Incentivise fresh thinking This is not such a dramatic leap . Just before Covid-19 struck we saw examples of this type of thinking at play in several projects by Africrest and the conversation of the former ANC Shell House headquarters in Plein Street , Johannesburg into a 563-unit residential development with facilities such as homework rooms , play areas for children and an outdoor gym .
We need to incentivise more developments of this sort , aimed at a range of LSM brackets and offering not just a room in which to sleep but a compelling urban experience . There is tremendous potential in unused or underutilised commercial property our CBDs and major satellite areas , and the conversion of underutilised real estate represents a massive opportunity which , we believe , must be seized with both hands . If government at all levels works together with the property industry , we could rapidly and successfully transform our cities .
It would not cost a fortune to undertake myriad transformative projects . However , particular care must be taken to ensure that each element works towards a central goal and vision .
A role for urban visionaries Urbanists and , in particular , urban designers and architects can play a vital role in setting the vision for transformed environments and in the conversion of existing and unused spaces . Projects which are handled through idea-based competitions could inspire innovation in thinking and execution . This would be a welcome departure from the approach government has favoured in recent years , where the cheapest product and cookie-cutter approaches have been favoured in order to show numerical growth in housing but without acknowledging the power architecture vision and good design have in the creation of functioning communities .
We must never lose sight of the fact that cities have their own pulse . They grow and shrink and they constantly evolve . While these spaces are going through a sudden and traumatic moment , their repurposing – when it happens – will be quick . Without astute intervention now the evolution of our cities will be driven by economic necessity and opportunism and not the result of a deliberate transformative strategy that puts the human experience at its centre . Policies and strategies , including incentives which can bring the public and private sectors together in a shared vision , should be sought .
Incentivising developments which cater for human considerations , such as the need for social sharing and places in which human beings can interact , leaves less room for developments driven by a purely financial motive . It ’ s this mindset shift that should be at the centre of our current thinking .
Fortunately we have , to some degree , already been sensitised to this new way of thinking . The rapid digitisation of the economy had already begun a process which affected the fabric of our cities and Covid-19 has significantly accelerated this disruption to the standard property development model . With that uncertainty , however , comes the extraordinary opportunity to disrupt . The social exclusion and dislocation caused by apartheid-era planning and , in more recent years , gated communities and mega shopping malls could be replaced by an inclusivity , ignited by reprioritising the pedestrian and re-activating our streets . For many of us , Covid-19 has highlighted the need for these shared , communal spaces . Maybe now is the time to focus on all that is positive in how we interact , and factor social sharing into our architectural and planning models .
In many respects , from economic constraints to social and human transformation and the very real limits of the planet , we would do well – as architects and those with the ability to remould society and reflect its essence – to revisit the work of Fritz Schumacher , the German economist and conservationist and author of the 1970s treatise Small is Beautiful : A Study of Economics As If People Mattered .
As Schumacher himself wrote : “ An entirely new system of thought is needed , a system based on attention to people , and not primarily attention to goods .”
How we deal with this moment and this opportunity will define our society for decades to come . We must tread carefully and mindfully .
1 - www . insidehousing . co . uk / insight / insight / permitted-development-wrongs-the-problems-with-the-pms-planning-deregulation-drive-67066
Victoria Park in Hong Kong , the sports and recreation hub of the city . ( Photo : Patrick McInerney )
10 Shaking the Foundations