INNER CITY
BY BRENT SMITH
Along with Durban , Cape Town recently joined the Rockefeller Foundation ’ s international 100 Resilient Cities ( 100RC ) project , which seeks to empower cities to withstand the chronic stresses and acute shocks that could lie ahead , even in thriving downtown areas .
The 100RC project defines urban resilience as the “ capacity of individuals , communities , institutions , businesses and systems within a city to survive , adapt and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience ”.
Having attended a 100RC workshop earlier this year , the Cape Town Central City Improvement District ( CCID ) is taking the definition to heart with regards to the Mother City ’ s downtown area . Tasso Evangelinos , CEO of the CCID , notes : “ Cape Town ’ s participation in the 100RC programme is obviously a citywide , holistic one that covers the entire metropole , but we ’ re looking very seriously at how we can also bring the concept of resilience down to the microcosm of the Central City – the traditional CBD of Cape Town – so that we can prepare for future stresses or shocks that could affect our own area .”
While the 100RC programme identifies 11 shocks , from a nuclear incident to civil unrest , the one that stands out for Evangelinos in terms of a vibrant downtown is the possibility of “ financial and / or economic crisis ”, while possible stresses ( from a list of 37 ) could include aging infrastructure , crime , homelessness , lack of affordable housing , traffic congestion , uncontrolled urban development and an undiversified economy .
In turn , the 100RC programme identifies seven qualities that a resilient urban area should develop to mitigate against the shocks and stresses . These include the need to be :
• Reflective and resourceful : the ability to learn from the past and use these learnings to inform future decisions , while also finding alternative ways to use existing resources better .
• Robust , redundant and flexible : robust , for example , in terms of developing infrastructure that will not fail catastrophically when design thresholds are exceeded ; redundant in terms of purposively creating spare capacity to accommodate disruption ; and flexibility in terms of an ability to adopt alternative strategies in response to changing circumstances .
• Inclusive and integrated : ensuring broad consultation , engagement and involvement while at the same time bringing together systems and institutions and the pooling of knowledge and resources .
Says Evangelinos : “ In other words , how can we look at all the lessons of the past that have helped us create a successful downtown area , and use the data we ’ ve collected and trends we ’ ve identified over the past few years , to create the best possible strategies for the CBD ’ s future resilience ?”
The data and trends Evangelinos refers to have been collated since 2012 primarily for the CCID ’ s annual investment guide , The State of Cape Town
32 AUGUST 2017 SA Real Estate Investor www . reimag . co . za