IRT integrates city

Thursday, 13 May 2010 08:55

The 2010 Fifa World Cup is a springboard for urban densification

In a speech in January 2010, the executive mayor of the City of Cape Town Dan Plato highlighted the Integrated Rapid Transport (IRT) system as a key factor in developing the Mother City as a major international city.

It emerged from his speech that urban densification will be an ingredient in this strategy. But what is urban densification?

In its Draft Cape Town Densification Strategy, the City defined it as the increased use of space within existing areas and new developments accompanied by an increased number of units. It is not an end in itself, but a means of improving the sustainability of public transport, explained the strategy.

By encouraging developments upward (two- to five-storey buildings) rather than outward, densification helps reduce the consumption of valuable resources such as agricultural land, areas of mineral potential and aquifer recharge areas. According to the strategy, higher densities support the efficient functioning and viable provision of public transport services, particularly on major line-haul routes for mass and rapid transit.

Andrew Boraine, the chief executive of the Cape Town Partnership, spoke about the link between urban densification and the IRT system. He said one of the five elements of the 2010 World Cup legacy for Cape Town is the R14 billion spent on infrastructure, which includes the first phase of the IRT system.

Boraine said Cape Town cannot afford not to build the IRT system. To continue as a primarily car-based city without a decent, safe, reliable public transport system is not sustainable. A large proportion of the citizens do not have cars in any case.

Rising energy costs will make car travel less affordable. The City needs to reduce its carbon footprint. The economic cost of congestion on the roads increases exponentially every year.

The IRT is not merely a transport project – it is a city transformation project. It is the cheapest form of car-competitive public transport available to cities. It has the potential to drive the necessary city densification processes, with more compact development clustering around stations and along public transport corridors. It can link isolated communities to the mainstream urban economy, offering opportunities to reduce poverty. It can complement the existing rail network. It can provide jobs for taxi- and bus drivers and many others.

IRT is probably the single most important infrastructure project in the city over the next 10 to 15 years, added Boraine. The projected estimated cost of the full phase 1A of the IRT system is R4.2bn.

In his speech, Plato said the City has begun working with other partners to ensure that Cape Town gains maximum benefit from what has been achieved.

“Our agreement with the Passenger Rail Association of South Africa will see the start of urban densification along our public transport corridors and increased housing opportunities in these areas. We also look forward to working in partnership with the private sector to maximise benefit from these and other investments,” he added.

Corridors in the city

Norah Walker, manager of Metropolitan Spatial Planning for the City of Cape Town, said a development corridor is a band of high-density urban development concentrated around a public transport route where residential, commercial, industrial and recreation activities occur in close proximity. Voortrekker Road and its adjacent developments are classified as a development corridor.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (PRASA) planning of possible development, if the railway lines are lowered between Salt River and Cape Town, is currently at a preliminary feasibility stage.

Alderman Felicity Purchase, a member of the mayoral committee on Economic Development and Planning, says the corridors in question (in Plato’s speech) were those on the northeast route to Bellville from Nyanga, Langa and Gugulethu; as well as the rail grid along the south route in the Salt River and Woodstock area.

The idea is that the land close to those railway areas owned by PRASA would be developed for residential use for the purpose of bringing people close to public transport and saving them long drives to their workplace, as well as saving them time.

The owner of the land, in conjunction with the developer, will submit an application of each piece of land, and the City will encourage the densification of the land. The application for the land use of the Woodstock/Salt River corridor’s land use may be submitted within the next six months (and as Walker said, it is currently at a preliminary feasibility stage).

Generally, the owner of the land will enter into partnerships with a developer. A company such as PRASA will approach and get private investors on board to develop land once the application to the City is approved, says Purchase.

In November last year, the City of Cape Town and PRASA, owner of most of the land around railway stations and along railway lines, signed a Memorandum of Understanding. In terms of this, they will seek to maximise the development opportunities along these corridors.

The memorandum will open the way for the construction of high density housing on well-located land within Cape Town, owned jointly by PRASA and the City. The MoU also commits both parties to further develop the areas around stations by encouraging a range of different social and economic activities in these environments. In addition, it commits both parties to develop the areas around stations further, by encouraging various social and economic activities in these environments.

The City and PRASA have undertaken jointly to determine the best use of all identified landholdings and develop these landholdings. It will be done in accordance with the government’s socio-economic objectives and all appropriate statutory planning and development processes.

The City and PRASA have agreed on an action plan and joint planning committee to implement the aims of the MoU, including the prioritisation of the development of a maximum of three key stations. This will allow the two parties to align their planning, including in the City’s northeastern growth corridor.

Fanie Heyns

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