Contents
Prologue
1. Introduction
2. Antecedents
of the URP in national policy
3. The
current policy approach
4. Best practices
5. Conclusion
6. Useful sources
Prologue
This
electronic newsletter deals South Africa's Urban Renewal
Policy. It is one of a number of thematic newsletters
which are being published regularly ranging with issues
of knowledge management in the public sector, integrated
development planning, urban renewal and so on. Comments
or contributions to the newsletter are welcomed.
Editor: Dr Alastair McIntosh
[contents
1.
Introduction
In February 2001, in his State of the Nation
Address, President Thabo Mbeki launched the Urban Renewal
Programme (URP), along with the Integrated Sustainable
Rural Development Strategy (ISRDS). The focus is on
poverty alleviation in urban and rural areas that have
substantial service backlogs, that are spatially and
economically marginal to the core urban economies, and
in which social exclusion continues to limit the development
of their communities.
The
origins of the two programmes lie in a crime prevention
strategy initiated by the South African Polices Services
based on the idea of co-ordinating a range of policing
and socio-economic initiatives in a local area to tackle
the deeper roots of crime while addressing its immediate
manifestations.
They
also lie in recognition that, while the Reconstruction
and Development Programme (RDP) has resulted in rapid
and quite wide delivery of infrastructure and services
in many urban and rural areas, its impact on sustainable
development has been limited by the fragmented and uncoordinated
approach taken in most places.
The
programmes may thus be seen as part of a renewed initiative
to overcome not only the gross imbalances persisting
from the apartheid-era in levels of development, wealth,
income and opportunity, but also the more contemporary
problems of deepening unemployment and poverty brought
on by the opening of South Africa to global market forces
and the decline of traditional employment sectors.
While
the two programmes are seen nationally as part of a
policy continuum, this newsletter will focus on the
URP (a forthcoming newsletter will cover the ISRDS).
The aim of this newsletter is to provide an overview
of the recent past and current policy framework for
urban renewal, describe the achievements and gaps in
respect of policy and practice thus far, and suggest
where the current challenges lie and describde new policy
directions.
It
is intended as a brief introduction to the subject for
practitioners in the urban development field. In addition
the newsletter provides a guide to recent sources on
urban renewal, including the most important related
urban legislation, policy documents, case studies and
academic publications.
[contents
2.
Antecedents of the URP in national policy
Two
antecedents of the URP and ISRDS are the Urban Development
Framework (UDF) and Rural Development Framework (RDF),
produced in 1997. They were intended to complement the
RDP and the Growth, Employment and Redistribution Strategy
(GEAR), through a strong focus on the spatial dimensions
of development.
The
UDF sought to bring together in an integrated form the
infrastructural, social, economic and governance aspects
of development in urban areas, by setting out four core
programmes: spatial integration, housing and infrastructure,
economic development linked to urban development, and
institutional capacity building.
A parallel initiative was the establishment of Special
Integrated Presidential Projects for Urban Renewal (SIPPS),
launched by President Mandela. They were implemented
at a time when local government was beginning a major
process of institutional reorganization and re-definition
of development priorities. They were intended as pioneer
or demonstration models that could be used as testing
grounds for the ideas of integrated and sustainable
development enshrined in the RDP.
The
prevailing view amongst development practitioners is
that the experience with the SIPPS has been mixed. While
delivery of housing and basic municipal services has
occurred fairly rapidly in most of the areas, the experience
in most falls short of the ideals of integrated and
sustainable development. In Cato Manor (Durban), which
has emerged as the most successful case of large scale
integrated development, considerable progress has been
made in the spheres of housing and social infrastructure
development, but these achievements are threatened by
continuing high levels of unemployment and income poverty.
The
Department of Housing has recently commissioned work
to evaluate five of the projects. These are Cato Manor
(KwaZulu-Natal), Katorus (Gauteng), Molopo River Basin
(Mafikeng in North West), Duncan Village (Eastern Cape)
and the Serviced Land Project (Western Cape). Undoubtedly
the findings of this evaluation will feed into the efforts
of the Department of Provincial and Local Government
(DPLG), the body tasked by President Mbeki to elaborate
a policy framework for urban renewal.
