S OCI A L I N F RAST R UCT UR E
WORKING TOWARDS INCLUSIVITY
Socio-economic integration, especially in the context of South Africa and major metros like the City of Tshwane, is vital to drive inclusion and the upliftment of those living on our economy’s periphery.
D
ue to past policies, our communities have been accommodated in neighbourhoods based on either or both their income group and/or racial classification. Socio-economic integration redresses that imbalance by creating places of residence whereby communities are mixed and integrated through the provision of different housing typologies for various income groups, with supporting social facilities
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REIGNITING EXCELLENCE IN TSHWANE 2 0 2 1
and amenities that are essential for livelihoods such as government institutions, clinics, libraries, shops, transport facilities, places of employment, and communal spaces such as parks and public squares. During apartheid, so-called township areas were developed as a result of forced relocation programmes. Inevitably, these townships grew to accommodate large populations of low-income or unemployed people. The economic circumstances were
clearly evident in the quality of the physical environment. Under the new democratic dispensation established in 1994, these township areas were identified not as a blight in the urban fabric as previously thought of but as beacons of opportunity, through the human capital concentrated within their various communities. Due to the great need that often belies such nodes, the government has to play a more active role in social and economic restructuring, especially in view of the limited private investment, relative to metropolitan cores. These urban cores are also the most spatially and economically marginalised areas within the urban fabric. Many of the urban cores are still dependent on the inner city or metropolitan nodes for the majority of their needs. The distance to and inaccessible location of lower-income neighbourhoods highlights their dislocation and marginalisation since they have the lowest provision of social facilities, the longest travelling times and the highest population density.
Neighbourhood development The primary aim of the Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant (NDPG), which is allocated to municipalities by National Treasury, is to create vibrant, quality spaces focusing on hubs of economic potential to act as catalysts for development. This includes but is not limited to developing squares, trading facilities and intermodal transfer facilities in largely dormitory areas, as well as the clustering of civic and social facilities around areas of potential to increase the economic viability of the areas and so attract and maintain private sector investment. The nationally funded NDPG programme is exclusively targeted toward marginalised urban cores. It aims to address the improved quality
