Georgians must embrace denser, integrated living
George Council is striving for a "denser, integrated city which responds to the needs of the urban poor".
In a presentation at a recent land reform discussion, Delia Power, senior spatial planner at George Municipality, said the city cannot continue with the same layout as before. "We need to grow denser to keep it affordable and to optimise services and infrastructure. A lot of people cannot work because they cannot afford the travel costs. We need to provide land for low-cost and affordable housing. Pockets of land have been identified."
A municipal survey revealed that poor commuters spend on average 60% of their household income on travelling. "They must be brought closer to their jobs. However, the municipality is also looking at securing employment opportunities through commercial development in the disadvantaged areas and to create dignified living spaces for residents there."
She said preventing urban sprawl also means that agricultural assets on the outskirts of the city are preserved, which will be favourable for continued investment in this sector. 17 000 housing opportunities
within urban edge
According to Power, 17 000 housing opportunities (on private and municipal land) are still available for development within the urban edge that can be taken up by the private sector for development of affordable, middle and higher income housing (these opportunities do not include RDP housing).
The demand for housing within a certain market cannot be projected by the municipality. The onus is on the developer to determine for which market housing opportunities should be created. "When we refer to affordable housing, we hope to target a market of between about
R500 000 and R900 000. The assumption is not that a development in its totality consists of a single housing typology, but it has to encourage integration through a mixture of housing types. It also depends on the size of the development. In a big development of about 300 houses or more, we would like to encourage a considerably equal distribution of the different types of housing."