer services, science based industries and 
high technology. The target was to change the urban environment 
to provide for the anticipated future activity mix for a future 
sustainable economic growth.  
 
 
 
 
 25
 The strategy encouraged the private sector to provide/develop 
property for the speculated future developments as it could better 
read the risk involved than the public sector agencies. Although the 
private sector was expected to lead the process there were still 
some problems as the public sector still had control, the publication 
of opportunities had to be unblocked by it. Besides these public 
sector controls the ability of the market to deliver on these renewal 
policy depended also on the property market cycles as conditions 
vary between urban and within them. 
 
An overview of property led urban renewal in inner city Manchester 
is given below: 
 
2.3.2 Inner Manchester problems and Policy Environment 
Manchester experienced a rapid population growth with the core 
reaching one million people at the time of the First World War. This 
was followed by a massive decentralization, which resulted in the 
reduction of the population to about 300,000 by 1981. Those who 
remained in the inner city were mostly poor with no jobs. The 
situation was also worsened by the slum clearance, which was 
replaced by social housing, which many could not afford due to 
unemployment. This decline in population affected retailing 
negatively as firms and warehouses closed down. The office space 
also saw an increase in vacancies, as it had to compete with the 
decentralized office nodes in the southern suburbs closer to the 
main higher socio economic class residential areas, Healey (1992). 
 
 
 
 
 
 26
 The situation was of a major concern, as most of the buildings in 
the inner city remain vacant derelict and underused and about one 
third of the industrial estates remain unused. The modern high-rise 
housing stock failed to attract people to occupy and this coupled 
with no renovation resulted in the dwelling units remaining vacant. 
Poor economic conditions of 1980 have made it difficult for a clear 
formulation of the inner city Manchester renewal strategy. The 
urban renewal policy geared towards property development 
together with the office boom brought about a number of new 
proposals for construction in inner Manchester helping urban 
renewal substantially. However there had been problems 
experienced along the way. 
 
Many developers feared that the boom would lead to the property 
market being oversupplied and send rental values tumbling down 
hence many put their schemes on hold. Secondly the office boom 
seemed to form the backbone for the developments, which were 
deemed necessary for Manchester urban renewal. These posed 
problems as the collapse of these office markets would lead to the 
collapse of these schemes. The office boom meant also that jobs 
being created were mostly white collar leaving out the majority of 
the low skilled inner city residents. 
 
2.4 Urban Renewal in the United States (US) 
The US has experienced a number of major phases in its urban 
renewal efforts and, since its inception there existed projects of the 
big magnitude funded by the State. The focus of these projects was 
mainly the clearance of slum areas. This was the replacement of the 
poor houses occupied by the low-income people with the new 
property developments for office, commercial and more luxurious 
houses.  
 27
 The focus had shifted overtime from physical planning to economic 
planning, which involved three tiers of governance: the federal 
government, state government and local government.  
 
The private sector also came in and was involved in a couple of 
projects. The legislation came into being which empowered the 
federal government to compel the private sector to participate in 
the renewal process. The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 
compelled the financial institutions to make finances available for 
the purchase/construction of property. This was in those areas that 
they had previously avoided as they considered them to be highly 
risky and the property market depressed, Allay (1983). 
 
2.4.1 City of Baltimore Case Study 
The city of Baltimore had successful implemented the inner city 
renewal programme this is a reason is being picked as a case study. 
Like Joburg Baltimore experienced migration of the middle class 
from the inner city to the urban periphery leaving the inner city to 
the low income and unemployed people. This had been deemed one 
of the reasons that led to the decay and decline of Baltimore. The 
situation was made worse by the retail trade leaving the inner city 
to the more affluent suburbs and leaving high vacancies in the 
commercial space. The city allocated substantial resources in an 
attempt to renew the inner city. The city took a unique strategy, 
instead of focusing on the entire city it however focused attention 
on the small decayed strips along the Charles Street where land 
was cleared and reallocated. The success of this approach 
encouraged the city to extend it to cover other areas of the Inner 
Harbor and down town area. 
 
 
 28
 According to Ally (1998), in the 1950?s Baltimore Inner Harbor was 
run down, obsolete and characterised by decay and idle piers. After 
the success of the Charles Street the plans for the Harbor were 
drawn. The Harbor today is the thriving economic center boasting 
among others the: world trade center, luxurious hotel and science 
center. This served as stimulus for other renewal projects including 
the down town area which had the renovation of rundown retail 
space. 
 
2.5 Urban Renewal in Hong Kong 
In order to address the historical problems of urban renewal and to 
avoid the failure of earlier redevelopment initiatives, the Hong Kong 
Government established the Land Development Corporation (LDC) 
in 1988, Isaac (2002). The LDC was empowered to undertake, 
encourage or facilitate redevelopment schemes within areas 
identified for urban renewal, either on its own or in joint-venture 
partnerships with other developers or owners. 
 
2.5.1 The structure and functions of the LDC 
To achieve these objectives, the Corporation?s task was to combine 
and orientate the efforts of both the public and private sectors, and 
the commercialisation of the urban renewal programme to achieve 
the best possible results in the transformation of Hong Kong. It was 
formed under the Land Development Corporation Ordinance, Laws 
of Hong Kong (1987). The Chief Executive was responsible for 
appointing key-governing members including the Chairman and the 
Board of Directors. In order to ensure that there was impartiality, 
the Ordinance stated that the Chairman and most of its directors 
must be non-official members. However, the Board also included no 
more than three high-level officials (civil servants) to enable 
efficient communication between the LDC and the government. 
 
 29
 According to Section 4 of the Ordinance as stated by Isaac (2002), 
the mission of the LDC, as an agent of urban renewal in Hong Kong 
was to: 
# Improve the standard of housing and the environment in 
Hong Kong by undertaking, encouraging, promoting and 
facilitating urban renewal. 
# Engage in such activities and perform such functions as 
may be necessary for the undertaking, encouragement, 
promotion and facilitation of urban renewal. 
# Engage in such other activities, and to perform such 
other functions, as the Governor (i.e. Chief Executive) 
May, after consultation with the Corporation, permit or 
assign to it by order published in the Gazette. 
Basically, the LDC performed many similar functions to a real estate 
developer. However, as a statutory body, its powers had to be 
clearly specified. These were identified in Section 5 of the 
Ordinance. To summarise, the LDC is vested with planning, 
development and management authorities. It had powers to: 
# Prepare urban redevelopment proposals. 
# Conduct surveys and censuses for the purpose of 
preparing redevelopment plans and rehousing 
programmes. 
# Lease, acquire and hold land and property. 
# Construct or demolish buildings. 
 
 30
  
# Provide and maintain ancillary public facilities such as 
roads, footways and open spaces. 
# Provide property management services for building 
premises. 
# Establish subsidiary corporations for supportive 
functions. 
2.5.2 LDC's operation Constraints 
The LDC was established partly with a view to minimising 
Government's costs and had therefore had to focus on those areas 
which the renewal can be most efficiently and realistically achieved 
as opposed to those areas where it might be most obviously 
needed. The worst urban renewal problems and highest urban 
densities were in such areas as Mongkok, Yau Ma Tei, Tai Kok Tsui, 
and Shek Kip Mei.Most of residential development happened at 
Kong Island and areas at the close proximity to the Central 
Business District. 
 
Urban renewal and rehousing projects proved to be a very costly 
activity ranging as high as HK$50 billion, never the less this had no 
impact on the Government as the LDC stated. Private developers 
were invited to participate as joint venture partners and were 
required to make substantial up-front payments to the LDC. (For 
the First Phase's eight main redevelopment projects, partners 
altogether placed a total of HK$1.2 billion of deposits, and provided 
all financing necessary to cover various project expenses.) Thus in 
return for putting in the necessary financial resources and absorbing 
the risks, developers adopted an almost totally market-led approach 
to urban renewal.  
 31
 This process had a potential to conflict with the need to incorporate 
meaningful community benefits and the integration of elements that 
might bring about genuine revitalisation in the longer term. 
Although public-private partnerships have their merits, perhaps 
what needs to be recognised at the very outset is that the "cost", 
both public and private, of land production is continually increasing. 
In urban areas, where scarcity was even more acute, private 
benefits and community interests always took precedence over 
economic considerations Isaac (2002). 
 
2.5.3 Government Approach to Renewal 
Urban renewal has a long history in Hong Kong. The Government's 
responses to the urban renewal problems had been mostly 
restricted by lack of funding. Bristow (1984) comments that 
"financial considerations determine town planning practice in Hong 
Kong is an undisputed fact and the recent history of urban 
improvement and the use of permissive legislation since 1974 to 
avoid high public costs are therefore but more recent examples of 
the long-standing principle of the Hong Kong Government in its 
approach to land-use planning, and many other matters?. The 
establishment of the Land Development Corporation in 1988 was 
another example of this approach. The LDC Ordinance had forced 
the agency to resort to large private sector developers for financial 
resources, thereby giving a public image of "Government-private 
developers? collusion", "amalgamated bulldozer" and "Lame Duck 
Corporation" Isaac (2002). These had been happening at the 
expense of small flat/land owners and residents as their benefits 
were sacrificed and disregarded. These had therefore let to many 
questions being asked about the efficiency of the scheme in 
realising the objectives that it had been set up to do.  
 
 
 32
 Although there were shortcomings in the present partnership 
approach in undertaking comprehensive redevelopment projects in 
Hong Kong, it had never the less provided some valuable lessons 
into the changing nature of urban governance in Hong Kong, the 
rise of partnership building, and in particular, private participation in 
urban redevelopment projects. This highlighted the nature of 
redevelopment partnerships between the public and private sectors, 
and their largely market-driven objectives, Isaac (2002). 
 
2.6 Urban Renewal in Australia 
In an effort to renew its cities, Australian Government assigned the 
Australian Institute of Urban Renewal to prepare a monograph that 
will help to induce the real estate private investors to come on 
board so as to drive the process. This was in realisation of the vital 
role that the private sector will play in the implementation of the 
schemes, Wheaton (1961). 
 
The monograph first start by giving a preamble on renewal 
objectives, secondly the important features of real estate as an 
economic good and the market in which they operate are given. 
Thirdly the rationales whereby funds are committed to meet the 
private investors to commit their funds in the inner city 
redevelopment are looked at. Lastly are the policies drawn 
specifically to overcome these inhibiting factors and the conclusion 
drawn thereon. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 33
 2.6.1 The Strategy Objectives 
The renewal strategy focused on major urban land uses, which 
these are: Commercial, Industrial, and Residential. 
They are discussed in turns as follows: 
 
2.6.1.1 Industrial Renewal 
Slump clearance in the inner city entailed to some degree the 
removal of industrial zones. There were a couple of reasons that 
justified the location of industries in the inner city in the first 
instance. The decision to remove them impacted negatively on the 
land economies. The reason for removal of these industrial zones 
was to develop an integrated industrial use. ?These could develop 
into a small to medium scale industrial park incorporating the usual 
buffer areas to ensure its compatibility with the surrounding land 
uses? Wheaton (1961). The industrialists were convinced of the 
more economies that will arise as the result of removal such as: 
downtown office parks use and showroom, Centralised typing pool, 
more favourable insurance rates, proximity to linked enterprises 
etc. It was imperative that plot sizes of different range shape and 
sizes be made available. Also the displaced industries were offered 
positive relocation proposals and the compensation costs for 
disturbances. 
 
2.6.1.2 Residential Renewal 
Society may be affluent, but there were always those who were 
unable to afford even the modest shelter. Therefore policies were 
put in place to the aid of such people so as to have access to 
housing and be able to compete on the equal footing. Therefore 
special housing had to be provided for them as the market forces 
excluded them from participating. Public participation in the form of 
public housing or housing provided by the charity organisations was 
the answer e.g. old age houses. Also affordable housing was made 
 34
 available to older lower income groups. Therefore land was to be 
made available in the inner city to widen location choices. 
 
2.6.1.3 Commercial Renewal 
This referred to the central business district and commercial 
precincts beyond it. The objectives of renewal were to restore the 
central shopping area and movement facilities so as to put it on 
equal footing with the district centres. The renewal also 
underpinned its educational and cultural area needed to be selective 
in taking into account the distribution of the existing viable centres. 
Some centres were however in a total state of despair making any 
renewal effort useless, as no additional trade turn over was 
insufficient to justify the renewal. 
 
2.6.2 Real Estate Investment and Investors 
The aim here was to derive policies, which encouraged property 
investors to invest in those areas earmarked for renewal. For this to 
be achieved it was imperative that real estate investors better 
understood and the rationale for investors for choosing certain real 
estate surrounding real estate investment were cleared such as 
that, property investment yield endless steady benefits and that 
land improvements have long life. 
 
The fact of the matter is that property investment is speculative in 
nature. The change in economic conditions can have a remarkable 
impact on the property yield. Sometimes the design of the structure 
may be obsolete as the change in the space demand is experienced. 
These may lead to reduction in the rental rates. Equity investors 
expect maximum returns on their investment in the shortest 
possible time.  
 
 35
 As investment opportunities compete for money real estate 
investment should as well be competitive if it is to attract investors. 
It is on the basis of this fact that private investment in the inner city 
renewal is viewed.  
 
If annual returns (after interest and tax) are satisfactory and equity 
part retired over a satisfactory period of time then such investment 
projects will begin to be competitive and attract private funds. 
 
There are mainly three types of property investors: owner-occupier, 
investor and developer. 
 
