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R/£ Developments to transform Durban into a mega city
October 13, 2005 Edition 1
Carvin Goldstone
The development of Durban into a mega city is no longer a pie in the sky concept - the eThekwini Municipality has laid open plans to make the city the world's playground.
The 2010 World Cup has provided the catalyst to speed up development in Durban, and city engineers, town planners and the private sector are planning strategically for the second-largest sporting event in the world.
Developers are working towards meeting Fifa standards but city leaders have begun looking beyond 2010.
Mass-development plans for the beachfront and the inner city were presented to the eThekwini Municipality executive committee by the head of strategic projects, Julie-May Ellingson, this week.
Ellingson said that during a recent visit to Germany, city officials had found that Durban was one of the few sporting destinations in the world that had a beachfront, hotels and sporting facilities all in close proximity.
After 2010, the city plans to maximise the proximity of the Kings Park sports district to hotels and a newly developed beachfront to attract sporting events like the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics, as well as other smaller events.
To accommodate an expected influx of tourists into the city, Ellingson announced a mass hotel development project, which will see 20 new hotel sites being released for development in Durban during the next few years.
Three of these sites - Hoy Park, a site near the International Convention Centre and the drive-in site - will be released in the next few weeks.
The city plans to complete the first phase of development of the West Street beach node by December and will then proceed to develop the uShaka interface node near the uShaka marine and theme park.
The city has proposed to expand the width of the promenade along the front edge of uShaka. A proposal was also made to demolish existing lifesaving and club facilities on the beachfront and to replace them with retail/commercial and club facilities that cater for the greater public.
The city is also still to decide on the future of Addington Children's Hospital, which will either be transformed into a children's museum - with the back of the hospital turned into an upmarket residential complex - or a hotel.
The third node to be developed is the Ocean Sports Complex precinct near the South Beach paddling pools, which until now has not been self-sufficient.
The centre has apparently achieved very poor returns from tenants who pay high vacancy rates and are only allowed short-term lease arrangements. The city plans to transform the complex into a retail facility with a parking deck leading from upper Marine Parade.
The city is also considering the construction of rooftop restaurants that will be available on long-term leases.
The final interface is the Film Studio/Natal Command node, which will make Durban the film capital of South Africa.
The city's next pilot project is the people mover, scheduled to be unveiled in December. The people mover will be an interim bus service with two routes.
The first will link uShaka and Suncoast Casino, and the second will go from the beach into the city as far as Victoria Market.
Accessibility
Logan Moodley, the eThekwini Transport Authority's Deputy Head of Strategic Transport and Planning, said fare levels had not yet been finalised but the service would enhance accessibility for tourists and the general public to key nodes in the central
business district and beachfront.
"There will be 10 buses which will be put in operation at a cost of
R1.5 million each," he said.
"The buses are high quality, have low floors accessible for wheel chairs, are airconditioned, and will run at 15-minute intervals using a ticketing system."
But the buses are only intended to serve until the city is ready to unveil its multimillion-rand transport system. The system, which will include different modes of people movers, such as monorails, trams and road trains, is expected to cost in the region of R220 million.
The city is also planning mass-densification of the inner city by turning a number of vacant buildings within the city into residential blocks.
Ellingson said the restoration of the Tong Lok block was on the cards and was perceived to be the key to the regeneration of the Point area.
More than R1 billion has been spent on the Point redevelopment and R750 million on uShaka Marine World.
The Point development is expected to cost R1.2 billion and this is expected to increase to R1.5 billion when residential sales are taken into account.
eThekwini Mayor Obed Mlaba appealed to developers to consider the possibilities of natural disasters and to ensure that a disaster management plan was put in place when development started.
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