The City of Ekurhuleni will join the world in commemorating World Town Planning Day on November 8, bringing together role-players in the planning fraternity to exchange ideas that improve city planning.

This year’s World Planning Day, also known as World Urbanism Day, will be commemorated under the theme ‘Build Environment’.

It is observed in over 30 countries, across four continents each November, with a unified aim to recognise and promote the role of planning in creating liveable communities.

The event is expected to attract prominent local and international participants to share their perspectives on significant issues facing global cities, as well as possible interventions required. 

In an exclusive conversation with Polity, Ekurhuleni City Planning MMC Councillor Ndosi Shongwe said her department and its planning partners aim to share city initiatives with the world, while broadening their knowledge and networking with professionals and organisations to remain relevant on environmental issues.

“The city has a good story to tell on its initiatives of infrastructure, bulk megaprojects, land use, management, impact and revenue on various applications, job opportunities created as a result of approval of development, as well as development bylaws that shape the City Planning Department,” she said.

In keeping with the coronavirus (Covid-19) regulations, Ekurhuleni will host a series of virtual sessions throughout the month of November, with expert panel members from Europe and Australia.

Expected to participate in this year’s event are a range of stakeholders from Ekurhuleni’s City Planning Department, heads of department, partners of the City Support Programme at National Treasury, and representatives from the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and South African Cities Network.   

This year’s event will focus on engagements in spatial planning towards transformation and intergenerational changes, benchmarking strategies for urban growth management and the sharing of initiatives targeted at city investments, acceleration and development.

Discussions to take place will also include the implementation of transformative energy efficiency policies and programmes working towards zero carbon performance for new buildings in South African cities by 2020, and views on how Covid-19 could affect the face of the city in the future.

Shongwe says such conversations will stimulate interesting ideas and further explained that the City of Ekurhuleni will benefit from conversations with international figures familiar with the South African landscape, to share with the city international trends, approaches and methodologies of spatial planning and reflect on whether spatial planning in South Africa is on a sustainable trajectory.

Through virtual meetings, the city plans on hosting engagements at a community level, in line with Covid-19 safety protocols.

Public awareness campaigns will also be run in an attempt to inspect some of the city's sinkhole rehabilitation and follow through on some community matters such as property encroachments.

“It is important this Planning Day, that all programmes take into consideration those in disadvantaged areas. These are communities that were affected by the decisions of apartheid planning and still remain isolated,” Shongwe added.  The city has invited the stakeholders to join the planned sessions and contribute ideas.

Ekurhuleni city manager Dr Imogen Mashazi said the recent outbreak of Covid-19 has exerted more pressure on the city to look at the issue of high density and to de-densify informal settlements, as it has been proven that the virus spreads more rapidly in highly densified areas.

“It is the responsibility of our City Planning Department to provide spatial leadership towards creating a vibrant safe and sustainable city, develop and promote an integrated city that addresses spatial injustices and implement initiatives that enhance a developmental city… and enhance revenue through finalisation of developments, building control and other programmes that will ensure that we create more space and more platforms for more investments to come to the city,” said Mashazi.

The City of Ekurhuleni hopes the celebrations will bring attention to the aims, objectives and development of planning and regional planning, provide worldwide coverage to the ideals of urban and regional planning and highlight the significant contribution the city’s Planning Department has made to improve the quality of lives of Ekurhuleni residents.

“As a city we acknowledge that working together would lead to the realisation of the city’s big ideas of a Disney Africa, Formula One, botanical garden, a zoo, an international convention centre and a university of science and technology which was recently approved by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Our agenda remains that of becoming a smart, creative and developmental city,” Mashazi concluded.