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Growing population drains CT resources

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:30

Speaking at the Distinguished Speakers Event at the University of Cape Town’s Graduates School of Business last week, Executive Deputy Mayor of Cape Town, Ian Neilson, said that in the past five years the population of Cape Town has increased in number by about 500,000, to 3.7 million. He said that the consequences of this drastic growth place a number of strains on the system.

Neilson commented that while in the past five years the government has worked to consolidate its infrastructure and organisation, he believes we cannot assume that the next five years will be as the last, and that new developments will have to be made in order to take the city forward in light of its increasing population.

“Certain factors count in our favour: the quality of our basic services such as water and electricity is high. We have a diverse economy, a well provisioned central business district and a well-developed infrastructure.”

However, he said that the increasing population accelerates an already dire lack of housing and job opportunities, as well as poor transport system which in turn limits opportunities to successfully address these issues.

“Our public transport systems are inadequate. While the railway systems could be the backbone of public transport, due to lack of investment and overuse without proper maintenance they are way below par and considered unsafe.”

This means that those who live in areas of high poverty are often unable to seek employment in the city, due to the distance of travel necessary. “Those with the correct skills for a job incur significant costs and time wastage because of the inadequate means of transport, so we lose out on skilled members of society who could fill roles in which they are needed,” said Nielson.

He suggested that the most viable solution to this problem may be further development of a Rapid Bus Transit System, which he said is the most economical form of public transport, as it can be scaled up and routes can be changed, making maximum use of existing roadway.

As the need for motor car parking is also very high, largely due to the habit of Cape Town drivers to not carpool, large areas of land are also then used for more parking spots, land which could otherwise be used for housing development, he said.

Further there are large areas of land not available for use due to their status as bio-diversity hotspots. “There is a massive need for formidable housing, a need that will only increase,” he said. “We need to put a system in place that will provide space for affordable housing.” Neilson said that we must look to limiting bulk rights so that we are able to free up developing rights so that land can be divided into smaller proportions, and thus limit sprawl.

He posits that a large part of the problem here is because of the fact that government still has planning control, “despite their past failures in distributing land rights in such a way that efficient housing development is maximised.”

He said that the skills shortage is another area we need to focus on. According to Neilson, Cape Town will have to make serious plans to expand its existing talent pool in the city in order to attract new businesses and investments and increase job opportunities. In order to do so, we need to ensure that education is addressed, so that the creative talent in this city (which Neilson said is naturally high), continues to create new business.

“We have four excellent tertiary institutions in the Western Cape from which we must tap more for innovative solutions. Universities need to ensure that their research moves towards applicability. The private sector and the public sector should work together on skills development. If we need jobs in the electricity department, then the universities should make the education for such a job available, and the government the job attractive; we must build skills for a role in the economy.

“We will have to work hard to ensure that in ten years Cape Town is a better site for everyone and a place that will attract business that creates jobs," he said.