2.6.2.1: Owner-Occupier 
Land is bought for the construction/improvement for the occupier?s 
use. This maybe either a user for profit or a non-profit institution 
e.g. school, hospital. 
 
2.6.2.2: Investor 
This is speculative investor who tries to maximise the returns while 
minimising the risk. The property is held and the income is used for 
re-investment. The intentions are to hold the property for a long 
term. 
 
2.6.2.3: Developer 
This is an investor who has no intentions of holding the property for 
longer term. He usually buys land, make improvements on it and 
sell it at profit to owner-occupier or an investor. 
 
Whilst the foregoing should not be regarded as a full discussion of 
the principles of property investment the operation of the market 
and the principles of property investment, most of the salient points 
have been touched, Whipple (1971).  
 36
 Hence therefore, full participation of the private investor in the inner 
city renewal, which took cognisance of the problems facing private 
investor and his investment rationale, was highly sorted. 
 
2.6.3 Inhibiting Factors in the Inner Area land Use 
Succession 
Land use succession refers to the process by which old structure are 
demolished in place of the new ones. The result may be the 
intensified use of land for example, single-family dwellings making 
way for the block of flats. The change in use may also result (e.g. 
residential making way for the retail development). 
 
In Australia there were mainly eight barriers identified to land use 
succession in the inner areas of the city classified under: market 
factors and political and institutional factors, Whipple (1971). They 
are summarised as follows: 
 
2.6.3.1 The problem of site assembly 
It was difficult to consolidate a number of sites owned by different 
parties by a normal market process. Some owners upon hearing 
about the development to adjoining properties turned to revalue 
their properties resulting in substantial values. This was because 
they deemed their properties as being most important to the 
development in terms of its size and location. 
 
2.6.3.2 High acquisition Costs 
Apart from the costs of compensation to tenants there were other 
contributing factors. Take for instance a landlord of a blighted 
property that is normally overcrowded and charging small amounts 
per head. The aggregated returns on such properties were high and 
such landlord was only willing to sell only if a high price was 
offered. 
 37
 2.6.3.3 Demand Factor 
The market feasibility has to be conducted first in order to establish 
the nature and extend of demand. This helped the investor to 
calculate with some degree of certainty the economies of the 
project. 
 
2.6.3.4 Town planners and urban administrators 
They seemed not to understand the importance of channelling 
efforts collectively in order to attain the urban renewal objective. 
There were market forces of demand and supply at play, which 
were not recognised and understood which were channelled to 
achieve the renewal objective. 
 
2.6.3.5 Tenants Displacement 
Displacement of the people especially the low income from 
redevelopment sites was a politically sensitive issue. This was 
despite the fact that those displaced were offered packages, which 
were substantial enough for them to buy or rent a superior 
accommodation elsewhere. 
 
2.6.3.6 Legislative Conflict 
There was a legislation, which related to rent control and zoning 
and also the valuation of land. Land valuation is a subjective 
exercise. This resulted in controversies as to the correct land value. 
The legislation was put in place to counteract this problem. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 38
 2.6.3.7 Property Tax 
Municipal tax had an adverse effect of hindering the renewal 
process. This was due to some developers feeling penalised for their 
effort to redevelop. This was in the case where property taxes were 
based upon rental (or improved) values. 
 
2.6.3.8 Lending Policies 
Some financial institutions turned to redline the inner city on the 
grounds of risk hence making it difficult for willing property 
investors to contribute in the renewal process. The institutions 
lending terms and conditions were such that they encouraged the 
building of new houses in the outer areas. 
 
2.7 Urban Renewal in Mozambique 
An overview of renewal in Mozambique will perhaps be appropriate 
as it is one developing country, which is also very close to South 
Africa. Various renewal programmes that the country embarked 
upon in the cities of Maputo and Maxaquene forms the focus of this 
review. Firstly a brief overview of the country will be made followed 
by the strategies adopted in each city. 
 
2.7.1 Urbanisation in Mozambique 
Mozambique inherited a very in-balanced pattern of economic and 
spatial development from Portuguese, her colonial leader. The 
development was in such a way that serves the regional economies.  
 
of Zimbabwe and South Africa. Still today the town development in 
Mozambique is highly dependent on this pattern. The connection 
between different towns in Mozambique is still underdeveloped and 
very poor. 
 
 
 39
 2.7.2 Political Economic Background 
According to Pinsky (1983), the Mozambican political economic 
situation was rooted in the Portuguese colonial development based 
on foreign investment and the exploitation of labour.  
 
In an attempt to avoid exploitation a lot of people dispersed to 
avoid forced recruitment while health, education, and social services 
remain a far-fetched dream for many people. Any capital 
expenditure was mostly on a railway line link to Zimbabwe, Zambia 
and Malawi. The development of coal mines in Tete and Cahora 
Bassa hydroelectric project led to Beira emerging as a regional City. 
The smaller towns of Nampula emerged as administrative and 
commercial centres. Then Maputo and Beira expanded rapidly as 
the Military base on emergence of Liberation of Mozambique, 
FRELIMO that was formed in response to addressing the oppression 
experienced by the natives. 
 
2.7.3 Maputo Renewal 
The structural plan for Maputo anticipated that approximately 
around 6000 hectares of land would be required for the construction 
of about 77000 new homes between 1980 and 1990. The 
department of construction and urbanisation established thousands 
of plots in new housing areas. 
 
The Maputo Programme was adopted as a national model, Pinsky 
(1983). It was made up of the following steps: 
# The physical and socio-economic survey of proposed 
new housing areas 
 
 
 
 
 40
 # The preparation and implementation of the 
neighbourhood plans 
# Designation of reserves for economic and social 
equipment, parks, etc and opening up of new roads 
# Definition of new housing areas and layout of plots 
# Construction of water supply infrastructure such as 
well and stand pipes where ever possible 
# Getting communities to work together in the 
production of blocks, latrine installation on each plot 
# On site staff to monitor land use and allocation and 
assist self help builders. 
 
Besides these there was also pilot projects undertaken to assist in 
the building communal facilities such as cultural centres, schools, 
workshops and development of housing cooperatives. 
 
2.7.3.1 Maputo Housing Cooperatives 
The poor had given much thought to the accessibility of housing. 
Therefore preliminary work was undertaken in order to set priorities 
with regard to the supply of material and transportation and also 
financial constraints faced by the people. Training was also provided 
in order to address the issue of skills shortage in financing and 
savings mechanisms, and ownership options that are either 
individual or collective. This was all in an effort to avoid what other 
developing countries have done, that is making it impossible for the 
poor to participate in the renewal process. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 41
 2.7.4 Maxaquene Renewal 
The residents of the city of Maxaquene lived in poor houses 
constructed of burnt clay bricks or concrete blocks with no running 
water and no electricity. These houses were poor in standing neither 
could they stand the hot rainy days nor the cold days. The renewal 
concept adopted by Maxaquene comprised of a series of blocks that 
have been well defined. The blocks were three metres a part.  
 
Each block housed between 60 and 80 families, which translated 
into net density of around 220 per hectare. According to Jens 
(1983), the future plot division plan equalised the size of all plots 
and creates five additional plots. The two concrete blocks houses 
are preserved and no family were allowed to move until they were 
ready to build new houses. There were standpipes and public lights 
located at the centre of each block. There was also an open space 
kept for construction of community facilities. 
 
The community involvement in the renewal initiative played a very 
crucial role. There were regular discussions of the planning concept 
happening on a weekly basis. Theses meetings took place under the 
auspices of the planning commission, which was charged with the 
responsibility of monitoring and initiating the projects for renewal. 
There was also a civic administration in place, which was divided 
into two main bodies: The office of the president, which provided 
the executive support and direction, the director of support and 
control. The director acted as the city?s manager and coordinated all 
the administrative functions. The departments also were responsible 
for specific program areas. 
 
 
 
 
 42
 The renewal initiatives of Maxaquene were not without 
problems/difficulties. The problem of the strategy implementation 
was due to the inherited development pattern and to the changes in  
Personnel, Pinsky (1983). Also the shortage of qualified people 
exacerbated the problem of creating the state structures that 
respond positively to local renewal initiatives. Bureaucracy also 
hindered progress in the renewal initiatives.  
 
The bureaucrats lead to a shift in self-reliant solutions towards 
technocratic responses, which often required substantial responses, 
which often required substantial expenditure of the limited hard 
currency. This behaviour of the bureaucrats has not gone unnoticed 
by the President Samora Machel who lashed out at them in both 
state and party levels. 
 
2.7.5 City Executive Councils and Renewal (CED?s) 
Since 1979 the city Executive Councils (CED) had steadily increased 
their capacities. Despite this they have failed to respond to the 
concerns of the city neighbourhood and the ever-deteriorating 
conditions of the cities countrywide. In order to address this 
inefficiency and to build capacity to implement the renewal 
strategies ten major cities and towns established various 
departments in order to support the Director of Support and 
Control. The help in the definition of new city limits and supported 
other renewal projects initiated such as Government Departments 
offices and schools, markets upgrading, schools construction. 
Maputo was the only city well equipped with professional staff. 
 
 
 
 
 
 43
 It was therefore able to implement the program of opening up 
housing sites and providing technical and material assistance to the 
city residents. This project together with others administered and 
implemented by the city proved very successful. These involved 
self-housing cooperatives and improved latrines, Pinsky (1983). 
 
In the scope of these efforts the CEC have been hailed as a great 
success. There was never the less the limitations in so far as the 
results are concerned due to some problems encountered. These 
problems were two fold: There was firstly lack of capacity to 
implement the renewal projects. In ten cities there were only 35 
draftsmen, surveyors and other medium level technicians in 
addition to the four expatriates in Maputo, Pinsky (1983). There 
were eight cities that had 30 vehicles working out of the fleet of 40 
and only 6 heavy machines out of 20. Over and above these only 5 
cities had the budget to implement the strategies in a period 1975-
 1981. 
 
The second problem has been alluded to before. That is that one of 
the CEC?s lacking sensitivity and sense of agency in addressing 
those pressing issues that are of concern to the neighbourhoods. In 
an attempt to fill this void City Assemblies were formed. They also 
failed to perform to the expectations. This was mainly due to the 
fact that the members were elected on a citywide basis and lacked 
understanding of neighbourhood or sectoral identities. Bureaucracy 
proved to be a major problem once more as well as the 
inexperience of Assembly members in so far as civic political life is 
concerned, together with their tendency to underemphasize the 
problem faced by the shantytowns. 
 
 
 
 44
 Poor coordination between departments and ?Empire building? by 
some directors also worsened the already desperate situation. The 
creation of administratively decentralised zones in Maputo in an 
effort to address these problems did not help, as some actors were 
always out to manipulate the very limited resources. These together 
with land tenure system did not help in the countries efforts to 
renew its cities and today most cities still remain in their poor 
deteriorating conditions and the situation does not seem to be 
improving. 
 
2.8 Urban Renewal in Zimbabwe the Case of Makokoba 
Bulawayo 
The renewal of Makokoba, which was a residential area for Africans 
in Bulawayo, was prompted by its close proximity to the industrial 
area and Central business District (CBD). The area is about one mile 
from the CBD and just adjacent to the industrial estate. The 
Housing Amenities Department (responsible for housing and 
accommodation of Africans) initiated a renewal project, which 
entailed the construction of high density housing for the ?African 
Community? Dearling, Johannesburg 1975. Double storey housing 
was to be constructed and the following were recommendations to 
that project: 
# Construction of five to eight storey be explored and the 
cost there on be determined. 
# This should be a proposal to the Central Government, 
which aims at increasing the density hence providing more 
space for recreational purposes such as public parks. 
# Only married people are to be accommodated in such flats. 
 
 
 
 
 45
 The director of housing approached the city engineer to look into 
increasing the density to between two hundred and two hundred 
and fifty per acre. The concern raised by the engineer and the 
town-planning officer was that one of high costs associated with 
higher densities structures such as lifts and stairways and also the 
reconstruction of the existing reticulation network so as to increase 
the capacity to deal with the increased density. The engineer 
argued that the impracticality of high density on the grounds that 
technically the high rise flats were impractical and uneconomical.  
 
The argument was backed by Calderwood (1953), that where land 
is valued at under R40, 000 per care, double storeyed development 
should not be considered and also on an article from the journal of 
the town-planning institute (1961). ?The initial cost of a dwelling 
rises with the number of storey housing with similar amenities. The 
accompanying savings in roads, sewers and public utilities are 
small. The costs of maintenance and management are about fifty 
percent higher in the multi-storey blocks.? 
 
The building Director argued that by building better houses while 
maintaining the current densities will not help the renewal objective 
of eliminating shanty towns and slum conditions. The assistant town 
planner conducted a research on densities and its implications, 
social and environmental aspects were considered in the study. He 
concluded that cost reductions are not the only considerations, 
which will determine suitable densities in housing layouts. He 
further emphasised that density will affect some of the following: 
 
 
 
 
 
 46
 # The dwelling type, i.e. free standing unit semi-detached, 
terraced houses or flats. 
# The number or occupancy of persons within the dwelling 
unit. 
# The spacing allowed between the dwelling units so as to 
allow sufficient light, air, sunshine and open space directly 
adjacent to the dwelling. 
# Shopping and recreational facilities such as schools, 
churches, shops, parks etc in order to create a conducive 
environment for people to live in. 
 
