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Progress good on Inner City Charter objectives

The first part of the Inner City Charter speaks about the future of the Johannesburg Inner City. It asks all stakeholders to envisage the future Inner City as a place …
- That will be developed in a balanced way in order to accommodate all people and interests; it will be well-managed, safe and clean. It will not be a dormitory for the poor, or an exclusive enclave of loft-apartments, galleries and coffee shops.
- While remaining as the vibrant business heart, there will be a large increase in residential density; it will be a place where people want to stay, because it offers a high quality urban environment with available social and educational facilities, generous quality public open space, and ample entertainment opportunities.
- It will serve as both the key transportation transit point for the entire Gauteng Global City Region, but also as a destination point where people want to walk in the streets.
- Where the prevailing urban management, safety and security concerns are a thing of the past. Fast changing city centres do not have to be places where waste is not collected, by-laws are not enforced, buildings are in decay and public spaces are deteriorating.

The Charter then listed 192 deliverables.
In 2007, of 43 deliverables due for completion, the City advised that 30 were achieved and verifiable i.e. 70%. In 2008, an independent assessment of the Inner City Charter commitments was carried out and reported that 56% of charter commitments had been achieved. In 2009, a further independent assessment for the period July 2008 – to June 2009 was carried out and reported an achievement rate of 66%.
This reflects a steady improvement over three of the five year Charter period. The Report of the external auditors states “It is evident that the City of Johannesburg has not only notably delivered on the Charter commitments since inception of the Inner City Partnerships, but most significantly all six sectors have increased the degree, extent and rate of delivery year.”

Some of the ‘red lights’ raised by the external auditors report were: “….some commitments would best be allocated to different sectors as lead agents ….a number of commitments appear to duplicate previous delivery – emphasis on commitments must be updated to reflect current challenges….delivery is not aligned to commitment expectation, purpose or objective.”
Highlights included the fact that delivery across all six sectors increased significantly even though 2010, the Confed Cup, Gautrain and BRT “has had considerable impact on the City’s ability to deliver on certain commitments and further compounded by budget cuts”.

Some of the stakeholder comments that are recorded by the external auditors include: “I think this Charter has made an unbelievable difference and only when we look back will we realize that we are making history.” And “The Charter’s success is imperative to development of the inner city, it is imperative for us in the private sector ….”

Generally, although there are several points of concern, my own view is that the Inner City Charter is one of the most enlightened and critical strategies introduced in the revitalization process following the visioning process in 1996. The Mayor and Council have done a very brave thing to set out their commitments publicly and then to have external auditing of the progress. I also believe the Charter has been greatly beneficial to the Inner City.
Neil Fraser can be contacted at 023 614 3806 or by e-mail at neil@urbaninc.co.za. He is also setting up a blog on http://www.citichat.co.za