It’s boom time in Cape Town right now, as the number of foreign tourists visiting the city reaches record levels and houses in desirable locations fetch mind-boggling prices…
But what does the revitalisation of Cape Town really mean for ordinary residents? Already the new residential developments have been criticised for being far too expensive for the average citizen. Certainly the city is being repopulated, but with prices affordable only to the affluent who, moreover, expect their buildings to include on-site parking, swimming pools, gyms and restaurants, these residents will not breathe new life into the city if they remain hermetically sealed into their sanitised high-rise spaces…
But what of the needs of the poor, the unemployed, the homeless?
According to the Western Cape government, Cape Town’s housing backlog verges on close to 400,000 units, while housing projects currently underway only total just over 12,000 houses. With the backlog growing each year and the slow delivery of houses, it will take decades before the need for housing in Cape Town is met.
For example, the much vaunted N2 Gateway Project, which promised to deliver 22,000 housing units by June 2006, has to date only completed 705 - many of which are unaffordable to the homeless and unemployed. For the thousands of people who inhabit Cape Town’s 240 informal settlements, the dream of living in a proper house appears set to remain just that - a dream.
As to whether the many urban regeneration projects in the city will benefit the poor and the unemployed, this too, is debatable, as many of the jobs created (especially with regard to unskilled and semi-skilled workers) in the construction and hospitality industries are short-term or casual jobs which do not offer job security or decent pay… Cape Argus
But what does the revitalisation of Cape Town really mean for ordinary residents? Already the new residential developments have been criticised for being far too expensive for the average citizen. Certainly the city is being repopulated, but with prices affordable only to the affluent who, moreover, expect their buildings to include on-site parking, swimming pools, gyms and restaurants, these residents will not breathe new life into the city if they remain hermetically sealed into their sanitised high-rise spaces…
But what of the needs of the poor, the unemployed, the homeless?
According to the Western Cape government, Cape Town’s housing backlog verges on close to 400,000 units, while housing projects currently underway only total just over 12,000 houses. With the backlog growing each year and the slow delivery of houses, it will take decades before the need for housing in Cape Town is met.
For example, the much vaunted N2 Gateway Project, which promised to deliver 22,000 housing units by June 2006, has to date only completed 705 - many of which are unaffordable to the homeless and unemployed. For the thousands of people who inhabit Cape Town’s 240 informal settlements, the dream of living in a proper house appears set to remain just that - a dream.
As to whether the many urban regeneration projects in the city will benefit the poor and the unemployed, this too, is debatable, as many of the jobs created (especially with regard to unskilled and semi-skilled workers) in the construction and hospitality industries are short-term or casual jobs which do not offer job security or decent pay… Cape Argus
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