All theses affect the living conditions of people, which give rise to 
the most vital issue, which is maintaining a balance between 
economical and social requirements. The town planner concluded 
that the population of 10,000 be housed under the high-rise scheme 
and two-storey flats were developed together with the necessary 
amenities (roads, schools shops etc). This figure represented 50% 
per acre as compared to the existing one of 110 people per acre for 
estimated population of 19,000 people. The government on the 
other hand recommended the density of 30% per acre that is 
5,000.In the mean time the construction of flats began on the 
available space. Many welcomed this move and it was also heralded 
as the first stage in a long-term scheme to replace the old houses 
with flats, African News (March 1963). 
 
The second stage was that one of demolishing the old houses and 
replacing them with the flats that accommodated a much higher 
number of people than presently accommodated. The biggest 
challenge facing the scheme was the sustainability and expansion of 
the houses and also the affordability.  
 
 
 47
 The building Director argued that the quality of flats designed as 
family units of two and three rooms each, with separate toilets and 
electricity through out was high, but so were the rentals, Dearling  
(1975).This was defeating the whole purpose of renewal, as 
residents would not afford the rentals. As a solution to this the 
housing and amenities department was contemplating having two 
families per flat so as to share the rental costs. It was argued by 
the housing director that this would only make the slum conditions 
even worse as that would lead to overcrowding. He was opposed to 
the wholesome demolition of building. 
 
To this effect he advocated the housing/dwelling rehabilitation 
programme. This was based on the plan to retain as many houses 
as possible. Therefore the buildings found to be unfit for occupation 
were demolished and provision for separate toilets to each dwelling 
and the relocation of some eight hundred families and five thousand 
single males to accommodation elsewhere. 
 
The building director strong sentiments against piecemeal planning 
let to the meeting of an ad hoc committee to discuss the Makokoba 
renewal strategy. This committee included a wide spectrum of 
governmental departments and council agencies (engineering 
services, town planning, building etc). The meeting concluded that a 
detailed survey be conducted of the area. A plan then should be 
drawn which aimed at retaining the services but much emphasis 
was on the provision of social amenities. A four phased 
development plan was drawn which should also the frame of 
implementation for different phases.  
 
 
 
 
 48
 It however appeared that there was no detailed site layout for the 
various phases, showing the orientation of the services etc was 
produced which housing and amenities preserved in fragmented 
demolition and construction of flat units. In 1963 a final plan was 
produced for the renewal of Makokoba showing the proposed layout 
of roads and the overall layout of a block of flats in the area. 
 
2.8.1 Evaluation of Makokoba Renewal Strategy 
The basic planning renewal objectives of Makokoba were 
essentially: 
# To take advantage of the convenient location of the area to 
the work places of residents and avoid expensive 
commuting expenses for the people. 
 
# To make modern urban facilities accessible to the majority 
of urban blacks ranging from better services to improved 
utilisation of local space and better neighbourhood 
resources. 
 
There has been however problems faced by these efforts such as a 
gap between the idea and the reality of the situation on the ground 
Bellush (1966). There has been much talking than the actual 
implementations of the strategies hence the inconsistency of the 
outcome with the thinking. On the other hand the planning aspects 
of the strategies have been largely fragmented both in its 
conception and implementation. With respect to the former, 
Makokoba has been considered as a distinct district that has 
become an end in itself, a circumscribed community. 
 
 
 
 
 49
 The renewal maps designated future land use with the project area; 
there is no sense of the city outside the boundaries, no way of 
relating the plan to the rest of the city. Makokoba should have not 
only been considered in the context of the neighbouring areas but in 
the context of a broader structure plan for the African areas as a 
whole and in terms of the general policies and proposals for the city 
in general, Dearling (1973). 
 
The allocation of responsibilities to different authorities also posed a 
problem of coordination, power, and authority. The ad hoc 
committee on the other hand was trying to harmonise relationships 
between different departments, there was friction between 
representatives of these departments, with various groups opting 
for a particular programme of action. The Director of housing on the 
other hand was only concerned with the mass delivery of high-
 density housing.  
 
This was quite short sighted as it disregarded the social or economic 
costs resulting there on. The Building Director, Town Planning 
Officer and Technical Staff were more interested in the long-term 
strategy for improving the environment. Though within the social 
and economic constraints that they were faced with. The hostility 
between these parties has resulted in the failure to plan and 
implement the various layouts. Communication also posed a 
problem as early as the conception stage and this continued to be 
so right up to the implementation stage. The Director of Housing 
continued to be in charge of the finances and proceeded with his 
piecemeal flat development plan. 
 
 
 
 
 50
 The red tape and wasted time from fragmented approach of 
separating planning from execution resulted in the situation of 
apathetic climate that alienated many from involvement in the 
redevelopment programme. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 51
 CHAPTER 3 
 
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 
 
3.1 Research Strategy 
As the nature of the research is qualitative the strategy used was 
very crucial in order to get the accurate results as far as possible. 
There is a lot of literature documented on this subject mostly from 
the developed world, with very little written on developing world 
especially Africa. For the purpose of drawing comparison with the 
South African experience these literature was used. The literature 
was very helpful in forming the conclusion on the strategy, 
comparing the approach the Johannesburg adopted with the 
experiences of other world cities, from the strategy formulation 
right down to its implementation. 
 
3.2 Data gathering tools 
In the case of this study two main information-gathering tools were 
used: questionnaires and interviews. The written materials such as 
newspapers, magazine articles and conference papers 
supplemented them. These were deemed to be relevant tools for 
this particular study. In order to ensure validity the 
instruments/questionnaire wording used was such that it did not 
appear demeaning to the respondents by using childish jargon or 
slang so as for him/her to treat the questionnaire with all the 
seriousness it deserves. This was especially a case with the 
questionnaire distributed. In order to supplement the data collected 
through the questionnaire the interviews were conducted with JHC 
and JDA officials responsible for Joburg CBD renewal. 
 
 
 
 52
 3.2.1 Questionnaire 
There was the structured questionnaire, which solicited categorized 
information that was not available through or from other sources. In 
order to ensure that only quality relevant data is gathered through 
this tool, a blue print was developed for each project and population 
strata e.g. business community, Blue IQ, JDA, JHC etc. Over and 
above this, the questionnaire was divided into sections with the 
relevant set of questions designed to answer a particular aspect.  
The reason for developing a different questionnaire for each project 
was mainly due to the fact that each project has its own set of 
objectives. Here is an example of the Blue print for the Housing 
project aimed at the JHC official.  
 
It spelled out the objectives of the survey and specific information 
that is soughed. Based on these objectives, there were 
questionnaire items developed to ensure or give information sought 
under each project/programme. The research evaluated two 
renewal sub-strategies: spatial economic development and Housing. 
The main strategy has been divided into two sub-strategies and 
there is specific project/programme under each sub-strategy. For 
economic development there are six projects and they each have 
different objectives they are: Braamfontein, Constitutional Hill, 
Newtown, Fashion District, Faraday and Jeppestown. Housing as 
well had its own programmes with different objective which is, 
increasing the number of social and transitional housing units and 
promoting middle income housing. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 53
 In order to fairly evaluate each strategy questionnaires were 
designed to asses the performance of each programme/project 
under each strategy. Due to the fact that some 
projects/programmes have similar objectives, there was a chance of 
duplicating the efforts. In order to get around this problem the 
programmes/projects with similar objectives were grouped together 
and the same questionnaire was used to gather the data. The two 
such projects under the economic development sub-strategy are: 
Faraday and Jeppe. The questionnaires were however labeled at the 
top in order to avoid the difficulty of identifying the responses for 
the individual project/programme. 
 
3.2.2 Observation 
This is the most basic tool for gathering information and it is usually 
used when one wish to observe the subjects in a real life setting 
without any disturbances, George (1994). This is useful to deal with 
the issue of bias, which can compromise the validity of the study 
findings and conclusions. People can some times bias the 
information they give under certain circumstances for a number of 
reasons e.g. they some times give the information that they cannot 
remember accurately later on or how the event occurred. Some 
times they give the information that in their opinion is required. 
There are three types of observation: non-participant, participant 
and unobtrusive. For this study participant observation was adopted 
due to the nature of information sought. There was an interaction 
with the participants especially the general and business community 
to get their feelings on the projects. The projects were also 
inspected in order to verify their existence and the progress made 
in terms of construction.  
 
 
 
 54
 The information soughed here was basically to formulate opinion 
about the functioning of the projects, whether they have achieved 
their objectives in the view of the beneficiaries and to physically 
confirm their existence. However due to time and financial 
resources scarcity not all projects were observed. There was a visit 
paid to observe some of the projects, which were randomly chosen: 
Braamfontein, Fashion District, Jeppe, Newtown, Constitutional Hill, 
and Faraday. For the Housing sub-strategy the programme/project 
observed was Brickfields in Newtown. 
 
3.2.3 Others 
Over and above the mentioned tools, other information sources 
were used especially at the provision of information for analytical 
purposes. These were the annual reports from the JHC, Sapoa 
website (www.sapoa.co.za cited 05 April 2004) blue IQ, and JDA 
websites were used. This was not only limited to the reports but 
also the newspaper articles and publications related to the 
projects/programmes. The articles contained mostly the views and 
opinions of other stakeholders other than the ones mentioned 
above. This helped in getting the balanced opinion from all quarters 
of society affected by renewal and helped to achieve unbiased 
conclusion. 
 
3.3 Planning and Sampling Technique 
Since it was not feasible to conduct a full study only a limited 
number of the whole population size was selected for administered 
questionnaires, which was the business and general community. 
The study requires different information from various sources as 
earlier stated due to each project objectives, which needed to be 
evaluated.  
 
 
 55
 Therefore there were different population sections interviewed 
seeking the information relevant to the evaluation of each strategy. 
For all the interviews administered questionnaires were used and 
these were complimented by interview conducted with JDA, JHC and 
Blue Iq. 
 
3.3.1 Method of gathering Information 
The formulation of the questionnaires was mainly guided by the 
research objectives and the research question as identified in 
chapter one and the objectives as set out for each project. The 
questionnaires had sufficient question items modeled to give the 
required information on each project. Three parties that formed the 
core of the evaluation were: The business community, general 
community and the custodians of the strategy (JDA, BLUE IQ, and 
JHC). There was a set of questions drawn for each category 
together with the blue print for each which basically is a guide to 
ensure that relevant questions are asked in order to give the 
required information. The population size of twenty people was 
selected for the housing sub-strategy project and it was composed 
of: the general community members and the JHC, JDA and Blue IQ. 
 
3.3.2 Interview Strategy 
In order to avoid any misunderstandings and to ensure that 
relevant data is collected, administered questionnaire was used. 
This was useful especially in ensuring that the respondents are clear 
in what is required from the study and to explain any questions that 
may arise. This ensured not only the integrity of the data collected 
but also that responses were collected within the shortest time as 
much as possible and cost as it would not be the case if self 
administered questionnaire were used.  
 
 
 56
 It also enabled explanation to the respondents wherever they were 
not clear as to what the question wants. Lastly it helped to give the 
study the integrity and serious attention from the respondents. 
 
3.3.3 Sampling Technique Adopted 
For the purpose of collecting data a stratified random sampling 
technique was adopted. The reason for this is that the population 
consists of distinct groups? e.g. business, general community and 
the custodians of the strategy; this is true of the information that 
was required here. The evaluation of certain project objectives could 
only be made by interviewing a certain group example for 
Braamfontein, Constitution Hill only JDA could give the relevant 
information. Since there are various projects within each sub-
 strategy with different objectives it was appropriate therefore to 
classify the population in accordance with the projects so that the 
relevant information can be gathered for each project from the 
relevant source. The fish bowl method of sample selection was 
used; this is the method whereby a bucket or a bowl is used to 
contain all the members of the population, which can be 
represented by allocating the alphabets or numbers. The sample will 
then be picked at random from the bowl. For this study different 
bowls were used for selecting the sample for those projects that 
require the interview of the business people. 
 
The projects/programmes were: Faraday, Jeppe and Newtown 
Housing. The numbers were allocated to represent each member of 
the population for each population strata. Example for selecting the 
sample of businesses to be interviewed for Braamfontein project, all 
businesses in the area were allocated numbers and then ten were 
picked out randomly from the bowl. 
 
 
 57
 The businesses were identified after a tour was taken of the 
Braamfontein main block bounded by Bertha Street to the North 
Juta Street to the West and Elizabeth Street to the East. The fish 
bowl method was used for all the programmes/projects. 
 
3.3.4 Sample Size 
There are six projects for the economic strategy; therefore for a 
sample size of ten for each strategy that required the interviewing 
of the general public and business people was sufficient to give the 
picture. As only four programmes: Five projects under economic 
development require interviewing of JDA, Blue IQ, JHC or both. For 
the Housing strategy there was one programme: mixed income 
development and social and transitional housing, the population size 
was also twenty which was picked randomly at the vicinity of the 
projects. For projects such as Braamfontein, Constitution Hill, Jeppe 
and Faraday the targeted population was the business community 
and JDA. 
 