[contents
3.
The current policy approach
As yet no policy document exists on the URP. The DPLG
is currently working at it. In the meantime, the URP
has been launched in Alexandra township and in Inanda,
Ntuzuma and KwaMashu (INK), an area comprising a population
of about 400000 people living within townships and informal
settlements. The principles underlying the URP may be
gleaned from these initiatives, from various speeches
given by government leaders and from the sister ISRDP.
In
broad terms, the URP represents a commitment to a return
to the bottom-up, people-driven approach to urban, local,
social and economic development originally envisaged
in the RDP. It is a strategy that will be routed through
local authorities, using the mechanisms of IDPs as provided
for in the Municipal Systems Act.
It
is intended to generate greater synergy within existing
development programmes and to draw in a range of complementary
programmes from government and other sources. It has
a focus on poor communities where previous programmes
have delivered physical development, but in which there
is a lack of integration of development, continuing
high levels of income poverty and economic marginalisation.
It has a nodal focus, namely on clusters of poor areas
that exist at a spatial scale that is smaller than an
entire municipality.
A number of important themes emerge with respect to
the new approach to urban renewal.
Firstly,
it places poverty alleviation at the centre of development.
The URP while focussing on poor communities, gives greater
centrality to economic development than the RDP, which
focussed effort mainly on housing, residential infrastructure
and services.
Secondly,
it stresses the need for more decentralized decision-making
and hence participation at levels below that of municipal
government. Notwithstanding the intentions of the RDP,
civil society organization and activity declined rather
than increased after 1994. Furthermore, the recent centralization
of local government poses further threats to community
involvement. The URP seeks to respond to this by bringing
development initiatives closer to communities within
residential nodes. It calls for development efforts
at the area level that are much more responsive to local
demand.
The
URP makes development integration a central pillar of
it its approach. Integration was a core idea within
the RDP, but has proved elusive in practice. The integration
of infrastructure, housing and service delivery with
economic and social development has proved difficult
in a period where the pressure for rapid delivery of
tangible physical products such as houses and roads
took precedence over human and institutional capacity
development.
The
URP places considerable stress on empowerment of poor
people and communities. This, again, was a central tenet
of the RDP, contained in its concept of people-driven
development. However, human development tended to be
sidelined by physical development in many programmes
in the 1990s. The return to concepts of empowerment
is partially a response to the problems of shrinking
financial and other resources to meet development needs.
What the URP recognises, and stresses, is that if individuals
and communities are to take greater responsibility for
development, this requires a strong focus on human social
and economic development.
Finally,
the URP stresses the need for partnerships to be formed
to pool the resources of different actors capable of
promoting social and economic development. The emphasis
on partnership flows from the mismatch between local
government's capacities and the development needs of
poor communities. Partners would include government,
the parastatals, non-governmental organization, community
based organization, business, labour, religious bodies
and donor organizations.
Implementation
Responsibility for urban renewal has been placed with
the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG).
This department is deemed to be in the best position
to ensure the co-ordination of the URP given its role
in policy formation and oversight relating to local
government.
Eight
nodal points have been targeted: Khayelitsha and Mitchells
Plain in the Western Cape; Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu
(named collectively as INK) in KwaZulu-Natal; Mdantsane
and Motherwell in the Eastern Cape; Alexandra Township
in Gauteng; and, Galeshewe in the Northern Cape. These
are to serve as pilots for the development of a national
urban renewal strategy that can eventually be applied
in all urban areas.
Alexandra
Township in Johannesburg and the INK area in Durban
have been chosen as first priorities for the programme.
