The City of Cape Town is in the process of updating and rationalising its spatial planning policies and frameworks, in order to simplify the planning environment and more importantly give direction to the City's long-term development.
The process to develop an overall citywide spatial development framework, as well as spatial development plans for the City's eight planning districts, is also a necessary part of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP), and follows on from a draft document released in 2006 entitled "Planning for Future Cape Town".
The planning process will enable the City to promote and manage development through identifying constraints to development and indicating where urban upgrading and restructuring, as well as public capital investment should occur.
According to Spatial Planning manager Catherine Glover, the City has an excess of plans in existence, which vary in objective and status, and a review has found that many of the existing local area spatial development frameworks are outdated (five years or older) and need to be renewed.
"The City will use this exercise to update an outdated, uneven spatial planning approach across the City, and to transparently identify priorities for further, local planning intervention," she said.
"Ideally, we'd like to give more direction to the private sector in terms of where the city can and should grow, and how to integrate transport, environmental and land use planning so that we can become a sustainable and inclusive city."
Glover says this should give strategic leadership to decision-making on development in the city.
"A key objective is to be clear on where development can and should happen and to identify key no-go areas that need to be protected. At the moment there is this impression that the private sector is leading development in the city and the city follows with infrastructure - it's difficult to change this if there is no clear planning approach."
Most of the focus will not be on local, but rather metropolitan and district level development issues - such as city growth in the Koeberg and Atlantis direction, protecting key biodiversity assets, identifying land suitable for affordable housing, and how to develop strategic vacant land in the city appropriately, says Glover.
While district plans look at the next five or so years, the spatial development framework is taking into account the next 20 to 30 years.
The City has started this process by inviting interested parties to register for the public consultation process. This process is expected to last the remainder of the year and will take place through sub-councils. The final draft will be submitted to the Western Cape provincial government in terms of the Land Use Planning Ordinance no 15 of 1985 for approval as a section 4(6) structure plan - and Glover is hopeful this will be done early next year.
For more information:Future Cape Town [PDF]
Source: capetown.gov.za
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