Knock-on benefits

It would appear that the frenetic construction activity in major urban centres around highways, bus rapid transit systems and high-speed rail may well be on the brink of bearing fruit – and this time, the bulk of the profits will not go directly to Austria.

Speaking at the third annual affordable housing development and finance conference in South Africa, International Housing Solutions managing partner Soula Proxenos said that the equity investor sees considerable opportunity for investing in affordable property on a large scale.

Urban densification is facilitating low- and middle-income housing development which, in turn, is attracting local and international private equity funding.

As densification increases, so does the opportunity for further institutional investment.

In other words, rational urban densification may give the construction sector a much-needed shot in the arm, which has all sorts of positive implications for operators of every type of commercial vehicle.

Developments in the energy landscape are likely to require innovative transport solutions. The question was asked recently: How exactly are all the promised wind turbines going to be transported to their points of destination? What roads are to be used by the extra-heavy vehicles required to move these turbines?

Any transport stakeholder wishing to make sensible decisions in this respect requires reliable information from a trusted source. In this regard, it is my pleasure to welcome Udo Rypstra as consulting editor to Road Ahead. He is a familiar face to many senior transport executives and has a pedigree in transport journalism second to none.

As a foretaste of things to come, this issue includes an assessment of extra-heavy commercial vehicles as well as a report fresh from the Johannesburg International Motor Show 2011.

Enjoy the read.