Funds have been allocated for integrated development
programmes that will deliver housing, roads, water,
sanitation, schools, clinics, magistrate offices and
police stations in the areas. The URP in Alexandra is
under way. In the case of INK, a business plan has been
drawn up, but has yet to be passed by the metropolitan
and national authorities. Both will be described below
in the section dealing with best practices. In May 2002,
the Minister of Provincial and Local Government, Mr.
S. Mufamadi, announced that funds had also been set
aside for the urban renewal programme in Mdantsane in
East London. This project has a strong focus on job
creation within a range of development projects within
the area. The projects themselves still have to be announced.
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Achievements
and gaps in respect of policy and practice
Policy
At this stage, the Urban Renewal Strategy policy document
is still in preparation within the DPLG. However, the
central importance of the programme to national policy
cannot be doubted. It was reiterated by President Mbeki
this year, in the following terms:
"As
we push back the frontiers of poverty, Integrated Rural
Development and Urban Renewal Programmes assume critical
importance…. Consolidating the integrated work
in the nodes already identified will be the focus of
government's work this year. This will then lay the
basis for the extension of the nodes to other parts
of the country in the near future" (State of Nation
Address. Feb 2002).
Practice
In practice, the implementation of the URP has been
slow and patchy.
Part
of the explanation for this lies in local government.
A core problem is the lack of capacity within most municipalities
to undertake programmes of this scale that require considerable
deployment of human and financial resources to one area
while many others require attention.
The
current pre-occupation of many municipalities with the
setting up of structures since the new demarcation and
implementation of the Municipal Structures Act, as well
as the energy needed to implement the IDPs under the
Municipal Systems Act have left these bodies with limited
time to focus on the URP. It is only recently that the
administrative and political leadership have stabilised
since the elections of 2000, at least in some municipalities.
In
addition, the DPLG is itself currently suffering from
a lack of capacity to oversee a national programme of
this complexity and scale.
With
respect to nodal development itself, it appears that
the planning processes undertaken in Alexandra and INK
have involved less participation than envisaged. This
may result from the tardy start up of the programme,
the limited time scale given for the planning process
and reliance by the DPLG on consultants working under
tight delivery constraints.
In
the recent budget the DPLG has been allocated significant
resources for both the URP and the ISRDS. The amount
for 2002/3 is R1.5b, and this will increase to R 2.3b
in 2003/04 and R 2.7b in 2004/05. These considerable
amounts should however be weighed against the scale
of need within the areas, estimated in the case of INK
as in the order of 6 billion over the 7 years.
In
practice, it appears that the funds allocated to the
DPLG are difficult to access given the slow process
of project formulation and approval and the fact that
the necessary matching funds from other departments
are not readily available.
It
should be noted that almost all the nodal municipalities
face critical resource constraints, especially as they
now move to meet the operational costs incurred by capital
expenditure under the RDP over the last seven years.
The URP thus comes at a testing time when new ways need
to be found to ensure the cost effectiveness of service
provision as local governments face the challenges of
maintenance and sustainability that follow from a protracted
phase of construction focused on historically poor areas.
[contents
Current challenges in different urban contexts
The challenge of reversing the effects of decades of
social exclusion and economic marginalisation in South
Africa's townships and informal settlements is a formidable
one. A large percentage of the populations residing
in the nodes live below minimum subsistence levels.
Unemployment levels are very high and income levels
very low. This in turn is linked to factors such as
poor education levels and lack of skills, lack of formal
employment opportunities and the continuing spatial
separation of the nodes from the resources of the urban
core of most cities.
These
problems are compounded by very high levels of crime
and gangsterism in many of the areas. The spread of
HIV\AIDS, which threatens to weaken and then eliminate
a very large proportion of their populations of economically
active age, is estimated to peak around 2010, though
its effects will continue for at least a generation
thereafter. Thus the URP, which has a planned seven-year
life, will come to an end at about the time when the
HIV/AIDS epidemic reaches its peak. The implication
is that a very basic challenge for the URP is to help
re-establish the social stability, security and solidarity
needed to tackle problems of this nature which provide
fundamental hurdles to achieving the broader goals of
development.
