PLANS for the development of Cradle City — a “from-scratch” urban node designed around the hub of Lanseria Airport in northwest Johannesburg — are likely to boost the airport’s position and accelerate the urban development goals identified by the City of Johannesburg for the area.

Cradle City sales MD Sherry Seward says ensuring that development at Cradle City reflects the spatial development frameworks of both Johannesburg and Mogale City (formerly Krugersdorp) has been a priority for the company.

“Our plans for Cradle City will in all likelihood expedite the 2020 development goals identified for the Lanseria precinct by the City of Johannesburg,” Seward says.

Amari Land holds 900ha of land at Cradle City, which extends both north and south of the airport. Amari chairman Preston Haskell says the inspiration for Cradle City is a new urban form called an aerotropolis. “An aerotropolis is a city that has an airport at its core. That’s exactly what Cradle City will be,” Haskell says.

The long-term plan for Cradle City will see about 7,7-million square metres being developed, the largest component of which will be a range of residential units.

The 79ha first phase — the AAA grade Cradle City Business Park — will see infrastructure and bulk services in place by the middle of next year, and will include a mixture of light industrial, warehouse and distribution space, retail and offices.

The second phase will start with 178ha of mixed-use development, with medium- and high-density housing. Forecasts estimate that the 300000 departing passengers using Lanseria Airport will increase to 7-million in 2017.

Over the next decade, scheduled flights are expected to increase from 1100 a year to 4000.

Cradle City is being designed along internationally recognised green building principles of sustainability and environmental consciousness. “In line with contemporary urban development thinking, we are trying to incorporate green building principles,” Seward says, with 13% of development preserved for environmental elements.

Source: Business Day