4000 families to benefit from housing project

About 4 000 lower-income households in Cape Town are expected to benefit from affordable housing developments on well-located City-owned land.

“Building inclusive communities through reversing the spatial legacy of apartheid is a key priority of this government,” the City’s Mayoral Committee Member on Transport and Urban Development, Councillor Brett Herron, said on Wednesday.

Councillor Herron said the city will this month commence with the development of affordable housing opportunities at scale on well-located City-owned land.

“These sites are less than five kilometres away from the Cape Town central business district (CBD),” he said.

They are located within the Voortrekker Road Corridor Integration Zone (VRCIZ) – one of three integration zones where the City will, during its term of office, spend the bulk of its capital budget on infrastructure aimed at transforming Cape Town’s spatial reality.

The VRCIZ will link the Bellville, Maitland, Parow, Goodwood and Salt River CBDs with the Cape Town CBD via Voortrekker Road.

“The announcement of the location of these City-owned sites is in line with the commitment in our Organisational Development and Transformation Plan to do everything possible to reverse the impact of apartheid spatial planning.

“With the development of these sites, we are beginning to create a new urban fabric based on access and inclusivity,” Councillor Herron said.

Apart from their proximity to CBDs, these sites are within walking distance of public transport, social amenities, schools, hospitals, and clinics.

Mayor of Cape Town Patricia de Lille said the city established the Transport and Urban Development Authority (TDA) in an explicit move to bring the functions of urban planning, formal housing and transport together.

“Key to achieving our goals of spatial transformation is for TDA to implement the City’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) strategy which aims to create a compact and connected city.

“We will do this by bringing people closer to economic development and providing affordable housing located close to public transport corridors. The aim is further to build integrated communities where households have economic and operational resilience,” she said.