A
more specific challenge lies in economic development.
The eight urban nodes have a miniscule formal economic
base, and what activity does take place is largely restricted
to the retail sector. Most of the people employed in
formal work commute to the industrial and commercial
areas outside the nodal areas.
Thus
in addition to community economic development focussed
within the areas, a key challenge is to develop linkage
strategies that connect their residents to economic
opportunities outside. This includes promotion of a
range of activities including marketing of locally produced
goods and services, sub-contracting and skills training
targeted to employment opportunities. The Alexandra
Renewal Project has made a start to such initiatives
with its multi-faceted LED programme focused both within
and outside the area.
In
terms of programme design, an important challenge of
the URP is to ensure that development in these nodes
does not simply consist of a list of add-on projects.
The challenge is to go beyond the fragmented physical
delivery paradigm that has prevailed in most areas since
the mid 1990s. Theoretically, the IDPs should provide
a framework for development integration. However, these
are generally quite abstract documents that embrace
very large areas and numbers of people, making them
difficult to effectively translate into effective integrated
development at a local level close to communities.
The
URP is intended to fill this gap, but the nodes chosen
are themselves very large, containing hundreds of thousands
of people, which makes it difficult to secure either
deep community participation or real economies of proximity
in planning and implementation. What is needed is to
create governance structures at a level closer to communities
and their organizations, as is being envisaged in the
INK programme where a distinction has been drawn between
a supply oriented delivery vehicle operating across
the whole of INK and governance structures closer to
distinct communities that are demand responsive.
Over
and above the ideals of integration, a test for the
URP will be to move from the existing emphasis on physical
development to human development in terms of individual
and institutional capacities. The capacity of residents
of poor communities to break through economic exclusion
and participate effectively as economic operators or
as skilled workers in the formal economy will be a particularly
difficult but important challenge.
The
success of the URP will depend upon whether local government
is able to play an effective role in mobilising other
actors and their resources around the urban renewal
challenge, generating wide commitment to and involvement
in the programme. President Mbeki, in his 1997 speech
to the people of the city of Johannesburg, appears to
have had this in mind when he called for a "renewed
social, economic and cultural relationship with the
people" of the city.
[contents
4.
Best practices
The two most advanced nodes within the URP
are Alexandra Renewal Project in Guateng and INK in
Durban. The first one is in the early stages of implementation
and the INK project in the transitional phase between
design and implementation. They are briefly reviewed
below as aspirant cases of best practice in URP.
The
Alexandra Renewal Project
This is a joint initiative between many stakeholders,
including national, provincial and local government,
the Greater Alexandra community, NGOs, the private sector
and community-based organisations (CBOs).
The
main objectives are laid out in its vision statement
and programme. It aims at changing radically the physical,
social and economic environment of the area by reducing
levels of unemployment, creating a clean and healthy
environment, providing services at an affordable and
sustainable level, reducing levels of crime and violence,
upgrading existing housing environments and creating
affordable additional housing opportunities.
A
budget of R1,3 billion has been allocated by the government
and substantial budgets have also been committed by
Gauteng Provincial government and the City of Johannesburg.
Arrangements within Government are still being finalised
as to how these funds will be drawn-down from the national
fiscus.
This
project seeks to stimulate income-generating opportunities
for the economically active population of Alexandra,
so as to reduce unemployment by 20% or more within seven
years. It also seeks to provide services that are appropriate
and affordable and are paid for. It aims to obtain payment
levels of 90% and above in terms of all services.
As
a step towards formulation of its economic programme
the project is undertaking a sub-regional economic analysis
and skills audit which will be completed during the
year and will culminate in an Alexandra Business Summit.
The summit will draw together the various business associations
in the sub-region to focus on investment promotion and
job creation.
The
project intends to achieve its employment objectives
through a range of support measures. These include promoting
economic integration of the Alexandra area into the
metropolitan economy, creating an environment conducive
to encouraging investment into the Greater Alexandra
area, developing, encouraging and supporting small and
medium enterprises.
