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Twin needs central for new Jhb city

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Modderfontein New City.
Modderfontein New City.

Cape Town – Johannesburg’s city of the future will be built on the demand for information technology and ease of transport, in a development that will cost R84bn over the next 15 years.

Modderfontein New City will change the face of Johannesburg and the way people live, with an estimated 100 000 people living in this high-dense 1 600 hectares of land.

Behind the development is Zendai Development South Africa which, as part of the Hong Kong listed Shanghai Zendai Group.

Its CEO, Anthony Diepenbroek, told Fin24 about the need to transform the way people live, work and enjoy their free time.

In this story:
- AUDIO: Fin24’s Matthew le Cordeur interviews Anthony Diepenbroek about the development
- PHOTOS: Visuals highlighting what the new city will look like

Access to information

“The South African city of tomorrow will be driven by the twin needs of access to information technology and viable integrated public transport systems,” he said.

“Both of these factors are aligned to prevailing development principles, which demand that population densities  maximise economic delivery of services - the higher the population density, the less the cost of delivering what are the cornerstone requirements of any major new urban development.

Listen:

Lifestyle change

“South African lifestyles are changing,” he said. “Many households are facing challenges associated with urban sprawl. People wishing to own homes are finding that to afford a suitable home they are forced to live outside urban centres.  

“The penalty for this is that numerous families are allocating an estimated 40% of their monthly income to transport. In some cases, this challenge restricts the dream of home ownership for many families.

“In this context, a reduction in transport costs, as a percentage of monthly income, allows the saving to be diverted into housing and household expenses,” he said. “Clearly if this is done in an environment with convenient access to recreational facilities, the overall outcome becomes an attractive living and working environment.”

When these factors have been taken into account, the advantages of a sustainable smart city at scale come into its own, said Diepenbroek.

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Mixed land offering

He explained that when a planned city offering mixed land use that offers convenient commuting to work is in close proximity to educational and healthcare facilities and provides access to well-appointed apartment living it then comes into its own.

“Build this on information systems that are piped at relatively low cost into buildings and access to a truly integrated public transport system and the South African city of the future is born,” he said.

“Although higher densities are perceived to be extreme by some South Africans the difference is that, until recently, the country has not been able to benefit from a city that has been purpose-designed from the ground up - something that has been achieved successfully in other cities in the world.”

Africa’s population exploding

Africa’s population is set to double by 2050, when the continent will be home to about 25% of the world’s population, according to Diepenbroek. “The middle-class is burgeoning across the continent,” he said. “South Africa, proportional to its population has the largest middle class on the continent, boasting about 8.3 million people.

“The growth of South Africa’s middle class demands that a new integrated approach to development is adopted,” he said. “The previous system of creating arteries along which people travel to existing urban centres from outlying areas will simply not be able to cope in the medium to long-term.  

“A system of high-density spines is the only sustainable solution,” he said. “This solution is aligned to the City of Johannesburg’s Corridors of Freedom spatial vision.”

Solution to pressure

The development plan for Modderfontein New City presented a natural solution to population pressures, he said. “It is located at a natural growth point within Johannesburg, which is growing exponentially, and will enable the existing Gautrain rapid rail network to connect Modderfontein to the Johannesburg CBD, Sandton, Pretoria and the OR Tambo International Airport,” he said.

“Attention to the development of additional logistics complementing and extending the Gautrain network will further enhance mobility.

“Modderfontein plans to serve as a 24-hour district,” he said. “A place where people will live and interact in an urban environment that is convenient, efficient and safe. It seeks to be a place where people will want to live, work and enjoy the benefits of various recreational offerings on their doorstep.”

- Fin24

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