3.3.5 Analysis Tools 
The research is descriptive in nature and therefore requires some 
analysis which is not necessarily statistical. The data gathered 
through the questionnaire is discrete (categorical) data. Therefore 
the views of the business community and general members of the 
community were analysed in accordance with the set categories on 
the questionnaire for each (business and general community).  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 58
 3.4 Limitations 
The method is lacking in that the comprehensive renewal involves a 
lot of strategies, which can never be efficiently and effectively be 
evaluated under the current financial and material limitations that 
prevail. It was therefore deemed sufficient to concentrate only on 
the two strategies: Spatial Economic Development and Housing. 
Even with these strategies not every project/ programme was 
visited for observation. Looking at the second data gathering 
technique it was not every one who is affected who had been 
interviewed but only a sample of the whole population had been 
selected. The main reason as alluded to is basically lack of 
resources time and financial. As the study is qualitative in nature 
therefore were limitations, as there are no definite measurable 
results from which to compare the results. The outcome is mainly 
opinion based hence subject to biasness in accordance with 
individual?s preferences. As stated above there has been some 
measures taken in order to mitigate these shortcomings. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 59
 CHAPTER4 
 
Johannesburg Inner city Renewal Strategy 
4.1 Renewal Background 
The years 1996/97 provided the base for the Joburg inner city 
renewal. This evolved from the city?s vision, which was formulated, 
and from there the development plan resulted with priorities set 
clearly. A vehicle to carry out the vision was established, the Joburg 
Inner City Development Forum (JICDF). It was made up of: Local 
Government, Provincial Government, Business forum and the 
Community. This body as an indicator of the process had a larger 
role to play. However it had limited resources to execute the duty, 
hence it brought on board the National Business Initiative (NBI) to 
provide the management skills required for this task. Both the 
JICDF and NBI worked together to convene the business sector?s 
input. 
 
The initiative and resources of business were highly sorted after for 
the start of the inner city renewal process, SA Builder/ Bour 
(1999:6). It also emerged that business had to be part of the 
cooperate governance and play its role. In the case of international 
experience business had taken the lead role in the urban 
regeneration process with various coalitions, which developed 
visions and action plans. The inner city section 59 committee was 
formulated which later replaced the JCIDF. The committee has a 
local authority legislation to equip it to bridge the metropolitan 
council and all four substructures. It also coordinated the local 
authority management and services within the inner city.  
 
 
 60
 This committee also played a vital role in decision making prior to 
the year 2000, which saw local government influx. Over and above 
this initiative, the local authority appointed a senior officer to the 
position of the acting inner city manager. The section 59 committee 
in its meeting held in December 1998 approved the following: policy 
on social housing in the inner city, programme to deal with ?bad? 
buildings, proposal for informal trade management and inner city 
waste restructuring. The synergy between PPP (Public, Private 
Partnership) for the success of Urban renewal cannot be 
underplayed as shown above.  As a matter of fact the partnership 
forms the core of renewal.  Coupled with this partnership are the 
four key components that are also fundamental: organizational 
structure, marketing, information and incentives. 
 
4.2 Inner City Profile 
Joburg Inner City falls within region 8, according to the Joburg 
Regional Spatial Development Framework (RSDF). The inner city 
consist of the city center/Central Business District (CBD) and the 
following: Yeoville, Bertrams, Troyvill, Braamfontein, Jeppestown, 
Observatory, Kensington Bezedenhout Valley, Higher density 
suburbs of Hillbrow and Berea, Newtown, Fordsburg and 
Pageview/Vrededorp to the west of Newtown and the suburbs of 
Houghton, Forrest-town and killarney to the north. Region 8 is very 
significant and this significance stems from the fact that it has the 
CBD within its boundaries. The significance relates to the following: 
It resembles the whole of Joburg in its image, vitality, success, and 
well being as it is the heart of the city.  
 
 
 
 
 
 61
 It accommodates a wide range of people from the low, middle, and 
high-income people as some suburbs that previously fell under 
regions 3 and 4 have been incorporated (Forrest-town, Houghton, 
Parktown and Killarney). It is located strategically hence attracting 
a vast business/employment opportunities. 
 
4.3 Overview of the city 
The inner city is considered a region in transition, as it is located 
between the Southern suburbs and the more affluent Northern 
suburbs. Although it suffered capital flight to the North of the city 
e.g. Randburg, Fourways, Sandton etc it never the less remain the 
largest employer than any other region in the city. The area is quite 
diverse in quality, ranging from severely degrading residential areas 
such as Bertrams to the more stable commercial centre of 
Braamfontein. As it has been a trend globally experienced by other 
big cities of the world that suffered CBD degradation and renewal, 
the inner city is being given a major facelift in order to reinstate it 
as the thriving centre of opportunities. There are on average about 
800,000 commuters passing through the city daily. It is a vibrant 
place with street life. Major arterial roads originate from the inner 
city and radiate out into the other parts of the city. Main bus and 
taxi terminals are found such as Noord and Bree taxi ranks and 
main railway station (Park station), Joburg RSDF (2003). Joubert 
Park, Hillbrow and Barea are residential suburbs close to the CBD, 
and have a large number of high-rise apartments providing 
accommodation to the low-income people. There is currently a 
higher demand for the accommodation in the inner city and the 
current supply is not sufficient to satisfy this demand. This has 
resulted in the conversion of under-utilised office buildings into 
residential accommodation.  
 
 
 62
 Joubert Park is also a home of the city?s art gallery and the park. 
There are also tertiary institutions such as Wits University and 
Johannesburg Tecknikon and they draw daily student commuter 
population from all over the city and beyond. 
 
4.4 The Overall Approach of the Strategy 
This is an outline of the overall approach taken by the city in 
implementing the renewal strategy. It states the strategic approach 
and the areas that are targeted. 
 
4.4.1 Encouraging and Supporting the Growth of SMME 
The inner city has seen the arrival of black-owned small-scale 
enterprises that have become a critical element in the economy of 
inner city. Their evolution was barred in the past by negative official 
policy towards black-owned business development in South Africa?s 
central city areas. 
 
Former home-based enterprises engaged in light manufacturing 
activities, and in particular in the garment industry, spearheaded 
the advance of new micro-enterprise development into the 
Johannesburg inner city.  The inner city offers several important 
economic advantages for small enterprises, including a market, 
accessibility in terms of transport facilities and its advantages 
regarding access to suppliers of inputs for production and retail 
types of enterprises. As an incubator for SMME development, the 
inner city provides an appropriate business environment for the 
birth and development of small-scale enterprise. 
An additional feature to the SMME environment is the increasing 
presence of immigrant entrepreneurs establishing their business in 
the inner city.   
 
 
 63
 These entrepreneurs are relatively well educated, often multi-skilled 
and have access to necessary start up capital. The most important 
problem affecting their continuing operation in Johannesburg is 
xenophobia.  Despite this, these entrepreneurs are optimistic about 
Johannesburg as a business location and encourage others to invest 
in the city. To develop and encourage the development of the inner 
city as a desirable location and incubator for SMMEs, the following 
activities are planned to be implemented: the development of the 
Fashion District as the home for a substantial number of micro and 
small garment manufacturing enterprises and the strengthening of 
the organic clustering occurring in the area: 
 
? Encouraging the establishment of, and strengthening 
existing, Local Business Service Centres (LBSCs) in the 
inner city 
? Developing programmes to counter xenophobia that 
address the myths surrounding migrants, create 
materially productive relationships between local and 
migrant entrepreneurs and by increasing the skills of 
South African entrepreneurs so that they are not at a 
disadvantage in respect of the particular skills 
possessed by migrant entrepreneurs. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 64
 4.4.2 Encouraging Growth and Support of Creative Industry 
and Cultural Tourism. 
Cultural industries and tourism play a key part in urban 
revitalisation strategies.  
 
The products of cultural industries include CDs, television 
programmes, books and magazines, videos, films, fashion, records 
and tapes.  
 
They require both hardware (in the form of suitable premises, 
equipment, technology or studios) and software (in the form of 
creative people, image-makers, ideas or sounds). In addition, they 
link either directly or indirectly to other cultural forms, such as 
theatre, visual arts, dance, and live music, jazz and so forth. 
Cultural tourism includes ?aspects which are of interest to the visitor 
and can be marketed as such, including the customs of the people, 
their heritage, history and way of life.? There are a number of 
elements in the inner city that contain the seeds of growth among 
cultural industries, including: 
? Agglomeration of printing and publishing establishments 
that are conventionally perceived as part of the 
manufacturing sector of the inner city but are critical 
elements of the cultural economy of the inner city. 
? A number of community radio stations, notably in the 
Bertrams area. 
? The live music industry, which is well represented with 
several venues featuring jazz, classical, rock and kwaito. 
? The performing arts. Which are well-served with four 
theatres in the inner city, one of which, the Market 
Theatre, has been classified as one of the top five live 
entertainment theatres in the world. 
 65
 ? The craft industry, which has been identified as a crucial 
SMME sector in Johannesburg. 
 
In addition to the developmental potential of cultural industries, 
there is significant potential in the inner city in the cultural tourism 
industry, including: 
? Ethnic tourism in the inner city which has a considerable 
potential, particularly in the area around the Mai-Mai 
bazaar. 
? Heritage tourism potential is to be found in the numerous 
Art Deco buildings in the inner city. 
? The Newtown area and Constitutional Hill precinct as core 
potential cultural tourism places. 
? The inner city can build upon events such as the Annual 
Gay Pride March and the increasing trend towards gay 
clubs being located in the inner city. 
 
To promote the creative industries and cultural tourism the 
following activities has been implemented: 
? The development of the Newtown and Constitutional Hill 
Projects and the promotion within these projects of 
cultural activities. 
? The development of the ?Cultural Arc? by developing 
linkages from Constitutional Hill, through Braamfontein 
(including the Civic Theatre), operators and tourist 
related businesses. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 66
 4.4.3 Investment Attraction 
The following key activities have been planned to secure investment 
in the inner city: 
(a) Business retention and recruitment through 
marketing the inner city to potential investors. In 
addition, a marketing programme has been 
developed.  
 
(b)  Business retention and recruitment also seek to 
address the office and retail sectors, and seek to 
attract an appropriate mix of uses and business in 
the inner city to contribute to economic growth and 
vitality. 
 
(c) The development of appropriate incentives for 
different classes of investment. 
 
Securing the development finance for the inner city through the 
establishment of a joint venture development fund to provide 
development finance for: 
1. Housing developments, especially those that promote 
integrated development accommodating a range of income 
groups. 
2. Development of SMMEs and Commercial activities. The 
University of Witwatersrand cultural centre project to 
Newtown. 
3. The development of business opportunities for small       
to medium sized enterprises. 
 
 
 
 
 67
 4.5 Guiding Principles 
The following gives an outline of the principles that will guide the 
strategies. They were put in place in order to guide the main 
strategy and the formulation of the projects/programmes. These 
principles were: collaborative work, paying attention on the basics, 
creating a conducive environment for investment and maintenance 
of consistency and increasing of the momentum. 
 
4.5.1 Focusing on the Basics 
Creating a conducive environment for investment is very crucial in 
order to win the confidence of the potential investors. It is there 
fore very imperative for the city to go back to the basics and get 
them right so as to realise the economic growth and improve the  
quality of life of the dwellers by improving the living environment. 
The following are therefore aimed: 
(a) Efficient service delivery, especially in regard to waste  
    management. While perceptions of the state of cleanliness has 
     improved over the past year in terms of the findings of a    
     recent perception survey, www.jda.co.za cited 28 February   
     2005, Cleaning however    
     remains an enormous problem in much of the inner city.  This  
     were addressed through the following programmes: 
? Increased and more effective services delivery by 
Pikitup 
? Increased by-law enforcement against illegal dumping 
? Education programmes to address littering and dumping 
problems 
? Co-ordination of service delivery by the various utilities 
? The effective and efficient management and response to 
complaints. 
 
 
 68
 (b) Rapid and effective enforcement of municipal by-laws,   
     especially regarding the building control, land use  
     management, and street trading. 
 
   (c)  Effective policing and enhancement of security in the inner   
         City.  
 
Three major initiatives taken in this regard are: 
? CIDs (Central Improvement Districts) Property owners 
assume the responsibility of cleaning and providing 
security. With the help of surveillance cameras 
installed in the CBD and areas such as Braamfontein 
and Newtown crime will be reduced substantially. 
? CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) 
It deals with among other things the                  
environmental upgrading, informal trade 
                   Management, maintenance and SMME?s establishment  
                   supplement city services. 
? Metropolitan Police Department 
The unit will be responsible for enforcing the by laws, 
preventing crime and traffic policing and it will be 
operational 24 hours a day. Its target is to reduce 
crime by 25% and the by law infringements by 45%. 
 
4.5.2 Working collaboratively 
Addressing the problems of the inner city and securing its 
revitalisation requires the combined effort of a range of role players.  
Inter-governmental collaboration, working with and securing the 
support of other key stakeholders in the implementation of the 
renewal programme will be key to its success and sustainability.  
 69
 This will involve accessing and combining the financial, technical 
and innovative resources of other institutions and persons to 
promote inner city regeneration. 
 
4.5.3 Creating an enabling and profitable investment 
environment 
The inner city suffers from negative perceptions, particularly in 
regard to risk to investments.  It is also in competition with other 
locations, both within and outside of Johannesburg, for investment.  
To attract investment it will be necessary to ensure that policies and 
procedures create an enabling environment for investment, find 
creative mechanisms and incentives that will act to reduce the cost 
of capital and/or reduce the risk, hence attracting an appropriate 
mix of uses and businesses into the inner city. 
 
4.5.4 Maintaining and increasing momentum 
The momentum that has already been created needs to be 
maintained and increased through projects that has a high 
likelihood of success and which are of high impact.  It is essential 
that present and future successes are vigorously marketed in order 
to change perceptions and begin to attract additional investment. 
 
4.6 The Strategy 
The renewal strategy is composed of various sub-strategies, which 
in turn have projects and programmes designed to drive them. In 
this study the analysis of the strategy will be focused on the two 
sub strategies: economic development framework and Housing. 
Their respective projects/programmes will be discussed in turns. 
 
