Urban regeneration has been a recurrent theme of urban development discourse in South Africa for many years. Thus inner cities in many parts of the country have become the focus of dedicated strategies aimed at reversing their decline. Special institutional structures have been created within municipalities to aid in this task for example the Johannesburg Development Agency, The Cape Town Partnership and the Nelson Mandela Bay Development Agency.

Neighbourhoods in many previously disadvantaged areas have become the targeted focus of infrastructure spend. The NeighbourhoodDevelopment Partnership Grant (NDPG) established by the National Treasury provides technical assistance and grant financing for municipal projects in poor, underserved residential neighbourhoods such as townships.

There are many strategies for urban regeneration. Fiscal measures such as tax breaks are often used, and the creation of Urban Development Zones in many South Africa inner cities is a prime example. Removal of supply side constraints such as restrictive regulations and policies to investment in these areas are also an often used strategy.

This Dialogue focuses on capital expenditure into public infrastructure development as an intervention.

The Johannesburg Inner City Regeneration Charter for example refers to 5 pillars for inner city regeneration one of which is to “Maintain and Upgrade Infrastructure”. Thus the public sector through infrastructure development has the potential of improving these urban environments which can leverage private sector investment and ultimately revitalise and rejuvenate these areas. Such public infrastructure investment has also the potential of improving social inclusivity, alleviating poverty and creating employment, enhancing security, integrating previously disadvantaged areas into the mainstream urban fabric, enhancing social and community participation and regeneration, building strategic partnerships with the private sector, community organisations and voluntary groups, and even countering cyclical property cycles by providing profitable alternative areas for investment in lean times. There are also environmental benefits to be attained from infrastructure investment in regeneration as it utilises previously built up “brown field” sites rather than opening up new “green fields” to development.

This Dialogue session intends to review the successes of the substantial investment into public urban infrastructure for purposes of urban regeneration that have happened in South Africa. It will explore the quantum of this investment and the type of infrastructure investments that has been employed. It will explore the successes of these investments in terms of leveraging private sector investment and other elements of a score carding including employment creation and urban integration. It will delve into the effectiveness of these investments in enhancing social cohesion, creating safe neighbourhoods and creating effective markets. It will also explore the workings and synergies that are created by deploying infrastructure investment incentives with other intervention measures such as fiscal incentives and regulatory and policy incentives.

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