SA Affordable Housing September / October 2017 // Issue: 66 | Page 28

FEATURES
Public facilities built for
everyone to enjoy
According to Joburg City Parks, the public facilities they
manage are for the enjoyment of all who use them.
By Ntsako Khosa
Children playing at one of the spray parks in Cape Town.
P
ublic facilities are shared premises by communities
such as a shopping complexes, clinics, taxi ranks, bus
stops and parks. As upcoming and completed
affordable housing developments take place on an estate,
complex or high-rise model, developers must consider the
types of facilities that tenants will share.
‘In Johannesburg city, parks are a good place for
children to play and grow especially when they either do
not have a playground in their school premises or live in
high-rise buildings where playing space is limited,’ says
developer and investor in affordable housing and
commercial property in the Johannesburg inner-city,
African Housing Company (AFHCO).
The location of a development is crucial to ensure that
the community has access to basic services. To ensure that
tenants will enjoy basic benefits of not travelling far to
public clinics, hospitals or parks, developers often seek
locations of development that are within close proximity
of these services.
26
SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2017
AFFORDABLE
SA HOUSING
Government and its various subsidiaries have been busy
upgrading parks and clinics in townships. Diepkloof Eco
Park in Soweto and Manenberg Park in Cape Town both had
upgrades. According to the City of Cape Town the
Manenberg area needs urgent restoration and is part of the
mayoral urban regeneration programme.
Dr Mpho Phalatse, member of the Mayoral Committee
(MMC) for Health and Social Development in the City of
Johannesburg, also recently announced plans to upgrade
state health institutions in Johannesburg.
LONGEVITY
Parks need to be maintained because they are a common
place where people gather, according to AFHCO.
Building a facility for public use is about more than the
structure and more about the safety and security of those
who use it. Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) is
mandated by the City of Johannesburg to manage the city’s
cemeteries, parks and designated public open spaces as