"The majority of lower-income households live on the periphery of the city, travelling long distances and spending nearly half of their monthly income on transport. These households are situated in highly dense, under-serviced, predominantly informal areas, and travel at great cost to sparsely populated, well-serviced areas of Cape Town where jobs and services are located. Coupled with worsening traffic congestion and ongoing development on the outskirts of the city where land is cheap, living and working in Cape Town is becoming increasingly unsustainable and expensive. This is the case for residents, as well as for the city in terms of the maintenance and provision of bulk infrastructure for roads, water, electricity and sanitation, and the delivery of affordable housing and public transport," said the city’s mayoral committee member for transport and urban development, Brett Herron.
The city is also facing new challenges, or drivers of urban change, which have shifted profoundly since 2012.
"There is a rapid increase in the number of new households – although the population has increased by 7% between 2011 and 2016, the number of households has increased by 18%. This affects the number and type of housing opportunities to be delivered. Faced by fiscal constraints and a tepid global and local economy, we must do more with less – meaning, we have to improve our spatial form to ensure resource efficiency and sustainability.
"Furthermore, cities are increasingly under pressure from climate change. The current drought is a clear indication that we cannot continue with a business-as-usual approach where Cape Town continues to sprawl with the poor living on the margins. If allowed to do so, our energy consumption and emissions would double by 2040. Transport would dominate our energy footprint and we would have more private vehicles travelling long distances on highly congested roads, with devastating effects on our natural environment," said Herron.
As such, the Transport and Urban Development Authority (TDA) has revised the Municipal Spatial Development Framework (MSDF) to spatially reflect the vision and priorities identified in the city’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP), key among them being rapidly transforming Cape Town’s spatial form, taking into account the new challenges mentioned above.
The revised MSDF is now available for public comment until 26 September 2017. Once approved by council, the MSDF will guide and inform long-term planning and development in Cape Town.
