1. Recognising that there is an increasingly favourable environment for urban development partnerships in South Africa, there is a need to step up the identification and design of suitable projects led by local government in anticipation of increasing funding for urban infrastructure, Financial Sector Charter targets and continued growth in the property market.
2. In the past, South African municipalities have played a role in supporting and implementing strategic property developments with varying levels of success. There are examples of large-scale infrastructure and property developments that have been undertaken almost exclusively by municipalities (like Cato Manor in eThekwini, and the Newtown precinct development in Johannesburg). There are also examples of property developments that have been successfully implemented in partnership with the private sector (such as the Central City regeneration projects in Cape Town and the Airport IDZ in Ekurhuleni).
3. Partnerships in infrastructure and property developments are being actively promoted through a number of new fiscal incentives, including:
a) The Urban Renewal tax incentive;
b) Technical assistance for projects that are implemented through the regulated PPP processes;
c) Social housing grants (that provide a larger capital grant for the construction of affordable rental housing in urban restructuring zones); and
d) The Neighbourhood Development Partnership grant.
Objectives
4. This seminar is intended to provide municipal leaders and officials, and urban development practitioners with an opportunity to discuss the incentives and grants that support urban development partnerships with some of the institutions that manage and administer these instruments.
5. It is hoped that this discussion will:
(a) Inform our collective understanding of the financial and technical support that can be used when planning urban development partnership projects; and
(b) Support municipal leadership and the private sector in assembling large-scale urban development partnerships with the potential to restructure the urban space economy.
