From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is the Real Economy Report.

The Waterfall precinct in Midrand, home to multiple new smart developments in the residential, commercial and logistics sectors, has officially been rebranded as Waterfall City.

Darren Parker tells us more.

Darren Parker:

The newly rebranded 2 200 ha Waterfall City is home to the renowned Mall of Africa and other shopping centres, as well as numerous residential developments of varying sizes, several hotels, schools, hospitals, business parks, logistics hubs and numerous other shopping centres and recreational destinations.

The rebrand was part of an effort to consolidate the branding of the sprawling developments under a cohesive and trademarked banner.

Waterfall Management Company CEO Willie Vos:

Darren Parker:

Over the past decade, Waterfall City has been recognised as a world‐class metropolitan city by means of winning several international awards, as it aims to provide an attractive lifestyle in a smart, secure and connected environment.

The Waterfall City has become a new economic hub in Gauteng to rival the well-established hubs of Sandton and the Johannesburg central business district.

We asked Waterfall Management Company CEO Willie Vos what it meant for the precinct to now be called a city…

Waterfall Management Company CEO Willie Vos:

Darren Parker:

The Waterfall City development is home to the large PWC tower, visible from the N1 highway, the Mall of Africa, various other corporate office buildings and logistics parks for major local and international companies such as Deloitte and Stryker, besides others.

Numerous residential estates, sectional title complexes and apartment buildings also populate the area, with shopping centres, hospitals and schools filling the spaces in between.

Notable among the developments is the R9-billion Munyaka residential development – one of the many residential developments either developed or under development.

It comprises 5 178 apartment units surrounding a three hectare man-made lagoon to simulate beach-side living. This is the largest single sectional title residential development of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

A new Gautrain station is also planned for Waterfall City.

As a primarily private sector-led urban development project, Waterfall City has been commended for its security, road infrastructure, energy efficiency, water efficiency, waste management, smart infrastructure and more.

What might the public sector might learn from the way the Waterfall City development has been run thus far, that these lessons might be applied elsewhere in the country to replicate the success?

Waterfall Management Company CEO Willie Vos:

Darren Parker:

Waterfall City has been recognised four times between 2017 and 2020 as the best mixed-use development globally by the International Property Awards and has been further identified as the best mixed-use development in South Africa and Africa seven times.

Sashnee Moodley:

That’s Creamer Media’s Real Economy Report. Join us again next week for more news and insight into South Africa’s real economy. Don’t forget to listen to the audio version of our Engineering News daily email newsletter.