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DEMOGRAPHICS
The inner city has 217 000 residents in 37 000 dwelling
units. Some 800 000 commuters enter the city every day,
and 300 000 - 400 000 migrant shoppers visit the city
each year. The city has 7-million m of floor space and 3-
million m of office space.
Not all of are poor: 12 percent earn more than R15 000
per month, and 79 percent earn more than R1 500 per
month
Many are well educated: 19 percent have university
educations, and 35 percent have technikon diplomas
90 percent have cellphones, and 44 percent use e-mail
31 percent own their own cars, 74 percent use minibus
taxis as their chief form of transport, and 32 percent use
municipal buses
Reasons given for choosing the inner city included
affordability (22 percent), proximity to work (11 percent)
and proximity to schools (11 percent)
CHALLENGES AND ADVANTAGES
Pivotal location in the city's centre
Major public transportation hub: all major arterials, all
rail, and all bus services run into the city centre
Low rentals and property prices for high-quality offices
Access to a large workforce due to easy access from
Soweto
Under-served markets
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Significant infrastructure
However, the CBD has also posed certain major
challenges to city government:
Curbing the high crime rate
Lack of sufficient capacity to enforce by-laws, particularly
relating to informal trading
Poor condition of certain buildings
Properties that are in arrears with rates or monthly bills
Management of taxis
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INNER CITY REGENERATION STRATEGY
The goal of the City government's Inner City Regeneration
Strategy is to raise and sustain private investment in the
inner city, leading to a rise in property values. The
components of the strategy are:
Intensive urban management, including improvements to
service quality, strict enforcement of by-laws, management
of taxis and informal traders, and sound credit control.
















Upgrading and maintenance of infrastructure to create an
environment attractive to both residents and business.
Support for those economic sectors that have the
potential to thrive in the inner city, and encourage growth
in those sectors.
Discouraging "sinkholes", meaning properties that are
abandoned, overcrowded or poorly maintained, and which
in turn "pull down" the value of entire city blocks by
discouraging investment.
Encouraging "ripple effect" investments that can lift an
entire area.


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SAFETY AND SECURITY
THERE are three major initiatives to improve
Johannesburg's security:
Central Improvement Districts (CIDs)
Closed circuit television (CCTV)
Metropolitan Police Department
In the CIDs, property owners take charge of security and
cleaning. There has been an enormous drop in muggings
in these areas.


The CIDs began in the core of the inner city, and have
since spread as far as Newtown and Braamfontein.
CCTV was implemented in April 2000 and covers crime
hotspots. In the first year, crime in these areas dropped by
48 percent. A total of 240 new cameras have been
installed.
The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department checks
on crime prevention, road traffic policing and by-law
enforcement. It operates 24 hours a day. The
department's five-year target is to reduce crime by 25
percent and by-law infringements by 45 percent.
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
THE city needs economic rejuvenation and the strategy is
threefold
Implementation of urban renewal projects
Development of SMMEs
Encouragement of creative industries and cultural tourism
The urban renewal projects involve precinct plans, which
target major nodes of the inner city. Such projects include:
Newtown (additional cultural facilities, new housing units,
upgrading existing historic buildings)
Constitutional Hill (new home for the Constitutional Court,
various museums and a hotel)
Jewel City (40 000 m of factory and office spacing
housing 80 percent of Gauteng's diamond and jewellery
industry)
Joubert Park (R10-million Greenhouse Environmental
Centre)



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SMMEs have grown in the city: The fashion district is
home to a number of micro and small garment
manufacturing enterprises as well as printing and
publishing establishments. The city is establishing and
strengthening the Local Business Service Centres in the
inner city to support this development.
Culture is alive: A number of community radio stations
have developed, as has the live music industry, with
several venues featuring jazz, classical, rock and
kwaito. Additional cultural facilities will complement the
existing Market Theatre, Museum Africa and
MegaMusic facilities in the inner city. The craft industry
is seen as a crucial SMME sector in Johannesburg with
the Mai-Mai bazaar in downtown Johannesburg.
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INFORMAL TRADERS
THERE are an estimated 4 000 streets traders in the city.
The plan is to put them into a formal trading environment.



















COMMUNITY PROJECTS
THE renewal programme needs healthy communities, so
various community development initiatives have begun.
They are:
The establishment of a People's Centre and satellite
neighbourhood offices where residents will be able to
obtain and access community development and support
programmes
The development of community education programmes
that focus on youth development, promoting citizenship and
provision of sport and recreation activities.



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