 
 70
 4.6.1 Economic development Framework (EDF) 
The aim of this sub-strategy is to improve on the work that has 
already been started in the inner city renewal endeavors and the 
successes there on, also to maintain and increase the speed at 
which the urban renewal is happening with regard to the Spatial 
and Economic Framework.  
 
The Framework provides a comprehensive programme and 
management tool for the renewal process by setting up the 
economic and spatial strategies that go with the main strategy as 
the basis for detailed precinct/nodal and action planning in 
neighborhood areas within the inner city boundaries. As alluded to 
above there are projects/programmes formulated that go hand in 
hand or rather aimed at driving the sub-strategies. These will form 
the core of this study. To make a better analysis of each sub-
 strategy, the individual project/programme in each of the strategies 
will be focused on. An overview of the strategies will be done 
followed by the details of each project/programme and the 
objectives. 
 
Numerous nodes have been developed around the city and are 
important structuring elements within the city. The aim has been to 
build a sustainable economy that realise the overall objectives of 
renewal. The Declining or stagnant nodes can have detrimental 
impact on the PPP investments. Therefore the management of the 
nodes development and growth is very important, RSDF (2003).  
 
 
 
 
 
 71
 A couple of nodes together with the projects for each node have 
been identified for development in order to drive renewal; the 
concentration will be on six nodes, which are: Braamfontein, 
Newtown, Constitutional Hill, Jeppestown, Faraday and Fashion 
District. The development details of each project will be given 
together with their objectives. 
 
4.6.1.1 Braamfontein 
Over the past decade, the area has seen an exodus of institutions 
and businesses and it has become home to a less formal and 
unsustainable economy. This has led to high vacancy levels in office 
and retail space and a degradation of the public environment. 
Situated north of the city centre, with more than 428 000m2 of A- 
and B-grade office space, Braamfontein is the fourth-largest node 
for office space in the city of Johannesburg. It is home to four South 
African-based multinationals as well as South Africa's premier 
educational institution, the University of the Witwatersrand. 
The Johannesburg Development Agency and the City Council have 
recognised the location of Braamfontein as vital to the local 
economy and have embarked on redeveloping the area with the aim 
of renewing its role as a centre of business, entertainment and 
education in Johannesburg. It is strategically linking the Newtown 
and Constitution Hill projects to form the Cultural Arc; the 
Braamfontein Precinct Regeneration Programme entails creating a 
Braamfontein Corporate Precinct, which will become more attractive 
to business and welcoming to regular patrons and visitors.  
Public-sector investment in Newtown, the Braamfontein/Newtown 
Bridge and Constitution Hill has been R600-million over three years. 
The landmark Nelson Mandela Bridge is an important link between 
Constitution hill, Braamfontein Precinct and Newtown.  
 72
 This project is a key factor in the drive for inner city growth and 
renewal in Johannesburg. The JDA has been an integral part of the 
process, partnering business, which is investing in projects ranging 
from the refurbishment of company headquarters to the building of 
parking garages. A public piazza and park, and a corporate precinct 
and public environment upgrade. 
The objectives of the redevelopment project are to:  
? Promote economic development by strengthening the area's 
role as an education hub 
? Promote the integration of the University of the Witwatersrand 
into the life of the area and 
? Promote the connection of Braamfontein to Newtown and 
Constitution Hill, www.jda.co.za cited 12 April 2004. 
 
4.6.1.2 Constitution Hill 
The development aims at turning the court into an anchor in the 
inner city, surrounded by a unique precinct with heritage and 
cultural assets that promise to make it the prime tourist destination 
in Gauteng. Situated between the high-density residential 
neighbourhood of Hillbrow to its east and the mixed-use 
predominantly commercial node of Braamfontein to its west, this 
development perfectly represents the ideals behind inner-city 
regeneration developments. 
 
It will contribute to the city's economic, social and cultural 
upliftment. Constitution Hill will be a major national and 
international Heritage Site comprising an integrated and sustainable 
multipurpose and multidimensional space. 
 
 
 73
 Location 
The 95 000m2 publicly-owned site hosts important heritage 
buildings, such as the Old Fort. It is located in Braamfontein close to 
the civic theatre, Wits University, arts school, commercial activity, 
Hillbrow and the CBD. 
 
                AN AERIAL VIEW OF CONSTITUTION HILL 
 
 
                 Figure: 1 
                 Source: www.blueiq.co.za cited 10 February 2004. 
 
The site houses three notorious prisons: 
? The Fort" or "Ekhulukhuthu" the "deep hole" or ?isolation cell? 
where white inmates were kept. 
? Section Four and Section Five or the so-called "Natives' Gaol" 
built in 1902. 
? The "Women's Gaol", built in 1909. 
 
The Fort is the only prison to have had confined within its walls both 
Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, the world's major icons of 
liberation.  
 74
 The new precinct will also be home to statutory bodies, such as the 
Commission on Gender Equality, Constitutional court as well as a 
thriving complex of heritage sites and museums, exhibition and 
performance spaces, offices, shops, restaurants and other tourist 
facilities. It will be a "lekgotla" - a place of gathering - where South 
Africans and international visitors alike will come together for 
stimulating dialogue and debate. The precinct will also be the home 
of one of South Africa's major public art collections. 
Constitution Hill comprises of: 
? The Constitutional Court 
? Accommodation for the Constitutional 
Commissions. 
? Commercial space (36 000m2) for related 
commercial, retail and hospitality activities. 
 
Objectives of Redevelopment of the Hill: 
? It will be an engine of growth and transformation for 
downtown Johannesburg and a place where visitors 
can feel safely, the beat of this vibrant but often 
inaccessible city. 
? In addition, the development will create and sustain 
1 860 super-basement parking bays, bus and taxi 
holding and drop-off facilities, upgraded peripheral 
roads and internal streets, a visitors' information and 
exhibition centre, new museums and related heritage 
and tourism activities, approximately 200 rental 
residential units, community facilities and public open 
spaces. 
? The R460-million public sector spend on this 
development will leverage an estimated similar 
private sector investment amount to complete the 
initiative, www.jda.co.za cited 05 March 2005. 
 75
 4.6.1.3 Newtown 
Historical background 
At the turn of the 20th century, the Newtown Precinct was known as 
the Brickfields. This area was rich in clay, and brick making became 
the most popular form of generating income. By 1896, about 7 000 
people of all races lived in the area, later named Burghersdorp. 
Due to the proximity of this land to the centre of Johannesburg and 
the railway line, many businesses and immigrants coming from 
overseas bought stands in Burghersdorp. Soon, trading companies, 
banks, brick companies, a brewery, and fisheries moved into the 
area. In April 1904, the fire brigade set the area alight destroying 
everything in the inferno - a measure allegedly to combat the 
bubonic plague that had broken out. 
The area was surveyed, re-planned in unbecoming haste and 
renamed Newtown by October 1904, a commercial area where vast 
fortunes in milling, production of sugar and food merchandising 
would be made. Newtown has now become synonymous with the 
heritage and culture of South Africa and especially Johannesburg.  
The energy, innovation and vitality that were integral to 
Johannesburg's past success, and which are still associated with the 
city today, do not only have a commercial dimension. They also find 
creative expression in the arts, the architecture, and the cultural 
activities of the city. These are richly represented in the theatres, 
studios, workshops, museums and buildings of Newtown - a historic 
area of Johannesburg's central business district that has long acted 
as a magnet for creative and cultural activities. 
 
 76
 Location 
Located in the western sector of the Johannesburg city centre, 
Newtown covers an area that stretches from the marshalling yards 
and railway lines to the north, the M2 motorway in the south, West 
Street in the east and Quinn Street in the west. This destination is 
now easier to reach with the construction of the Nelson Mandela 
Bridge and associated N1 / Carr Street interchange, co-funded by 
Blue IQ, the City of Johannesburg, National Roads Agency and the 
National Department of Transport. The project Newton is one of five 
tourism developments aimed at inner-city regeneration.  
 
In partnership with Gauteng Agency Blue IQ, the Johannesburg City 
Council - through the Johannesburg Development Agency - is 
transforming Newtown into a safe and attractive place to work, live 
and visit refer to a Newtown Map below, picture2. 
Newtown is being developed into a vibrant, mixed-use area with a 
unique character based on existing cultural facilities the indelible 
Kippies, the world renowned Market Theatre, Moyo Restaurant at 
the Market, the buzz of Nikki's Oasis, the numerous international 
artists who have graced the Newtown Music Centre and not 
forgetting the unique shopping experience of the Oriental Plaza just 
around the corner from Newtown. 
Objective of Newtown Development: The project entails several 
improvements of the area, all aimed at making Newtown safe, 
accessible, and attractive. These include five housing developments 
catering for different income levels. Over 2 000 housing units will be 
built over the next three years among them Brickfields Housing 
Project. This destination has been made accessible through the 
construction of the Nelson Mandela Bridge and associated M1/Carr 
Street interchange.www.jda.co.za. 
 77
 Key for Newtown Map 
1. New Carr Street Interchange 
2. Mandela Bridge 
3. Old Railway Station 
4. Metro Market 
5. New Residential Development 
6. Africa Cultural Centre & Children's Museum 
7. Market Theatre Precinct 
8. Museum Africa 
9. Mary Fitzgerald Square 
10.Dance Centre 
11.Worker's Library & Museum 
12.Multimedia Centre 
13.Turbine Hall & Boiler House 
14.Mega Music 
15.Dance Factory 
16.Electric Workshop 
17.SAB Museum 
18.Bus Factory 
19. Reserve Bank 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 78
                                     NEWTOWM MAP 
 
Figure: 2 
Source: www.blueiq.co.za cited 25 March 2004. 
4.6.1.4 Fashion District 
The Fashion District is in a colourful part of Johannesburg that has 
been specially earmarked for the development of the fashion 
industry. Situated in the inner city's eastern sector, in an area 
traditionally associated with the garment industry, the district is 
made up of 34 blocks, taking in eight streets including End, Market, 
Von Wielligh and Kerk streets. By formalising the area's designation 
as the Fashion District, hopes are that it will become the hub of 
South Africa's fashion industry where clothing will be designed, 
manufactured and displayed.  
 79
 The development should also stimulate trading and facilitate cross-
 border trade and investment. It is hoped, too, that the development 
will generate public interest in locally manufactured garments and 
stimulate national and international tourism. The Fashion District is 
a hub of activity for the garment industry, with approximately 1 000 
enterprises occupying this area. The district provides services, 
directly and indirectly, to associate fashion industry operators such 
as suppliers and service providers, manufacturers, designers, 
distributors and merchandisers. 
To physically demarcate the area, three zigzag "sewing patterns" 
were cut out of all the footways throughout the district and filled 
with mosaics, providing a colourful and appropriate space branding. 
Banners in the shape of garment patterns will be erected to further 
emphasise the specialist nature of the area. Fashion shows will help 
to raise the profile of the district, allowing young designers to 
showcase their works. The area also offers training to fashion 
practitioners through institutions linked with the Department of 
Labour. 
The goal of this development is to create a viable, distinctive and 
sustainable district that stimulates the growth of small- and 
medium-sized enterprises and the growth of value-added 
manufacturing in this sub-sector.  
The main objectives behind the Fashion District are: 
? To create a safe, secure, attractive and functional 
district. 
? To afford access to social and economic activities.  
? To maximise economic growth, www.jad.co.za cited 
12 March 2004. 
 
 80
 4.6.1.5. Faraday 
Faraday station, in the southeastern part of Johannesburg, was 
formerly an area of significant decay but, with the completion of the 
Faraday Station Precinct, the area marks yet another milestone in 
the city's regeneration campaign. The area is home to Faraday 
Market, a major centre dedicated to the art of traditional healing 
and a viable transport hub. With trading space for more than 280 
muti traders, the Faraday Market Precinct is a major attraction 
whose tourist potential has been largely untapped. 
The Faraday precinct is bordered by Anderson Street in the north, 
Von Wielligh Street/Rosettenville Road in the east, Eloff Street in 
the west and Newton Street in the south. Anchored by Faraday 
Station - a railway terminal on the lines that link Soweto and other 
south-western townships to the city - the precinct has become a 
multimode transport interchange, with bus and taxi services 
extending connections into the central and near city zones. 
Faraday functions as a threshold space offering access to various 
destinations both locally and in the broader city environment. The 
overall development concept proposes an interweaving of energies 
as a way of generating a richer and more diverse urban fabric. 
Development Objective: 
The intention of this project was to recycle and regenerate, to 
create a more inclusive and sustainable future for the precinct and 
the city, www.jda.co.za cited 20 March 2004. 
4.6.1.6 Jeppestown 
Located just east of the Johannesburg city centre is the 
Johannesburg Development Agency's R8-million Jeppe Station 
Precinct project. The objectives of the Development: 
 81
 1. The aim is to use the existing Jeppe Rail Station to put in 
motion a chain of economic activities that would encourage 
and support the surrounding formal and informal traders and 
the existing taxi rank. Thus, people who commute by train 
pass through the market building, supporting informal 
traders. Taxi passengers walk in front of the train station 
building through the square and into the taxi rank, stimulating 
further trading in the area. With the completion of the project 
it is estimated that, about 80% of the formal street markets 
would be occupied. The markets stimulate economic 
development and contribute to the environmental upgrading 
of the precinct. 
2. The atmosphere of regeneration it is envisaged that would 
spread to the surrounding businesses, with formal traders 
around the precinct would also take advantage of the changes 
happening around. The Jeppe Station Precinct development 
would achieve an aesthetically better urban environment.  
With the deployment of security guards at strategic areas 
within the precinct, a visibly safe and secure environment 
would be achieved. www.jda.co.za cited 20 April 2004. 
4.6.2. Housing 
Johannesburg is going the way of other major cities such as New 
York and other world class cities of Europe in the sense that high-
 density, multi-unit residential development is happening on an 
increasing scale in what used to be commercial and industrial 
vacant space. This emanates from the Government-Housing policy 
that has changed in favour of higher density for providing urban 
solutions within urban regeneration framework.  
 
