NEWS RELEASE                                                                                        28 September 2001 

CITY’S ADOPTION OF TOWN PLANNING PRINCIPLES WILL BENEFIT ALL 

The City of Cape Town has adopted the Principle, Goals and Policies of the Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework (MSDF) and it is expected that implementation will in time bring substantial benefit to communities across the city metropolitan area. 

Originally initiated some nine years ago the long process of study and consultation with stakeholders, special interest groups and the public has now culminated in a recommendation by the City’s Planning and Environment Committee for adoption and its onward submission to the Provincial Minister of Local Government and Development Planning for approval. 

The MSDF effectively defines a working strategy for the promotion of efficient and integrated land development through applying policies that bring about a more realistic social, economic and physical integration of communities. 

This means that the plan encourages residential areas closer to work opportunities, mixed use development, more efficient and cheaper transportation, and the utilisation of existing resources and infrastructure, and will correct historically distorted development of Cape Town.

 One of the tenets of the MSDF is the need to direct a significant portion of new investment in public facilities and services to areas of greatest need and to encourage private investment in these areas. Another is to plan the development of new centres for economic and other related activities towards the creation of employment, community and new entrepreneurial opportunities along existing structures.

 A focal point of the MSDF – and relevant to the city’s rapid growth, is the strategy to containing urban sprawl through clear definition of an urban edge and the promotion  residential densification within existing urban areas. People have to understand that a residential areas will need to be a higher density to protect agricultural land and environmentally sensitive land.

 “Essentially, the MSDF defines very clearly the perameters within which we envisage future land use within our city,” said Member of the Executive Committee for Planning and Environment, Councillor Brian Watkyns.

 “This includes, holistically, all domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural land, as well as our open spaces, transport routes, economic activity zones, natural environment and even places of cultural and historic interest.

 “It is Council’s vision to create a quality urban environment that works well with rational and cost-effective delivery of services and that benefits everyone who lives and works in the greater metropolitan area,” he said.

 “The bottom line is that as we work to achieve these ideals, so will we be redressing imbalances and setting the stage for the greater prosperity and social well-being of all our citizens for years to come,” said Councillor Watkyns.

 The City of Cape Town has requested the Minister to expedite approval as a matter of urgency.

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