“The Voortrekker Road Corridor offers a unique opportunity to invest in the urban core of Cape Town in one of its most important transit-oriented development corridors, taking advantage of the central location and extensive public transport infrastructure” – this is according to Councillor Johan van der Merwe, the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Environmental and Spatial Planning. The City of Cape Town will present its Voortrekker Road Corridor: Strategy and Investment Plan at the upcoming African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit at the Mother City’s CTICC from 2-3 November.
The presentation, which is open to industry professionals, forms part of an exciting line-up of high-level representatives from leading African cities, including Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Lusaka and Kampala, who will showcase the investment and development opportunities offered by their cities’ Urban Development Plans or specific major infrastructure projects.
“The City has spent in excess of R300-million on infrastructure investments” says Councillor van der Merwe, “which are directly serving the corridor and significantly more on bulk infrastructure that contributes towards the corridor. One of the key infrastructure investments that we are making is providing financing to PRASA to undertake a study to develop a plan of improvements/upgrades to this important rail corridor.”
He foresees the main challenges to be “urban management, which includes crime, grime and maintenance, which is a key issue within the corridor. Solving this challenge is key to attracting investors to the area. We see the solution to this challenge emanating from the continuation and further development of partnerships between the City, the Greater Tygerberg Partnership, city improvement districts, land owners, business operators, civic organisations and residents. In addition to this partnership approach, we are working with the City improvement districts and the Greater Tygerberg Partnership to provide additional services in key locations”.
African city of the future
More headline speakers at the African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit that will also focus on key case studies of visionary city planning, investment opportunities in the commercial and residential real estate sector, the African city of the future and the challenges of urbanisation are:
– Tim Harris, CEO, WESGRO.
– Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General, UCLG-A (United Cities and Local Governments of Africa).
– Lord Mayor, Hon. Isaya Mwita Charles, Dar es Salaam.
– Lekwalo Mosienyane, Director, Business Botswana.
– Mokena Makeka, Founder & Principal, Makeka Design Lab, South Africa.
– Kecia Rust, Director & Founder, Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa / Secretariat to the African Union for Housing Finance, UN-Habitat, South Africa.
– Amine Turki, Secretary General, Africa Union of Architects, Tunisia.
– Professor Vanessa Watson, School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, University of Cape.
The African Real Estate & Infrastructure Summit will gather the full spectrum of the continent’s real estate sector and will assist African cities and governments to secure international investment for commercial real estate development and infrastructure projects that will contribute to Urban Development Plans (UDPs).