 82
 City of Johannesburg (COJ) came up with a policy to increase the 
residential component of the inner city dwellers threefold. For this it 
came up in support of two major projects: an urban regeneration 
programme in Newtown called Brickfield Housing Project and Better 
Buildings Programme aimed at higher density inner city suburbs. 
Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC) is one of the major role 
players in this partnership, JHC Corporate Finance 2002. These two 
programmes will form the focus of this study for this sub-Strategy. 
From the investment perspective some of these residential 
conversions have prove to be worth a while as are expected to yield 
high-value rentals. The conversion features loft apartments, 
mezzanine levels and extensive use of skylights, SA Property 
Professional (March/April 2004. Residential development should be 
in such a way that it supports the urban structure, with the 
following implications: 
? Densification happens in and around the nodes and 
along the movement network supporting viable and 
vibrant nodes. 
? RSDF guide and direct various densities to 
complement the urban form and preferred city 
structure. 
? Any new residential development should complement 
the urban structure by providing adequate social and 
economic land use. 
? Layouts should aim at creating sustainable 
neighbourhoods with various housing options, which 
are robust enough to meet the ever changing 
demands, RSDF (2003). 
 
 83
 Assistance policies would be adopted to assist those who cannot 
afford or compete in the housing market. There will be those who 
cannot afford even the modest shelter due to: age, ill health, or 
income or the victims of social change. As all these groups need to 
be housed, there is a danger that the market mechanisms of prices 
or rents exclude them from this right. Therefore some form of public 
participation is required. In the case of Joburg over and above the 
direct public provision of housing the Johannesburg Housing 
Company (JHC) will be working closely with other stakeholders in 
the renewal: JDA, Provincial Government and Financial institutions 
such as ABSA for delivery of this project. To elaborate on the work 
and collaboration of these stakeholders a sketch is shown below. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 84
  Brickfields Project Preparation Process and Stakeholders 
 
Feasibility issues            Market Assessment        Funding & Finance 
 
JDA 
 
 
JHC 
 
 
PROVINCE 
  
 
ABSA 
Civil & Town plng issues                          Job Summit, Site 
International Experts & Social Matters 
Local Experts 
PROJECT CONCEPT 
 
SITE CONDITIONS 
 
PROJECT STRATEGIC PLAN 
Professional team 
Refines project          PHASES 
 
BASELINE 
DOCUMENT 
 
 
CONTRACT
  
 
CONSTRUCTION 
OVER 3 YRS IN 
THREE PHASES 
                                              
                                             Figure: 3 
                                             Source: JHC 
 
 85
 The aim 
It aims at providing accommodation to the poor/low income earners 
in the inner city. By making sites available in the inner city to the 
private developer through its redevelopment activity, the range of 
location choice is widened. These policies all imply that there is a 
role the private sector play in the implementation of urban renewal 
and making it a success. The renewal process is a dynamic process, 
which calls for various strategies in accordance with the political, 
social, and economic circumstances of the city. In an effort to 
address the housing strategy the following programme will be 
undertaken: 
 
(a) Increasing the number of social and transitional housing units 
The Local Government Policy on Social Housing in the Inner City will 
help to increase the rate of social housing delivery in the inner city.  
1000 units will be provided in Newtown as part of the Presidential 
Job Summit. Further investment in inner city social housing by 
Provincial Government, the private sector and NGOs needs to be 
encouraged as an effective means of meeting housing needs for the 
R1500 ? R 3500 income group.  Further investment in Transitional 
Housing by Provincial and National Housing Departments to meet 
the housing needs of the poorest sections of the inner city 
community needs to be encouraged. 
 
(b) Promoting middle income Housing 
The R100m Brickfield residential project in Newtown would see the 
first high-rise residential building erected in the inner city in about 
30 years.   
 
 
 
 
 86
 The first phase of the project a multicultural, mixed-income 
residential development comprising an estimated 650 homes, would 
be completed in just less than two years. Four buildings of between 
eight-and twelve storeys high would be developed, interspersed 
with low-rise buildings. 
 
The project will be on vacant land at the foot of the new Nelson 
Mandela Bridge. The Brickfields development has been heralded as 
a key component of the Newtown Urban Design Framework, which 
forms part of Johannesburg's regeneration plan. 
 
Project Objective 
The developments are aimed at providing quality rental 
accommodation and services that are affordable for the low- and 
moderate-income market. The brickfield is being funded by a public-
 private partnership. Gauteng government will provide 30% of the 
initial capital on an equity basis and an additional R70m from other 
stakeholders, including private sector stakeholders Anglo American 
and Absa, the National Housing Finance Corporation and the 
Gauteng Partnership Fund followed that.www.jda.co.za 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 87
 CHAPTER 5 
 
5.1 ANALYSIS OF THE STRATEGIES 
Firstly an overall strategy formulation and institutional set up 
evaluation will be done. In order to make a fair analysis, a 
comparison will be made with the countries in the literature review, 
which are both developed and developing worlds: North America, 
Australia, Europe, Asia and Africa. This will give a fair view as 
Johannesburg has characteristics of both developed and developing 
world city. A combined summary of the overall 
progress/performance of the strategy projects/programmes will be 
made so as to give an overall performance of the strategy. Lastly 
the analysis will shift to the six projects/programmes forming the 
core of the strategy. They will be divided into their two categories of 
economic and housing. The evaluation will be on their performance 
with regard to their set objectives so as to give a picture as to how 
they contributed to the poor/good performance of the entire 
strategy. 
 
5.2 Strategy formulation and Institutional set up evaluation 
In mid-1997 the then-Deputy President, Mr Mbeki, unveiled the first 
democratic vision for Johannesburg inner city known as 'The Golden 
Heartbeat of Africa', this vision has been the result of the 
negotiations on the city?s vision over a period of 18 months between 
the first representative local and provincial governments and 
organisations representing community, labour and business. Over 
the next few years their joint effort focused on the development of 
the structures and strategies that facilitated the implementation and 
attainment of the vision.  
 
 88
 To this effect an Inner City Spatial Framework was developed in 
1999 together with an Inner City Economic Development 
Framework followed in 2000 by a City Centre Development 
Framework. All of these were essential building blocks for the 
foundation, from which the Johannesburg renewal process would be 
launched www.joburg.org cited 14 March 2004. 
In 2000 the first executive mayor of the city Mr Amos Masondo 
announced that the renewal of the city was one of his top six 
priorities of his office tenure. A councillor on his Mayoral Committee 
was appointed with specific responsibility for the Inner City. All 
Council departments and agencies, a number of which had treated 
the inner city previously as a stepchild, now were required to focus 
on this mayoral priority. 
The JDA was established as the City's renewal implementation 
authority. The Council's Region 8 (Inner City) office was also 
established. It went on to set up an Inner City Task Force to co-
 ordinate and drive Council's services management and by-law 
enforcement. The provincial government came to the party through 
their initiative to develop Gauteng as the 'Smart Province', 
channelling funds into strategic inner city projects via Blue IQ, their 
financial intermediary. Business, recognising the emergence of a 
strong political will backed by serious public-sector funding, became 
willing to invest in the renewal process, not just in their own 
enterprises, but in upgrading and maintaining public space and 
providing new amenities. 
 
 
 
 89
 5.3 Comparison with other cities 
Johannesburg renewal process followed very much into the 
footsteps of its predecessors in the developed world. In formulation 
and implementation of its strategy the city realised the importance 
of including all the stakeholders in order for the renewal process to 
be a success. This is evident from the institutional set and 
partnerships formed such as CJP alluded to earlier on. There was 
also consultation of all the stakeholders and as a result much 
enthusiasm had been shown by all involved especially the private 
sector. The government at a higher level has shown political will. 
Besides the then deputy president unveiling the version of 
democratic Johannesburg, the national government announced 
some tax breaks in the 2002/2003 financial year budget to 
encourage renewal of declining inner cities. 20% was to be allowed 
for any cost incurred in effecting refurbishments on inner city 
properties. 
 
In the from In the UK all the stakeholders were brought on board 
especially the private sector and the government ensured that this 
is achieved by making funds available for renewal only to those 
councils that incorporated the sector in their strategy. This was 
based on the premise that the private sector will move the process 
quickly with competence that the public sector lacks, which is 
normally slow due to the laxity in approach and bureaucracy 
involved. These were also to ensure that the private sector buys 
into the process and win their confidence in order to ensure that 
they invest in those renewal areas. 
 
 
 
 90
 These however has not been the case in some developing countries 
especially Africa. Looking at the case of Zimbabwe and Mozambique 
these governments have tried without success to renew their cities. 
There was not much consultation with the stakeholders especially 
community representatives, as there were no apparent community 
forums initiated or encouraged to take part in the formulation and 
implementation of their renewal strategies. In Zimbabwe the 
process have been very bureaucratic with government agencies and 
departments taking a centre stage. Despite the poor presence of 
viable private sector in these countries not much effort seemed to 
have been taken to lure the private sector into the process. The 
feeling seem to have been that the renewal is the sole responsibility 
of the government which has it own political will, that is fulfilling its 
social responsibility. Including the private sector that has the sole 
motive of profit maximisation will contrast with the government 
objectives. This can then explain the resistance or lack of 
investment and funding of the process by the private investors. In 
Zimbabwe the planning process was very much fragmented with 
poor coordination. As a result of this, the implementation has not 
been done accordingly. These governments also lack funding to 
implement the projects identified as the main drivers of the process. 
Hence the failure of these countries in implementing the strategy 
has been largely attributed to these aspects 
 
 
 
 
 
 91
 5.4 Overall Strategy performance/progress 
There are a whole lot of other stakeholders who have joined the 
party to benefit and contribute in some way or another in the cbd 
renewal. Few will be looked at just highlight the enthusiasm of 
business and public sector in making this a success.The story of one 
property developer George Zelinski, standard bank and the initiative 
by Gauteng Provincial Government are worth mentioning. On the 
business times (06-02-2004), Zelinski said that the partnership 
between public and private sectors has been amazing.  He is a 
lawyer by profession and has been very instrumental in converting 
the derelict Van der BijlSquare between Eloff and Rissik streets into 
Gandhi Square, which now boasts cafes and restaurants and has a 
24-hour security service. He bought his first property in the CBD 
in1989 and approached the Johannesburg council in 1994 with his 
plans for Van der Bijl Square. He has a 45-year lease on the 
precinct and owns more than half the properties that surround the 
square. He has been quoted saying "I buy slum properties and 
convert them into A-grade office space?. 
He is also involved in a consortium that encourages owners of 
building son Main and Fox streets to convert them into pedestrian 
malls. Already, coffee shops and restaurants are being built. First 
National Bank (FNB) announced that it was going to spend R28 
million into the CBD for the creation of a parking garage that will 
serve the bank's 6000 staffers at its Bank City complex. The 
parkade, which is situated on the corner of Pritchard and Sauer 
Streets, has since been completed. Its 800 bays are located in eight 
levels above ground and four underground levels. 
 
 
 92
 Affirming Johannesburg as a vibrant, dynamic and well-managed 
city, Standard Bank group announced early in 2002 that it would 
spend R197-million on renovating its headquarters in the city 
centre, Simmonds street. A further R58-million would be spent on 
an uninterrupted power supply facility and R42-million on building a 
staff-parking garage next to 3 Simmonds Street. This was the 
bank?s affirmation of Johannesburg as a dynamic city with endless 
opportunities. The bank?s CEO when announcing this plan said that 
the bank has been an integral part of the city for the past 117 years 
and thus it remains committed to the city. 
Renovations, which started in March 2003, took about eight months 
and were completed earlier this year 2004. The councillor 
responsible for Finance, Strategy and Economic Development in the 
city Parks, Tau welcomed Standard Bank announcement, describing 
it as a vote of confidence in the city by big business. He said this is 
yet another indication that crime and grime in the inner city are on 
a retreat and businesses are coming back. Maree the bank?s CEO 
further stated that Johannesburg is an exciting, vibrant, dynamic 
and well-managed city that has weathered many storms and keeps 
going from strength to strength. He said the bank had been 
encouraged by JDA?s commitment to renewal especially factors like 
improved security and transport and the general revitalisation of the 
CBD, www.standardbank.co.za cited 05 February 2004. 
The premier Mbhazima Shilowa made the announcement of his 
government intention to develop a provincial government precinct 
in the CBD. The area of the proposed precinct is bounded by Fox 
Street and a portion of Main Street in the south, Pritchard Street to 
the north, Rissik Street to the east and Kort Street to the west. 
 
