‘Inclusion’ punted as key to development of future cities

WHAT may South Africa’s cities look like in the future?

Government is hopeful that urbanisation can be properly implemented, with the effects of apartheid urban planning being reduced, higher density living in inner cities, inclusive and sustained economic development and transport solutions that meet commuter needs.

However, current government programmes in urban areas “are collectively incoherent, ineffective and unaffordable”, says National Treasury.

Government policy, encapsulated in the Integrated Urban Development Framework (IUDF), sets out in great detail what is desired over coming decades. The key drivers are inclusion and positive growth within urban centres, while also affirming rural-urban linkages.

Already, 63% of South Africans live in cities, and that figure is expected to rise to 71% by 2030 and to nearly 80% by 2050.

Government technocrats say the country should be reaping a dividend as a result of this urban orientation but insufficient economic growth leads to poor job creation and most cities remain divisive and unequal.

The major underlying factor is the apartheid legacy which “dampens growth, deepens inequality and creates inefficient and rising local government expenditure pressures”. Townships continue to be remote, high-density settlements.

As a response, the IUDF policy calls for South Africa’s cities to:

● Be inclusive and provide access to all;

● Provide effective governance;

● Ensure spatial integration; and

● Promote economic growth that benefits all. In order to achieve these goals, the policy calls for clear integration of urban planning and management, infrastructure development, transport solutions, human settlement development, land governance, and sustainable financing. It is also predicated on empowered and active communities. But, addressing the Local Government Cooperation and Urbanisation Forum in East London this week, National Treasury cities specialist Roland Hunter lamented some of the failures of the current urban development plan.

These include misalignment of the investment plans of national department and state-owned enterprises, with local municipal spatial plans, and fragmented transportation plans throughout the country.

Hunter had cutting observations on the failures of housing and people mobility programmes within cities.

Housing projects invariably mimicked apartheid urban planning, “trapping the poor” on the peripheries of cities, he said, calling for demandside incentives to promote densification, conversion and refurbishment of inner-city housing.

Informal backyard densification should also be accepted and regularised and services should be broadened to include backyard shack dwellers.

He said government spending on urban public transport was misaligned to commuter patterns – rail and bus rapid transport received almost all funding when two-thirds of urban commuters used minibus taxis daily. Government currently spends only one percent on the minibus taxi sector.

Instead, multiple public transport modes must be followed, with municipal-level operational subsidies introduced.

Innovative solutions must also be found for dealing with the ageing infrastructure for municipal services such as water, electricity and sanitation.

Hunter pointed to the lack of impact on the local city of South Africa’s special economic zones (SEZ), including the East London Industrial Development Zone and the Coega IDZ. Bizarrely, the SEZ legislation presents no formal relationship between zones and municipalities.

“SEZs are working against the most obvious benefits of agglomeration,” he said, while municipalities had little incentive to service remote zones because of the high costs.

In the critical areas of housing and transportation, Hunter recommends these functions are allocated to municipalities, based on demonstrable capability. Municipalities must also be incentivised to bring private investors on board.

He called for municipal spatial development frameworks to be the basis on which all other government entities tacked their investment strategies.