PROPERTY TO UPLIFT PEOPLE AND THE AREA?

Sites such as the Durban Drive-in and Albert Park have been earmarked by the City for mixed-use low- or gap-income residential development. Durban needs to invest – and attract investment – in order to show economic grow. Easing the City’s housing backlog will have numerous positive spin offs.    

Whether you’re an investor on the beachfront, a resident on the Berea, or an international visitor to the Point Waterfront’s uShaka Marine World, we all want a clean, safe, vibrant African environment in which to live, invest, work and play. It’s why we live here.

Currently, many of those boxes don’t have the clear tick we’d like. So, what will it take?   

Globally, two issues constantly raise their heads: inner city decay, and uncovering creative ways to rehabilitate or rethink how inner cities work; and densification, as more and more people enter the cities, live in smaller spaces, in closer proximity to centres and each other.

Durban’s inner city is a good example. Under the pressure of the northwards exodus to Umhlanga and beyond, disinvestment in privately held residential and commercial buildings created vacant, and soon, illegally occupied buildings in the inner city. More and more South Africans are moving closer to the city in search of better economic opportunities and easier access to urban amenities – that’s a worldwide phenomenon - and if there’s no provision for decent, affordable housing for low-income people, it’s a recipe for degradation of place,  people and ultimately, the greater Durban.  The associated problems won’t simply go away – it requires a plan of action, and it’s good news that the City has devised one.

INNER CITY LOCAL AREA PLAN

The Municipality adopted its Inner City Local Area Plan (LAP), to create a vision and framework to direct the regeneration of the inner-city of Durban. The specific pressure points which the Municipality has to address, relate to the existing housing backlog, and creating new affordable housing opportunities in the urban core by intervening in the property market.

The Housing Sector Plan calls for a different strategic response to how the municipality approaches housing delivery. It calls for the development of a range of accommodation options for people across the socio-economic spectrum, with at least 40% of new housing provided as a mix of social housing, ‘gap’ or affordable housing.

What exactly is gap housing? It’s housing for those who earn too much to qualify for government ‘free housing’, but earn too little to qualify for full market developments/home loans. Different payment models and grants will assist this sector.

The Local Area Plan has identified six sites – 10 000 units – some like Albert Park requiring rezoning, and others like the old Durban Drive-In, not having heritage issues or EIA obstacles.

WHY ARE THESE SITES IDEAL?

The current state and status of Albert Park is extremely poor on many levels, so the creation of a managed housing project – destined to retain a sizable green section of the Park for recreation – can only be an extremely positive move. It will provide housing for those who need it, and importantly, who will have a vested interest in caretaking the area, making it safe for their own families, and ensuring that their investment retains its value.  

In its current state, the old Durban Drive-in site has no visual appeal, and presents a somewhat bleak landscape. As a significant entrance point to the City, our Beachfront and Promenade, and soon, the multi-million rand Film City project, a well-managed and cleverly designed housing complex has the potential to be a vibrant improvement. Giving South Africans access to home ownership is an important step for our country, and as everybody knows, with ownership comes a host of economic benefits which uplift.   

The City has chosen sites which are currently underutilised, or have become degraded through various forces, and, if well designed, greened up, and managed well by those who will enjoy the dignity of owning their own homes, can only be good for the City, for the people of Durban, and very importantly, for investors. Homes and improved livelihoods translate into lower crime levels and less vagrancy – that is what all South Africans need, and as soon as possible.