 93
 This he said is in line with the efforts by the provincial government 
to entice business to return and rejuvenate Johannesburg city 
centre. Addressing the opening of the Blue IQ Smart Partnership 
conference at the Sandton Convention Centre, Shilowa said the 
provincial government, which occupied 120,000m? of space in 
Johannesburg, had recently bought the buildings after renting them 
since 1995. Private investors, sensing that the degradation of the 
city had been halted, started to join in to cash in on the up-turn in 
the inner city's fortunes. Sunday times City Metro (04-06-2003) 
carried an article on this. ?C-Max investment said it would add 20 
000m2 of office, residential and retail space in Newtown. This move 
back to the inner city shows the company?s commitment to and 
belief in Johannesburg renewal?. 
Over and above this the value of building plans approved in 2002 of 
R122 467 million was six times that of the previous year R19 441 
million while the private sector component, R57 100 million, was 
nearly three times that of the previous year R18 900 million. Since 
2002 an unofficial scorecard reflects R 3.5 billion of new investment, 
slightly less than half from the private sector, not including the 
value of existing property changing hands, which could be between 
R1 and R2 billion www.sapoa.co.za cited 06 February 2004. 
5.5 Overall Progress 
JDA developed performance indicators. They were developed for the 
convenience of all the stakeholders in the renewal process to 
evaluate the progress made in meeting the objectives of renewal. 
There were six-performance indicators formulated for this purpose 
which were: 24 hrs city, rentals, property market, business activity 
in impact area, confidence in the inner city and awareness of jda, 
www.jda.org.za cited 14 April 2004. 
 94
 They are divided into economic indicators and perception indicators. 
They will be unbundled one at the time as follows: 
 
5.5.1 Economic Indicators 
5.5.1.1 24 Hours City 
This indicator measures the attendance of the functions in the inner 
city venues for various social events such as theatre, movies, music 
concerts etc. The target set for increase in this regard was 5% per 
annum. Between 2002 and 2003 the actual increase recorded far 
exceeded this target as it was recorded as 11%. 
 
5.5.1.2 Property Rentals 
Building activity (plans approved and work completed) has 
escalated dramatically between 2001 and 2002 as alluded to above 
with an increase of 500% for the period. Vacancy rates of grade A 
and B office accommodation in the CBD and Braamfontein have 
been showing a rising trend since the mid 1990s when the strategy 
was implemented and now seem to have stabilized in the CBD 
around 24% and in Braamfontein around 12%, www.Sapoa.co.za. 
This is encouraging given the number of property nodes where 
vacancy rates for A and B property grades lies at 20% or above ? 
Hyde Park/Dunkeld, Melrose/Waverly, Parktown and Rivonia. The 
latest JHI Property Report states that leasing activity in the 
Johannesburg CBD has been fairly strong over the past year with 
government and empowerment companies finally beginning to drive 
demand. Brokerage activities in the area report that at least 60% 
Of new leases are signed by emerging black businesses. Neil Fraser 
of JDA has hailed this as great success towards economic 
development and property values enhancement. 
 
 
 
 95
 5.5.1.3 Property Market 
The target here has been to stabilise A grade median rentals by 
December 2003 with the base year being set at December 2001. 
During the course of 2002, median rentals increased from R25 to 
R27 per m2 in the CBD, but dropped in Braamfontein from R45 to 
R44 per m2, indicating a stable trend. The city council treasury and 
finance office put the occupancy level in the inner city 78% in 2004 
which it says is a steady increase from 75% in 2003. www.jda.co.za 
cited 08 April 2004. 
 
5.5.1.4 Business Impact 
Between 2002 and 2003, it is said that salary levies had been 
generally stable, showing a slight increase. Key business areas 
attributed to this are Selby, Johannesburg, Braamfontein and 
Marshalltown, with Selby and Marshalltown showing increases in 
salaries. An increase in salaries levied is also suggested for 
Doornfontein www.geda.co.za 
 
5.5.2 Indicators Relating to Perception 
5.5.2.1 Confidence in the Inner City 
JDA developed a confidence index that provided a score 
based on the respondents? positions on certain questions. There 
were four confidence factors developed: (a) Business satisfaction 
with the inner city cleanliness, (b) general perception on crime, (c) 
city life impression. The overall inner city index score for the year 
2003 was 46, 2 which is up from 44, 8 recorded in 2002, this is an 
increase of 3, 1%. Within the inner city, the Cultural Arc has been 
an important development area; this area stretches from 
Constitution Hill through Braamfontein to Newtown.  
 
 
 
 96
 When isolating a confidence index for the Cultural Arc public 
response to JDA?s development efforts show that in 2003, the 
overall confidence index for the Cultural Arc was 48,9. The public?s 
confidence regarding the Cultural Arc is much higher than for the 
whole of the inner city. The Star newspaper (20-06-2004), stated 
that although crime has long been an issue but business against 
crime survey revealed that 92% of the people and businesses 
interviewed say they consider relocating or investing in the inner 
city. This survey also discovered that 82% of the people held a 
positive out look regarding the inner city.72% said that the inner 
city could become a great world-class city. On the global survey on 
levels of crime Joburg was placed fifth behind Detroit, Washington, 
Miami and Cape Town. 
 
(a) Business satisfaction with inner city cleanliness 
Confidence that the inner city is becoming cleaner has risen by 20, 
7% in the past year (2003). More than half of respondents said that 
the overall cleanliness of the inner city was better than across the 
rest of Johannesburg. Only 17, 6% said that it was worse. The main 
problem appears to be litter on pavements and kerbs, followed by 
illegal posters and graffiti. Just over a third believes that street and 
pavement lighting is inadequate. The majority believe that refuse 
removal has improved over the past year. Jda has attributed this 
success to the city?s utility company formed for this purpose Pik It 
Up and the public private partnership establishment of the city?s 
improvement districts (CID?s) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 97
 (b) Perception on crime 
Crime remains a problem in the inner city, with two-thirds of 
respondents saying they do not feel safe outdoors. Most 
respondents, however, said that crime was being better managed in 
the city?s improvement districts, and 70% said they felt safer in 
these areas. Overall, 54% of respondents said they thought security 
was better in the inner city than in the rest of Johannesburg. 
According to Jda the Installation of CCTV cameras in the city?s 
improvement district and the establishment of metro police 
department to deal with crime in the inner city enforcement of the 
by laws have played a major role. Star newspaper (20-06-2004), 
attest to this as it stated that closed circuit cameras in the inner city 
have helped to improve the public perception and cut crime by 
80%. 
 
(c) City life Impressions 
Impressions of the inner city and city life are improving. Only 17, 
6% describes the street life in the inner city as dull or non-existent, 
this is compared with 40% in 2002. The city?s image has improved 
substantially: while 80% characterized the inner city as dirty and 
unsafe in 2002, this figure dropped to 36% in 2003. Over half said 
that the city, while not yet satisfactory, was improving. Almost 90% 
said that it would be useful to have public events that attract people 
to the area. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 98
 5.6 Economic (projects/programmes performance) 
5.6.1 Braamfontein 
From an interview conducted with Yael Horowitz planning and 
strategy manager of JDA and from additional reading from JDA 
website the following transpired with regard to Braamfontein 
project. 
 
The total sum of R200 million was committed for this project, which 
has been mainly from private sector and the city council. Sappi 
invested a massive amount in redevelopment of its headquarters 
that included among others the closure of Ameshoff and Simmonds 
Streets where they border the Sappi property thus creating a 
pedestrian zone and piazza which linked into the Civic Theatre. 
Under the proposed piazza, a new parkade was also constructed 
which provided about 3 000 parking bays for Sappi staff. These 
bays are also to be used at night by patrons to the Civic Theatre.  
The public spaces, restaurants, etc of the Civic Theatre were also 
refurbished and upgraded during the year. Under Bernard Jay, the 
Civic theatre is reported to stage successful shows and its 
programmes play to capacity audiences. Over and above this Sappi 
has also funded an upgrading of the public park in front of the 
Theatre. This space has been turned around with new state of the 
art landscaping. Liberty Life Properties, the JD Group, Gensec and 
ApexHi together with Sappi also be funded the R6.5 million upgrade 
of the public environment in east-west Ameshoff and Stiemens 
Streets including the interlinking north-south streets. Liberty also 
constructed an above ground parkade for their staff on the corner of 
Melle and Ameshoff. 
 
 
 99
 The Council, through the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), 
spend about R20 million in upgrading the public environment in the 
area to the south of Stiemens down to De Korte Street, the 
upgrading of Jan Smuts/Bertha to where it links into the Nelson 
Mandela Bridge and the connection to Constitution Hill. Wits 
University, on the other hand upgraded the area on its east 
boundary and open up its connection with Braamfontein. The Wits 
School of the Arts has also been developed from the old Dental 
School and it now provides links to both Newtown and Braamfontein 
cultural facilities and civic theatre forming the cultural arc envisaged 
in by the project, www.joburg.co.za cited 15 March 2004. 
Property sector seem to have gained much in this project as 
business has started to show confidence inn the area and moved in. 
Mr Khotso Matsau, co-owner of commercial property brokerage 
Lalela Properties, which is mandated to work on most of the office 
buildings in Braamfontein, says that the urban-rejuvenation project 
is beginning to show results. In his words he said ?the project is 
making Braamfontein very attractive, if you are looking at the office 
market, which is what keeps the central business district alive, 
there has been a good turnaround. We have seen most of the A-
 grade office space absorbed in recent months." Mr Matsau further 
says Braampark, the Libridge office block, Jorissen Place and the 
Braamfontein Centre are all 100% occupied. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 100
 5.6.2 Newtown 
The Blue IQ Newtown project leader official Mrs Xoliswa Ngema said 
that for this renewal project they have committed an amount of 
R300 million.  
 
Their main strategic partner for this project is JDA, which is 
responsible for implementing all the renewal projects by Blue IQ. 
The R80 million Nelson Mandela Bridge has been completed and 
was inaugurated in July 2003. 
 
Nelson Mandela Bridge in construction Linking Newtown      
                              With Braamfontein 
 
                Figure: 4 
               Source: www.blueiq.co.za cited 10 February 2004. 
The R40 million worth of contracts for the elevated M1 motorway 
on-and-off ramps connecting the southern suburbs to Newtown is 
has also been completed in March 2003. The Mary Fitzgerald Square 
was basically transformed by the end of 2001 to the tune of R12.5 
million.  
 101
 The permanent busker stage has been erected to replace the 
temporary one erected at the eastern end for activities at the 
square were. There is still however another busker stage to be 
erected on the grassed portion of the square. 
 
Work on the upgrading of the roads and footways from Mary 
Fitzgerald Square westwards to the Oriental Plaza also commenced 
early in 2001 and had been completed in 2002. About R6 million 
worth of contracts have been awarded for this work. To address the 
issue of crime 40 CCTV cameras were installed in the area and are 
linked to the Carlton Centre's CCTV control room. The R100 million 
Metro Market was also inaugurated in 2002. It is a multi use, taxi, 
bus, informal trading and retail. The occupants or regular users of 
this facility say they are very happy with this modern facility. 
These sentiments have been assured by about 80% of the people 
interviewed. They included the taxi operators, commuters and 
informal traders. What seem to be forming the basis for common 
content by these groups is the fact that they have a shelter from 
the hush winter colds and hot summer days. The traders especially 
those involved in food catering say that this has provided quality 
sanitary facility as they no longer have to cook in the open where 
its filthy and high possibility of food poisoning exists. Part of Turbine 
Hall has also been upgraded during the year and was used for 
filming and commercial shoots as well as the highly successful SA 
Fashion Week in 2002, the Mini Cooper launch and the Joy of Jazz 
International Festival. 
Upgraded also is the electric workshop. It has proved to be a 
popular venue as the demand for corporate functions, dance and 
music events is very high. It is however to be converted into an 
interactive Science and Technology Centre and work had already 
stated on this. 
 102
 The Newtown Music Centre that opened was opened during the year 
2002 and is primarily a training and performance centre for 
musicians. The Dance Factory a 300-seat theatre and studio used 
mainly for dance performances is adjoining it.   
Transport House has also been cleared of squatters; it has been a 
blight of the area for the long time. It is currently being developed 
as a sports arena for Dance Sports SA. A Visitor's Centre is also 
nearing completion together with the broadcasting facilities for 
KAYA FM, which is expected to move from rose bank some time in 
2005. The radio station management say that their decision to 
relocate to Newtown stem from their believe in the inner city future 
prosperity and that?s where they want to be as their motto goes 
?The Heart and soul of Jozi?. The area has also experienced a sharp 
increase in the letting/investment. 
In July 2004 Blue IQ together with JHC announced C-Max is as the 
preferred bidder for the development of the multi purpose complex. 
This project covers the Central Place which is a large area of 
buildings and space that abuts Mary Fitzgerald Square to the north, 
the Turbine Hall to the east and the Bus Factory Craft and Design 
Centre to the south - is to be transformed into a vibrant 24-hour 
shopping, entertainment, business, retail and residential hub. 
Those already in the area include the Newtown Music Centre, the 
impressive Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, Blue IQ, the City of 
Johannesburg Heritage Services, Moving into Dance and several 
small film and media companies. Work has already begun on 
Number 1 Central Place; a Greenfield office and retail development 
whose first tenant is the Gauteng Tourism Authority - which is to 
move there from Rosebank on 1 May 2005. 
 
 103
                    Portion of Completed Newtown Precinct 
 
              Figure: 5 
5.6.3 Constitution Hill 
The construction of the new Constitutional Court continued as 
planned on programme. This construction contract is valued at 
R87.5million. The lateral support and bulk earthworks contract for 
the 1870-bay parking super-basement valued at R33.5million, was 
let in early November 2002 and the rest was completed in October 
2003. Kotze Street has been upgraded to allow for improved 
pedestrian circulation between Hillbrow and Braamfontein, with a 
view to making future public connections with Constitution Hill. 
 
