A
s cities grow and expand, the surrounding areas change,
too. Sometimes fast, sometimes slowly, sometimes
controlled, sometimes uncontrolled – but always
inevitable. This would usually involve speculative
purchases by canny investors and developers who would
eye out the land tracts that are either particularly well positioned, or
vulnerable. And then they buy up the land piecemeal, developing it as
they go along. This is the usual pattern, and it mostly works out well.
But not always.
But building spatially equitable cities is not easy. As Wilkinson says:
It involves extensive public engagement with multiple
stakeholders, environmental impact assessments (EIA)
and careful envisioning of projected needs in terms of
land use and appropriate densities. We work very closely
with the city and provincial planning departments to help
implement their spatial planning objectives.
And that includes the vision for creating sought-after industrial and
transport hubs centred around the two big harbours – Durban and
Richards Bay – and the aerotropolis around King Shaka International
Airport (KSIA). ‘We’re working with the City to create corridors of
development to unlock the growth potential of KwaZulu-Natal,’ says
Wilkinson.
Durban – a waking giant
The Port of Durban is South Africa’s biggest and busiest harbour, but
the city itself is often thought of as the younger sibling to Johannesburg
and Cape Town – the laid-back surfer third child who’s not interested in
getting a real job. Well, that’s changing. Durban is rapidly developing into
a manufacturing and economic powerhouse with – yes – the country’s
biggest port, and – less than 200 kilometres to the north – the huge bulk
cargo-handling port of Richards Bay.
Win-win
Equitable development really is a win-win situation. By helping the City
to provide housing for people who need it, Tongaat Hulett Developments
is also creating a better quality of life for the people who live in their
mixed-use developments, because a spatially and socio-economically
inequitable city creates stresses for everyone.
As a consequence, there is a real need for residential, industrial and
commercial developments at various distances from the city, so Tongaat
Hulett Developments have identified its appropriately located sugar-
cane land that can be more productively and sustainably used to
accommodate the city’s need for growth.
He explains:
What’s interesting is that – when you stop to think
and plan properly – you notice that social, political
and market pressures are not delinked. There is
a huge demand for homes selling at between
R800,000 and R1.2 million so, if carefully managed,
this can be a successful market segment.
In the usual course of events, this would involve speculative
purchase of agricultural or undeveloped land by savvy investors
who would target the low-hanging fruit – distressed properties
or farms – thus creating an urban sprawl, going for the type
of development that would bring in the biggest profit in
the shortest possible time. This type of development
practice, however, fails to consider or accommodate
the bigger picture, and simply ends up perpetuating
the ongoing socio-economic problems from the
past that put the poorest the furthest away from
opportunities and urban amenities.
And with a growth in population comes a concomitant need for more
commercial and industrial develop ment, so the KZN North Coast is rapidly
becoming a commercial, industrial, residential and tourism hub – which
is another opportunity.
It’s a long game, and Tongaat Hulett Developments faces different
pressures to most. But, because of the way they plan with the City, the
land they put on the market as development-ready really is. It’s ready!
So it is perhaps fortuitous that much of the land
north of Durban has escaped the above scenario in
which many small landowners with narrow interests
compete for a piece of the development pie. It may be a
blessing, but it is also an immense responsibility – and it
is with this in mind that the sugar agri-processing company,
Tongaat Hulett, has approached the inevitable repurposing of
agricultural land in a holistic and sustainable way.
Wilkinson explains:
When we sell land for development, developers are
buying rights in a carefully planned precinct that itself
sits within a carefully planned subregion. They’re not
working with raw land in isolation. And we maintain the
relationship beyond the sale. It’s a partnership to see
the ultimate vision unfold, one in which development
takes place in a considered manner that includes the
neighbouring communities and progresses on the
shared value creation model. We work closely with the
developer to make sure the development does justice
to the precinct, and fits in with the overarching vision
for the area and the region .
‘We see ourselves as stewards of the land,’ says Rory Wilkinson,
Executive Head of Planning at Tongaat Hulett Developments. ‘We
continually work with the City and other stakeholders to ensure that the
land is developed in accordance with Durban’s strategic objectives and
Integrated Development Plan (IDP).’
The process
The need
Tongaat Hulett Development is not actually developing the land – they
are repurposing it for optimal use, asserting a stringent list of achievables
in which they test and drive the new land use.
Like every other city in South Africa, Durban has not been able to
provide adequate housing for its rapidly growing population. But – as
we learned through years of exclusionary spatial planning – building
affordable housing far from work, good schools and efficient transport
networks creates its own set of problems. ‘So,’ adds Wilkinson, ‘we plan
for affordable housing to be close to the light industrial and commercial
areas and on good, safe, affordable integrated transport routes.’
Converting the land from agricultural to development-ready residential,
industrial and/or commercial land is a long-term process that can take
up to 10 years. ‘So we have to be thinking a decade or two ahead,’
Wilkinson says.
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