In
addition, the project seeks to encourage widespread
skills development amongst residents of Alexandra and
to prioritise service providers and job seekers from
Alexandra when allocating work generated through the
Alexandra Renewal Project itself.
Among
the physical projects for 2002/2003 are the upgrading
of existing cemeteries, the greening and redevelopment
of public parks, the surfacing of roads, the distribution
of more than 40 000 waste bins.
The
project also has a significant housing programme. As
a prelude all restitution claims are to be finalised
during 2002 and at least 200 households will be granted
ownership rights during the year. Several pilots will
be launched to test mechanisms to support owners to
redevelop their properties. In addition, it is anticipated
that work will proceed for the construction of more
than 4 000 housing units in and around Alexandra to
support the redevelopment of school sites and public
open spaces in Alexandra. This process will be supported
through the establishment of a permanent transit facility.
The
overall objectives and planned programmes for the Alexandra
Project strongly reflect the principles and ideals of
the URP. In practice, however, implementation has at
times been marked by considerable conflict, with some
poor communities resisting removals for fear that they
would not be accommodated within planned new housing
estates. It requires time to be able to judge whether
these represent only teething problems or whether the
Alexandra Project will live up to the intentions of
the URP to support a more decentralised, people driven
approach to urban development in poor areas.
[contents
Inanda-Ntunzuma-Kwamashu
Containing about one fifth of the eThekwini population
(500 000 people) living on 9572 hectares, the INK area
is quite typical of the urban reality for most African
people in South Africa and as such, faces enormous development
challenges arising from socio-economic deprivation.
Among
these are poverty and unemployment. Nearly a quarter
of the residents have incomes below the subsistence
level and some 30% of the population is unemployed,
with areas of INK having much higher rates of unemployment.
Crime levels are extremely high, with a reported incidence
that is 17 times higher than in the historically affluent
areas of the urban core, and levels of violence remain
high in the area. Improved housing, health, physical
and social infrastructure, are important goals for the
project, as are development participation and systems
of governance in the area.
Though
announced early 2001, it is only recently that the URP
in INK has gained real momentum. Responsibility for
moving the project has been given to a senior eThekwini
Municipal official who, with assistance from the European
Union, has appointed the Cato Manor Development Association
(CMDA) to manage the formulation of a business plan.
Modeled
on the Alexandra Project, the business plan was completed
early this year. It is very comprehensive, with approximately
294 projects to be undertaken through functional programmes,
namely planning, land, engineering infrastructure, economic
development, social development and community safety
and the provision of social infrastructure and services.
The
funds needed to implement these projects are estimated
at R 6.5 billion of which R730 million has already been
secured, which leaves an amount of 5,8 billion to be
found over the seven year implementation period. This
scale of investment may be difficult to raise, given
the needs of many other areas within the eThekwini Municipal
Authority and the probability that competition will
exist for area funding.
The
planning process focused upon estimating the service
backlog and proposing strategic interventions. Notwithstanding
the intentions of the URP, this planning process, though
highly competent in technical terms, involved only minimal
participation. Conscious of this, the Municipality has
chose INK as one of its "learning areas" within
the programme of area based management and development
(ABMD), to be implemented in 2003.
Within
this system, area managers are accountable downwards
to community development forums, and upwards to the
municipal council. ABMD has been conceived as a system
that will complement rather than replace line function
departments, with a focus on mobilisation of actors
and resources and co-ordination to secure integrated
and sustainable development at the local level. It seeks
to promote both efficient and effective service delivery
and deepen local democracy. The learning derived from
the ABMD programme will be used to replicate good practice
in other areas.
[contents
5.
Conclusion
The 21 urban and rural nodes identified for
the URP and ISRDP together cover about 25% of the total
South African population (i.e. 10 million people), and
an even greater percentage of the poor. This is an ambitious
programme that seeks to consolidate the achievements
of the first seven years of the RDP, by focussing on
a more integrated and participatory approach pursued
at a more decentralised level of governance, with a
stronger focus on economic development than in the past.