5.6.4 Fashion District 
2003 have seen the upgrade programme of this precinct begin in 
earnest with a R3 million injections into the public environment 
upgrading. This was after the city?s Major Mr Amos Masondo 
announcement of the project. It involved the demarcation of the 
area with 11-metre high gateways that look like colourful fabric 
threaded through the street poles that light up at night. These were 
complemented with signage consisting of 48 large steel garment 
 104
 patterns erected on street poles. And on the pavements will be 
three different stitch patterns, cut into the paving tiles and filed 
with mosaic tiles. The pavements were further transformed with 
benches with inlaid mosaic stitch patterns, and trees in a part of 
town that is particularly bare of greenery. 
In the last two years 2002/2003, the district it's found its feet 
again: factories have opened up again as smaller, more efficient 
operations, and most importantly, they have now found a more 
secure, niche market, and there's plenty of those: ethnic African 
designs, which are becoming more and more popular and can not 
be produced by Asian sweatshops because they are very 
individualistic in nature; small runs for burial societies, choirs or 
school uniforms are other examples.  The area is certainly a buzz: 
there are around 500 tailors and seamstresses operating from this 
part of town, either as individual operators or as small factory 
productions. According to Yael Horowitz JDA official one 
businessman Rees Mann, who many believe can take a large 
measure of credit for the revival in the fashion district has said this.  
 
He has been involved in the industry since 1981, following in his 
father's footsteps - fresh from completing his apprenticeship in 
Europe as a tailor; he arrived in Pritchard Street in 1948. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 105
 5.6.5 Faraday 
A dedicated centre for traditional healers to operate in just has 
become a major tourist attraction. This is according to JDA. The 
R45-million Faraday Market has been completed recently in 2004. It 
is situated in the southeast of Johannesburg's inner city and has a 
room for some 280 muti traders, including sangomas and diviners. 
The nearby taxi rank accommodates about 250 taxis. Before they 
moved into their new, modern premises, the traditional healers of 
Faraday plied their trade and displayed their goods under a bridge, 
exposed to the harsh weather conditions in winter and summer for 
almost three decades. 
The facility is an impressive, modern structure, with amenities to 
cater for taxis, traders, commuters, healers and their patients. A 
number of artists were commissioned to do mosaic work on 
pavements and buildings, according to Paul Arnott-Job, the project 
manager, who was seconded from the Johannesburg Development 
Agency. The buildings were recently handed over to the 
Metropolitan Trading Company (MTC), which manages markets on 
behalf of Johannesburg. The market has taxi and bus ranks, a 
specialised market for herb dealers, stalls for informal traders, 
consulting rooms for traditional healers and retail spaces for micro- 
and medium-sized enterprises. A compactor and a special skip have 
been provided for the disposal of medical waste. The idea behind 
the Faraday project was to develop a precinct, which responds to 
the shifting urban-rural boundaries, celebrates the transient 
commuter culture and captures the memory and historical 
significance of the Faraday station area by reinforcing the spirit of 
the place.  
 
 106
 Block A of the building is for administration, block B and block E are 
used by muti traders and traditional healers, Block D is reserved for 
informal traders while block C houses more formal shops. The 
double-storey B block catches the eye; it boasts a muti trading area 
on the ground floor and consulting rooms on the top. Mr Mphethi 
Morojele, a spokesman for Faraday Traditional Healers, says 
specialist sangomas, inyangas and prophets use the rooms. The 
doorways to the consulting rooms are just 1,6m high, forcing a 
patient to stoop on entering. Morojele says this is an attempt to 
recreate a traditional way of entering a healer's hut, lending the 
consulting rooms an amble of a ceremonial space. The walls of the 
consulting rooms are used not only as partitions, but also as 
storage spaces, with cubicles used by healers to store their 
medicines. The rooms have bathrooms, which are used not only as 
ablution facilities but also during healing procedures. The bath for 
instance is used for ceremonial cleansing. 
JDA reckons this new facility will go a long way towards formalising 
traditional healing as an industry. It says the market is helping to 
accelerate the process of urbanising the healers, most of who retain 
strong ties with the countryside. She adds that not all the traders 
will survive the transition from informal to regulate trading, but the 
market offers enormous opportunity for those who are enterprising, 
www.jda.co.za cited 15 March 2004. 
 
5.6.6 Jeppe 
This project was completed in 2003; it has been hailed as a good 
example by JDA in demonstrating how projects can be used as 
community-building initiatives. The project included an upgrade of 
taxi ranks. The new taxi facility - allocated for commuters, taxi 
operators, ranking officials and taxi drivers - is situated on the 
northeast side of the precinct and is being managed by the 
 107
 Metropolitan Trading Company. The eight-island, formalised linear 
taxi rank accommodates 32 minibus taxis. The rank is defined by 
destinations and is allocated to three taxi associations. There are 80 
open vendor sites on Main, McIntyre, John Page, Madison and Gus 
streets, incorporating food, barber and general trading stalls. See 
The booths are designed to be easily manipulated for individual 
business needs. 
 
          Portion of completed Jeppe Precinct 
 
               Figure: 6 
               Source: own Picture 
An open space on the east side of the precinct is used for public 
meetings, social gatherings, concerts or any other public-related 
functions. The storage facility was leased by the Metropolitan 
Trading Company from Intersite Property Management to store 60 
steel-cage hawker lockers provided by the Jeppe Station Precinct 
Development. 
 
 
 
 
 108
                                   Jeppe Store Facility 
 
 
             Figure: 7 
             Source: Own Picture 
 
5.7 Housing 
A key aspect of the recovery of the CBD is the increasing number of 
residents who have moved into the area, drawn by the efforts of the 
non-profit Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC). JHC operates on 
three fronts: 
? Buying vacant land in the CBD and developing townhouse 
complexes. 
? Buying existing blocks of flats and refurbishing units. 
? Buying hotels or hostels and converting them into housing. 
The company together with other private investors has provided 
accommodation for a variety of income groups ranging from low to 
medium income groups. These income groups have been the core 
business area of JHC; the project manager at JHC Mrs. Dombolo 
Masilela on an interview said this. Local and international groups 
support her work.  
 109
 She stressed the importance of increasing the residential 
component of the CBD to create a 24-hour inner city and providing 
accommodation to the poorer sections of the community closer to 
their work places as envisaged by JDA, which they work closely 
with. She said that her company has provided 1 842 housing units 
(of which less than 5% are vacant) in Troyeville and Jeppestown in 
the east, in Joubert Park and Hillbrow, and in Newtown and 
Fordsburg in the west. At present, income from these units more 
than covers operating costs. The surplus is used to pay back debt 
raised on the commercial market. 
Another milestone in the city's housing provision according to Yael 
of JDA, was the establishment of the Property Owners' and 
Managers' Association (POMA). POMA consists of about 20 major 
landlords and residential property managers controlling about 1500 
buildings in the inner city. They seek to promote best practice in the 
inner city's residential market and have a Code of Conduct that 
seeks to create an investment friendly environment in the property 
market. 
5.7.1 Mixed income and transitional housing 
The R100-million Brickfields high- and low-rise housing project is 
currently under construction at the vacant site in Newtown. 
Although the project is a bid behind schedule it is anticipated to be 
complete in about 12 months time. The project will provide 
accommodation for between 2 500 and 3 000 people. Depending on 
the size of the units, rentals will range from about R500 a month for 
a single room, to R800 a month for a one-bedroom flat and R1500 a 
month for a townhouse unit. Each unit has 24-hour security and is 
cleaned daily. JHC owns 17 buildings and provides work for about 4 
000 people, in addition to those who will work on the Brickfields 
project. 
 110
 The partners for this project include among others the National 
Department of Housing, the City of Johannesburg, the Central 
Johannesburg Partnership, the National Housing Finance 
Corporation, the Gauteng Department of Housing and Land Affairs, 
Anglo American and Anglo Gold, Absa. International bodies such as 
the European Union, the Flemish Regional government, JP Morgan 
and the US Agency for International Development area among the 
foreign organisations that put up the original donor funding of about 
R70-million. Below is the picture of the project in construction. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                    
 111
                  Brickfields Project in Construction 
 
 
            Figure: 8 
            Source: Own Picture 
             
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 112
 CHAPTER 6 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
6.1 Success 
The regeneration process of Joburg as outlined has already resulted 
in the major investments as previously quantified in the previous 
chapter. The commitment of the Government to the process can be 
deemed to have contributed a lot to the positive spin offs that are 
slowly emerging. The investors had bought into the renewal process 
and had put their money where their mouth is. All the six areas: 
Braanfontein, Constitution Hill, Newtown, Jeppe, Faraday, and 
Fashion District have seen major increase in investments. Financial 
and Insurance institutions such as ABSA, FNB and Liberty Group 
have played a major role. In this regard the strategy can be hailed 
as a success. 
Unlike its African counter parts the Joburg renewal was backed to a 
large extend by the Government at all spheres: National and Local 
Government. This commitment by the Government together with 
the inclusion of the relevant stakeholders especially community 
representation have resulted in the acceptance of the strategy by 
the people. The community through their representation have been 
consulted in the formulation of the strategy hence its success. The 
star dated Wednesday (2004/06/30), run an article on this, 
?Revitalising the CBD.? It says that Joburg is in the process of 
reinventing its self, and it has the massive political and financial 
commitment from local and provincial Government and community 
support. 
 
 
 113
 This is not to say that there are still not areas of major concern. 
Crime has for a long time been an issue. There is however a 
positive signs of the rate going down. The statistics of the survey 
conducted by the business against crime bear evidence to this. In 
the survey conducted last year 92% of the people interviewed said 
they consider relocating or investing in the CBD. This survey also 
found that 82% of the interviewed were very positive about the 
future of the inner city, while 72% was positive that the inner city 
could be a great African World class city, Star 2004/06/30. The JDA 
has set it as its mission to turn Joburg into the typical African city. 
Walking down the streets of the city it is not easy to see this coming 
into being. The Johannesburg Central Partnership has defined the 
African city as the one that reflects the demographics of the country 
and Johannesburg certainly does. Unlike Cape Town CBD and 
Sandton CBD, which are populated mostly by white people, Joburg 
CBD is mostly 80% populated by the Black people. It has become a 
very vibrant city with a range of colourful places such as Faraday 
Market with a range of traditional medicine stalls and Metro Mall 
with the taxi rank. 
The economic revival seems to have been achieved by all the six 
projects. The SMME?S and informal sector as indicated in analysis 
chapter had benefited to a great extend as the principal 
beneficiaries example of such is the fashion district, Faraday etc. 
This has contributed to the whole city?s positive economic 
performance. The strategy has also achieved the better living 
conditions and much improved housing conditions.  
 
 
 114
 The social housing programme headed by JHC has made these 
possible in the developments such as Carr Gardens in Fordsburg. 
The emerged interest in the housing investment in the inner city 
has also attracted different developers targeting different markets 
from low to high income. Urban oceans have been the leader in this 
area targeting young professionals such as Accountants, Lawyers, 
and Architects etc. 
6.2 Shortfalls 
Not yet at an acceptable level. Urban blight, with residential 
overcrowding and illegal occupations, pock-marks the Inner City 
fabric; unmanaged informal trading and taxis exacerbate a largely 
gritty public environment and serious social problems associated 
with poverty are still rampant. Government has yet to satisfactorily 
address the plight of the urban poor and the issue of meaningful, 
sustainable job creation. 
Though the strategy can be hailed as success there is still a lot to 
be done. Billions of rands have been allocated to make the 
regeneration of Johannesburg's inner city a reality over the next 
three years from 2002. The City, in the first business plan 
developed for the inner city regeneration strategy, estimated that 
the cost of rejuvenating the area and bringing private investment 
back will be about R2, 8-billion from July 2004 to 2007. An amount 
of R1, 9-million has been allocated, although there is still a shortfall 
of R915-million. But - as the inner city regional director, Yakoob 
Makda, points out - these amounts are estimates only. Makda is 
confident that business commitment will lead to a chain reaction of 
investment in the area. It's barely days after the release of the plan 
and businesses are already coming on board, he says. 
 
 115
 The business plan, which is spearheaded by the City of 
Johannesburg, aims to co-ordinate the efforts of all agencies 
involved in the regeneration of the inner city. These include several 
council departments, utilities such as City Power and Pikitup, the 
Johannesburg Development Agency, the Johannesburg Property 
Company, the Johannesburg Roads Agency and the Metro Trading 
Company - as well as Blue IQ and provincial departments. 
Makda says that there are pockets of money all over the place that 
are going towards the inner city. The process is being co-ordinated 
by the Inner City Task Force. The task force is "unique to 
Johannesburg", he added, www.jda.org.za cited 14 February 2005  
The strategic importance of the inner city to the development of 
Johannesburg as a world-class African city in the context of 
increasing global connectivity cannot be understated. 
Overall the city has succeeded up to so far in its renewal objectives 
but as Makda said, the inner city has deteriorated over the past two 
decades. The regeneration process is going well. But it will take 
time. It won't happen overnight and the city is on the track. The 
City Regeneration Strategy of 2003 and its subsequent success are 
the result of nearly a decade of focused energy and partnership 
between the public and private sectors that recognised the 
economic and strategic significance of the Inner City of 
Johannesburg. It will never again be what its mining camp, colonial 
and apartheid history once dictated - but, through this energy and 
partnership, it is steadily moving towards its vision as it emerges as 
one of the great cities of this continent - an African World Class 
City. 
 
 
 116
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 117
  
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