Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa June 2013 | Page 72

GREEN MONITOR

BY ANGELIQUE REDMOND

Put Public Spaces First

And watch communities succeed

U

N-HABITAT Executive Director Joan
Clos i Matheu says, “What defines a
character of a city is its public space, not
its private space. What defines the value of the
private assets of the space are not the assets by
themselves but the common assets. The value of
the public good affects the value of the private
good. We need to show every day that public
spaces are an asset to a city.”
The greatest challenge facing countries today
is building healthy, functional and productive
cities. And at the heart of that puzzle are public
spaces. Healthy public spaces are the steppingstone for revitalising communities; even the
most downtrodden and poor communities can
become successful with the right public spaces.
They are a vital ingredient of a successful
city, they facilitate social capital, economic
development and community revitalisation.
Every community has public space, whether
it is a dirt patch in the middle of an informal
settlement or walk ing paths in-bet ween
bu i ld i ng s. T he bac k-a l le y s, neglec ted
courtyards and stairways can escape notice but
they are underutilised and potentially valuable
assets. It is these neglected public spaces
that are key to strengthening and enriching
communities, in instilling pride and care in a
community where there is none. In the informal
spaces in South Africa, where running water
and bathrooms are a luxury, a public space can
be considered nonessential, but they provide

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June 2013 SA Real Estate Investor

the fabric for a community and economic
opportunity. By boosting the well being of the
people in a community with limited resources,
the effect is an enrichment of the community,
providing them with a sense of community and
belonging, and happy communities are more
productive. “Urbanization is the defining trend
of the 21st century; by 2030, 75 percent of the
world’s 9 billion people will be living in cities.
And urbanization is occurring most rapidly in
places with the greatest lack of planning for
urbanization,” says Joan Clos i Matheu.
W it h c it i e s a n d t o w n s g r o w i n g a t
unprecedented rates in countries all over the
world, the infrastructure is falling behind the
growth and this can be seen in the rise in the
number of informal dwellings all over South
Africa. In 1950, one-third of the world ’s
population lived in cities. Just 50 years later, this
proportion has risen to one-half and is expected
to continue to grow to two-thirds, or six billion
people, by 2050. In many cities, especially
in developing countries, informal settlement
dwellers number more than 50 percent of the
population and have little or no access to shelter
and other basic services like electricity, clean
water, and sanitation.
In the City of Cape Town, Capetonians,
through a community garden project, has
tackled this issue. The Community Gardens
Project creates user-friendly and aesthetically

pleasing parks and promotes gardening of
various types, detail and designs. “The project
is in keeping with the City’s commitment
to building an Inclusive City, and is a part
of our policy of redress in which previously
neglected areas are upgraded,” said Alderman
B el i nd a Wa l k er, M ayor a l C om m it te e
Member for Community Services and Special
Projects. In the past year, R300 000,00 has
been dedicated to the development of 12
community gardens. This brings the number
of community gardens up to 15, including the
pilot gardens established in 2011. The project
is rapidly gaining momentum as neighbours
and adjacent residential areas are seeing the
positive impacts of the project and wanting to
replicate it in a manner that adds value to their
own neighbourhoods. “We know that when
people have beautiful spaces in which to live,
work, learn and play, a true sense of community,
shared ownership and pride can form. In light
of the many social ills that communities around
our city face, gardens like these are ever more
important,” said Alderman Walker.
And with urbanisation continuing at a rapid
pace and informal settlements growing at an
alarming rate, communities need something to
tie them together.

RESOURCES
UN-HABITAT

www.reimag.co.za