Cohere now, will you!

Estate living that allows wealthy city dwellers to seclude themselves from their lower-income counterparts may have become as much a part of the SA lifestyle as biltong and boerewors. But if Gauteng’s local government has its way, residents in luxury gated estates will swap their sprawling abodes and petrol-guzzling SUVs for highdensity apartment living in mixed-use neighbourhoods. Rich and poor will work, live and play side by side and buses and bicycles will be the preferred modes of transport.

In a recently released draft proposal titled “Gauteng Spatial Development Perspective 2030”, local planning authorities argue that gated estates and communities should be eliminated to improve social cohesion.

The report, which was recently published by Gauteng’s provincial planning division, aims to create the basis for a new statutory framework to guide future land use, transport and infrastructure development in the region.

The document, which is open for public comment at present, reads: “Gated estates and communities cause spatial fragmentation; congestion on major arterials; sterilised urban environment [and]; reduced viability of public transport system; and prevent urban compaction.”

A key aim of the draft proposal is to promote high-density and mixed-use development around designated public transport nodes and major road corridors. Widely referred to as transit-oriented development (TOD), it is a move away from the lingering legacy of apartheid-era town planning.

Rashid Seedat, divisional head of the Gauteng planning commission in the office of the premier, says existing development policies encourage urban sprawl and “inward-looking” estate developments with little intentional integration with public transport systems and surrounding areas.

Referring to the draft proposal in a panel discussion at the SA property Owners’ (Sapoa) 50th annual convention in Sandton last week, Seedat said a TOD approach would bring people closer to economic opportunities through improved connectivity. The highest densities of Gauteng residents are now found on the edge of the urban footprint, which Seedat argued was the inverse of how the density structure should look.

He said the draft framework proposed a departure from the current inefficient, lowdensity residential model to projects of no fewer than 15,000 residential units that form part of a mixture of land uses in strategically targeted nodes and transport corridors.

While the private sector widely agrees that TOD is the way to go to restructure SA cities, it may be easier said than done.

In a research report released earlier this month by the SA Cities Network in partnership with Sapoa, the network argues that the public and private sectors need to develop a collective approach to mixed-use development in TOD precincts.

The report notes that though the creation of TODs is an accepted policy in most cities, its aim of making cities more efficient has remained somewhat elusive. A key obstacle, according to the network, is the widely held view that “if you build it they will come”. Referring among other things to Gautrain stations, the report notes that building a station will not automatically lead to TOD. “In some instances, even extensive public sector investment was not enough to stimulate private sector development.”

The report highlights the fact that South Africans generally resist changing their preferred mode of transport, whether it’s from private to public transport or from minibus taxi to the Rapid Bus Transit system. Delays in obtaining land rezoning and development rights from local government are another issue that discourages private sector development. Also, much of the development taking place within station precincts doesn’t comply with TOD principles. The report reads: “Despite the existence of precinct plans and design guidelines, development still takes place on an erf-by-erf basis with scant attention being paid to the creation of an urban environment that transcends erf boundaries.”

‘‘ WE HAVE SUBMITTED OUR MASTER PLAN AND ARE NOW AWAITING DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL ANTHONY DIEPENBROEK