There
appear to be different potentialities in the URP. On
the one hand, it may be argued that the focus of large-scale
resources on a limited number of nodes while benefiting
the communities that were chosen could not be sustained
on a wider scale. Further, it could be said that in
practice the approach being adopted in these areas represents
more of the same rather than a decisive break with the
limitations of the development approach of the past
seven years, with its emphasis on rapid delivery of
physical products and fragmented outcomes. The less
than full participation of communities and other stakeholders
in their early stages of the Alexandra and INK projects
send some warning signals in this respect.
There
is, however, another set of possibilities in the URP
and if nurtured these could help shift development onto
a different path. Decentralisation of governance structures,
deepened community involvement, a more demand driven
and incrementalist approach to development hold out
the prospect of more sustainable development within
poor communities. The priority given to human development,
and especially the building of the capacities of poor
people to undertake income-generating projects within
their areas, and to take up opportunities outside, is
important as a way of securing the economic base of
sustained development.
Breaking
the cycle of economic exclusion will require mobilisation
of economic actors inside and outside poor areas to
pursue poverty alleviation with economic growth in meaningfully
defined localities. Attention needs to be given to community,
enterprise and locality development, and ways of combining
these to create connections across communities and between
local and wider markets. This appears to be recognised
in the LED dimensions of the URPs, which envisage promotion
of LED in a more programmatic way, linking both opportunity
and need inside and outside poor areas.
Finally,
the learning objectives of the URP are of critical importance.
Building in the aim of continuous lesson learning and
the brokerage of lessons with other programmes in South
Africa and beyond opens the possibility of continuous
adaptation and improvement of development practice.
[contents
6.
Useful sources
Policy
statements
South African Government, Launch of Johannesburg (inner
city) urban renewal strategy: address by the Deputy
President Mr. Mbeki, 17th July 1997
South African Government, State of the Nation Address
of the President of South Africa at the opening of Parliament,
9th February 2001.
South
African Government, Keynote address delivered by FS
Mufamadi Minister for Provincial and Local Government,
at the African Cities in Change conference, 15th October
2001
South
African Government, Speech delivered by minister Mufamadi
at the symposium on the restructuring and rebirth of
the city of Tschwane, 22nd November 2001
South
African Government, Address by Deputy Minister Botha
at the opening of the Galeshewe Urban Renewal Programme,
2nd February 2002
Policy
Documents
African National Congress (1994) Reconstruction and
Development Programme: A Policy Framework
Republic
of South Africa, Department of Finance, (1996) Growth,
Employment and Redistribution - A Macro-Economic Strategy,
Republic of South Africa
Republic of South Africa, Ministry of Provincial Affairs
and Constitutional Development (1998) White Paper on
Local Government
Republic
of South Africa (1996) The Constitution of the Republic
of South Africa Act, No 108
Republic
of South Africa, (2000) Integrated Sustainable Rural
Development Strategy
Republic
of South Africa, Local Government Transition Act, No
97 (1996)
Republic
of South Africa, (2000) Municipal Systems Act, No 32
Republic
of South Africa, (2000) Municipal Structures Act, No
117
Websites
www.alexandra.co.za
Alexandra Renewal Project
www.anc.org.za African
National Congress- Official site
www.cmda.org.za
Cato Manor Development Association
www.dbsa.prg Development
Bank of Southern Africa
www.gov.za South African
Government Online
www.gpg.gov.za Gauteng
Provincial Government - Official site
www.idasa.org.za
Institute for Democratic Alternatives in South Africa
www.igoli.gov.za
guide to the City of Johannesburg's transformation process
www.isandla.org.za
Isandla Institute
www.joburg.org.za
official site of the City of Johannesburg
www.local.gov.za
Department of Provincial and Local Government
www.qsilver.queensu.ca
Municipal Services Project
www.urbstrat.org.za:
eThekwini Urban Strategy Department
