Cape Town has unveiled plans to rid itself of apartheid settlement planning and bring previously excluded race groups closer to the city.
Councillor Belinda Walker, who oversees the city's spatial planning, and Anton Bredell, the Western Cape MEC for environmental affairs, revealed the initiative at the launch of the city's spatial development plans yesterday.
"We want to transform the apartheid city ... to encourage integrated settlement patterns and do that in a way that enhances the uniqueness of place and quality of the build form of Cape Town, and enhances the value of resources, scenic routes and [tourist destinations]," said Walker.
"We are saying that we don't think people who live in shack settlements should live forever out on the edges of the city."
The plan, developed over the past six years, replaces the outdated apartheid-era guidelines approved 24 years ago.
Walker said the plan emphasised the importance of striking a balance between urban development and environmental protection.
She said the city's strategy of correcting historical planning imbalances included linking outlying areas to the city through an efficient public transport system, provision of gap housing for middle-income earners and higher population densities.
"Doing that is going to bring people who were previously excluded into the city and start to break the apartheid barriers," said Walker.
She allayed fears that the plans would change the historic characteristics of certain areas.
She said the planning would ensure that historic areas retained their uniqueness.
She acknowledged that the city had to deal with more than 200 informal settlements.
Bredell estimated the city's infrastructure, water and sanitation backlog at R11.2-billion.
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