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Cape Town - Perhaps Cape Town has too many golf courses, Cape Town's deputy executive mayor Ian Neilson speculated.
"We do not need all these golf courses," Neilson said on Friday at an information session hosted by the SA Institute of Black Property Practitioners (SAIBPP).
"There are golf courses in Parow, Mowbray, Rondebosch and Bellville and The King David golf course has apparently shut down and seeks a tenant," he said.
"Maybe some rationalisation is needed. One must look at possibilities with a longer term view."
He emphasised that The City of Cape Town wants to invest in a sustainable city. A greater level of densification and shortening of commuter distances must, therefore, be the aim. An accessible public transport system is important in this regard.
"Of course we won't build 40-storey buildings like in Hong Kong, but it is about densification along the primary corridors of the city," he explained.
"There must also be partnerships with the private sector regarding the housing component and a good understanding of what stakeholders will need in order to develop more."
He said anyone is welcome to come and talk to the investment office at the City about proposals, but added that it is not the City's area to lend money for projects.
"Our role is to create the conditions - for example infrastructure - to allow the private sector to create jobs," said Neilson.
Patricia de Lille, executive mayor of Cape Town, said at the event that spacial development inherited from the apartheid era is still a factor to address in the city. People live far away from their work and the city centre.
"Cape Town is the fastest growing city in SA. The question is how we could work in partnerships to grow the city and the economy," said De Lille.
"Poor people often spend more than 60% of their income on transport. Therefore, we need to fill available spaces."
One such example to her is vacant land next to the Wingfield military base. The vacant land belongs to the SA National Defence Force and De Lille would like to see it being released for development.
"All development in the city must follow the main transport routes. So we must lower transport costs. We must bring houses closer to transport," said De Lille.
She emphasised, though, that housing is a national responsibility and funds for it is allocated to provinces and municipalities from the national government.
In her view too the focus cannot be on urban sprawl anymore.
"We are going for density - building upwards," she said.
"We need to grow the gap housing sector and also 'incremental development areas'. That is where someone would be provided with a plot and can then build as he or she gets money for it."
