DEVELOPING
BY JONATHAN SMITH
Transport Corridors
Harness the opportunities
R
esearchers have always been interested in
the question of whether or not transport
corridors do in fact increase housing
prices and then command higher rentals. In 1846
in London, the f irst survey was conducted into
this. A genteman went door-to-door to determine
the impact the London rail lines had on rentals. It
determined that weekly and monthly rents in that
district rose from 10% to 25% as a result of their
close proximity to public transport.
The location of transportation systems affect
property value in two key ways: they provide the
property dwellers with increased accessibility but,
also, negatively create the noise, pollution and
increased crime that property close to a transportation
system is associated with. Generally, the public benefit
outweighs the negative aspects associated with
transport corridors.
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Commercial Handbook 2013
A number of opportunities to derive extensive
wealth have arisen across South Africa in recent years
with the development of a number of new transport
corridors. The surrounding commercial (as well as
residential) development opportunities within these
corridors are extensive.
Although not an exhaustive list, the following new
transport corridors have provided property developers
and investors with an opportunity to build and buy
into wealth creating real estate:
• The Gautrain corridor between central
Johannesburg and Pretoria and the Johannesburg
airport on the eastern side of the main Gauteng
development corridor;
• The road link network between Pretoria and
Nelspruit;
• The road link to Richards Bay along the north coast
of KwaZulu Natal;
• The new KwaZulu-Natal (“King Shaka”) airport
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