Johannesburg h

Johannesburg's inner city

DEMOGRAPHICS The inner city has 217 000 residents in 37 000 dwelling units. Some 800 000 commuters enter the city every day, and 300 000 - 400 000 migrant shoppers visit the city each year. The city has 7-million m² of floor space and 3-million m² of office space. •Not all of are poor: 12 percent earn more than R15 000 per month, and 79 percent earn more than R1 500 per month•Many are well educated: 19 percent have university educations, and 35 percent have technikon diplomas•90 percent have cellphones, and 44 percent use e-mail•31 percent own their own cars, 74 percent use minibus taxis as their chief form of transport, and 32 percent use municipal buses•Reasons given for choosing the inner city included affordability (22 percent), proximity to work (11 percent) and proximity to schools (11 percent)

CHALLENGES AND ADVANTAGES•Pivotal location in the city's centre•Major public transportation hub: all major arterials, all rail, and all bus services run into the city centre•Low rentals and property prices for high-quality offices•Access to a large workforce due to easy access from Soweto•Under-served markets



•Significant infrastructure•However, the CBD has also posed certain major challenges to city government:•Curbing the high crime rate•Lack of sufficient capacity to enforce by-laws, particularly relating to informal trading•Poor condition of certain buildings•Properties that are in arrears with rates or monthly bills•Management of taxis


INNER CITY REGENERATION STRATEGYThe goal of the City government's Inner City Regeneration Strategy is to raise and sustain private investment in the inner city, leading to a rise in property values. The components of the strategy are:•Intensive urban management, including improvements to service quality, strict enforcement of by-laws, management of taxis and informal traders, and sound credit control.

•Upgrading and maintenance of infrastructure to create an environment attractive to both residents and business.•Support for those economic sectors that have the potential to thrive in the inner city, and encourage growth in those sectors.•Discouraging "sinkholes", meaning properties that are abandoned, overcrowded or poorly maintained, and which in turn "pull down" the value of entire city blocks by discouraging investment.•Encouraging "ripple effect" investments that can lift an entire area.


SAFETY AND SECURITYTHERE are three major initiatives to improve Johannesburg's security:•Central Improvement Districts (CIDs)•Closed circuit television (CCTV)•Metropolitan Police DepartmentIn the CIDs, property owners take charge of security and cleaning. There has been an enormous drop in muggings in these areas.

The CIDs began in the core of the inner city, and have since spread as far as Newtown and Braamfontein.CCTV was implemented in April 2000 and covers crime hotspots. In the first year, crime in these areas dropped by 48 percent. A total of 240 new cameras have been installed.The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department checks on crime prevention, road traffic policing and by-law enforcement. It operates 24 hours a day. The department's five-year target is to reduce crime by 25 percent and by-law infringements by 45 percent.


ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTTHE city needs economic rejuvenation and the strategy is threefold•Implementation of urban renewal projects•Development of SMMEs•Encouragement of creative industries and cultural tourismThe urban renewal projects involve precinct plans, which target major nodes of the inner city. Such projects include:•Newtown (additional cultural facilities, new housing units, upgrading existing historic buildings)•Constitutional Hill (new home for the Constitutional Court, various museums and a hotel)•Jewel City (40 000 m² of factory and office spacing housing 80 percent of Gauteng's diamond and jewellery industry)•Joubert Park (R10-million Greenhouse Environmental Centre)


SMMEs have grown in the city: The fashion district is home to a number of micro and small garment manufacturing enterprises as well as printing and publishing establishments. The city is establishing and strengthening the Local Business Service Centres in the inner city to support this development.Culture is alive: A number of community radio stations have developed, as has the live music industry, with several venues featuring jazz, classical, rock and kwaito. Additional cultural facilities will complement the existing Market Theatre, Museum Africa and MegaMusic facilities in the inner city. The craft industry is seen as a crucial SMME sector in Johannesburg with the Mai-Mai bazaar in downtown Johannesburg.


INFORMAL TRADERSTHERE are an estimated 4 000 streets traders in the city. The plan is to put them into a formal trading environment.

COMMUNITY PROJECTSTHE renewal programme needs healthy communities, so various community development initiatives have begun. They are:•The establishment of a People's Centre and satellite neighbourhood offices where residents will be able to obtain and access community development and support programmes•The development of community education programmes that focus on youth development, promoting citizenship and provision of sport and recreation activities.


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Johannesburg h