SA Affordable Housing May - June 2020 // ISSUE: 82 | Page 40

ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY
we could fit Soshanguve within a 2.5km radius of the Pretoria
CBD if the land were made available for housing. The density
has to be right, and South Africa is nowhere near that yet,”
says White.
"The challenge in South Africa in achieving
integrated housing, is that ‘affordable’ housing
is already unaffordable for the average person,
with the result that few developers are drawn
to this market as they cannot make a profit."
He lists the key considerations that can drive success of the
affordable housing market:
• Land availability and location: The responsibility of the
owner, developer, city council or provincial government:
“Fundamentally, well-located land in or close to an urban
centre will increase in value faster over time. This is in
stark contrast to land on a city’s periphery. It not only
contributes to the restoration of the urban centre, local
businesses and the community, but also ensures residents
have access and choice in respect of cultural, economic
and living amenities. However, land closer to cities is more
expensive and is still subject to government initiatives
to encourage redevelopment, for example discounts and
tax breaks to appeal to developers. Current communities
hamper development of cities buildings and land, and we
hope city and provincial government will become more
willing to work with developers given the successes of
previous projects.”
• The funding model: determined by the financial
institutions and the state’s subsidy scheme. Land cost,
planning and engineering, implementation, and sales
costs determine the funding model. Affordable housing
projects are hardly viable to fund and develop by one
party. A mixture of public funding and private capital
investments is needed. “Therefore, cross-subsidisation
funding should be used for integrated housing
projects, in order to fund and coordinate engineering
infrastructure more effectively.”
• Urban design maximised to add value: the urban designer
and/or architect: “The value of good urban design should
be not underestimated. Quality urban environments
and affordable housing go hand in hand, in order to fully
integrate these developments within their urban centre.
Together, they strengthen the quality of our cities and
public spaces and guarantee a great place where people
will want to live – with connectivity to the community and
everyday amenities. Urban design also ensures housing
projects are well connected to usable green spaces, and
the conservation of our natural environment. In the case
of South Hills, the housing is designed to form the edge
towards the natural environment. Without being the ‘back
yard’ towards nature the individual housing units responds
to this green area with small spaces for people to sit and
overlook green (safe space). Also, the development has a
public park as a buffer between housing and nature. This
park has permeable materials that allows for stormwater
regulation and activities for children and adults alike.”
• Understand the needs of the end-user and market:
collaboration between the developer/investor and
the community: “The spatial needs of people living
in affordable housing should be accommodated, but
how do we know what people need? This step enables
all parties to learn from the end-user, to ensure a
better citizen-based participatory planning and design
process. A look back to re-evaluate past projects, to
see how needs change over time, and a look into future
lifestyle trends can become important learning’s for
future planning.”
• Building height: urban designer and/or architect: “Our
current South African Building Standards for housing
dictates the width of passages and number of staircases
for multi-story buildings. When this standard is balanced
with affordability and efficiency, the three to four story
building becomes the optimal model. This is in part due
to the shared cost of staircases and passages in relation
to the unit cost. After many years of segregated urban
planning and low-density suburbia, huge opportunity
exists to optimise the land and connect our communities.
Compact designs and densification within our cities
are the best route forward. The ‘elephant in the room’
with three- and four-story affordable housing projects
is always parking. We advocate the restructuring of
public policy in this regard. Yet it brings us back to the
connectivity and use of urban development (location) in
point 1 - affordable housing can only be successful if it is
within walking distance to quality public transport.”
38 MAY - JUNE 2020 SAAffordHousing saaffordablehousingmag SA Affordable Housing www.saaffordablehousing.co.za