draft for comment
CAPE TOWN
SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT
FRAMEWORK
TECHNICAL REPORT
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Content of SDF
Final draft of SDF
APPROVAL
CONTENTS
4. Key spatial strategies to achieve sustainable,
equitable and managed urban growth
42
4.1 Key strategy 1:
Executive summary
1. Introduction – The Future Cape Town
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
Purpose of the Spatial Development Framework
Spatial development goal
Spatial development principles
The Spatial Development Framework
Hierarchy of spatial plans and policies
Land use management system Background and process
2. Development and policy context
6
23
24
25
25
25
27
28
28
29
2.1 Global development context
2.2 Legislative context
2.3 Strategy and policy context
29
29
30
3. The strategic impact assessment
32
3.1 Urban growth
32
3.1.1 Urbanisation
32
3.1.2 A spread-out city
32
3.1.3 Infrastructure backlogs
34
3.1.4 Limited future spatial growth options
34
3.1.5 Resource consumption trends
34
3.2 Environmental impacts
34
3.2.1 A natural environment under threat
34
3.2.2 Compromised ecological services
34
3.2.3 Poor-quality open spaces
37
3.2.4 Possible impacts of climate change
37
3.3 Poor accessibility and unbalanced movement patterns 37
3.3.1 Radial transport network limitations 37
3.3.2 Inefficient public transport network and services
37
3.3.3 Road congestion
37
3.4 Economic patterns
37
3.4.1 Regional economy
37
3.4.2 A dynamic economy
37
3.4.3 Spatial economic marginalisation
40
3.5 Spatial structure (fragmentation)
40
3.6 Quality of built environments
40
3.6.1 Poor living environments
40
3.6.2 Inadequate and poorly distributed places
and facilities
3.6.3 Cultural landscape and urban heritage
areas under pressure
40
40
Enhance the value of the natural and rural environment
and green spaces for the people of Cape Town
42
4.2 Key strategy 2:
Establish an integrated grid-based movement system
43
4.3 Key strategy 3:
Consolidate and intensify development on the
accessibility grid
45
4.4 Key strategy 4:
Direct urban growth, and promote compact,
integrated development
47
4.5 Key strategy 5:
Develop more great people’s places
5. Spatial development policies, and guidelines
for land use management
5.1 Environment
49
51
51
5.1.1 Appropriately manage urban development
impacts on natural resources
51
P1 Lead by example in the protection and enhancement of biodiversity through meeting national targets
53
P2 Reduce the impact of urban development
on natural river systems and water bodies
53
P3 Appropriately manage urban development
along the coast 53
P4 Protect valuable agricultural areas from urban encroachment
53
P5 Adopt a proactive planning approach to mining resource management
53
5.1.2 Improve access to a quality metropolitan
open space system
54
P6 Ensure equitable access for all to a broadly similar range of quality open spaces, resources and opportunities
54
P7 Ensure that any development within the metropolitan open space system is suitable for the type of open space
58
P8 Introduce appropriate development guidelines to make the most of metropolitan open space
58
5.1.3 Protect and enhance the city’s
rural environment
P9 Prevent conventional urban development from intruding into the rural environment
58
58
P10 Support appropriate development and activities in rural areas
58
P11 Protect rural landscapes
59
P12 Ensure that rural settlements are sustainable
59
P13 Rationalise and proactively manage smallholding areas
59
P14 Develop and manage rural gateways
59
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
5.2 Movement system
5.2.1 Develop and enhance the non-motorised
transport system
60
65
60
P15 Recognise walking and cycling as important ways of
moving around within the city
P32 Prepare and regularly update an Economic Opportunity Zone Management Plan
65
60
P16 Use the Non-Motorised Transport Strategy and Plans as guidelines for all non-motorised transport facilities
P33 Encourage development in the urban development zones as well as industrial development zones
65
60
5.2.2 Create a safe, efficient and integrated citywide
public transport system that supports the
accessibility grid
61
P17 Create a hierarchy of public transport services elated to the accessibility grid
61
P18 Promote the intensification of appropriate supporting land uses along public transport routes in and around major employment areas
61
P19 Provide new urban development with appropriate public transport infrastructure and services
61
P20 Introduce maximum parking standards to manage parking supply
61
P21 Lobby for the introduction and/or expansion of passenger rail services
61
P22 Take the proposed new station locations into account when assessing development applications
61
5.2.3 Align land uses with the accessibility grid
P23 Ensure that industrial, commercial and mixed land
uses, higher-density residential development, and
community facilities are located on the accessibility grid, i.e. on development and activity routes and activity streets
61
5.3.4 Improve access to economic opportunities by
small, medium and micro enterprises and
informal traders
65
P34 Introduce appropriate land use management policies and support mechanisms
65
P35 Make the provision of small, medium and micro enterprise trading space a condition for granting large commercial and industrial developments enhanced development rights
66
5.3.5 Encourage economic activity along the
accessibility grid
P36 Discourage developments on the edge/outside of the economic opportunity zones, and away from the accessibility grid 5.4 AUrban growth management
5.4.1 Contain the footprint of the city
66
66
68
68
P37 Use development edges to contain urban sprawl, and protect natural and rural assets
68
P38 Avoid ad hoc amendments to development edges
68
P39 Assess development applications on either side of the urban and coastal edge based on the management/protection zone guidelines
70
5.4.2 Promote appropriate densification
70
P40 Adopt a ‘middle path’ densification strategy that sets a gross base density (average density) of 25 dwelling units per hectare
70
P41 Make densification decisions based on the density
decision-making framework, and balanced by resource limitations and infrastructure availability
70
64
5.3.1 Enhance Cape Town and its broader region’s
global economic positioning
P42 Facilitate densification through a range of planning, regulatory and fiscal measures and a
communication strategy
70
64
P26 Ensure that strategic economic infrastructure is in place
P43 Proactively promote densification in densification priority zones
70
64
5.4.3 Direct new growth towards appropriate locations
72
P44 Manage urban growth through the deliberate and integrated use of planning, and the regulatory and fiscal authority of the state and the City of Cape Town
72
P45 Direct urban growth away from hazardous areas and valuable natural and rural environments
72
P46 Phase greenfield development according to spatial planning imperatives, the take-up of land within the urban edge, and the City of Cape Town’s capital budget prioritisation criteria
72
P47 Establish a monitoring and evaluation mechanism to review the status of areas affected by severe
infrastructure capacity constraints, and the limitations this places on the approval of development applications
72
5.2.4 Facilitate the development of strategic transport
infrastructure
61
P24 Support the development of an integrated system
of airports and appropriate surrounding land uses
61
P25 Create and manage a functional interface between ports/harbours and their surrounding areas
62
5.3 Economic
P27 Streamline land use planning processes, and improve investment sector support and advice through the land use management system
64
P28 Maintain and enhance the high-quality environment and lifestyle opportunities afforded by the city
64
P29 Ensure that all future industrial areas have high levels of connectivity
64
5.3.2 Redress the spatial dislocation between jobs
and the population living in the south
eastern metro
P30 Reinforce and enhance the urban core corridor, especially around Bellville
P31 Unlock other large-scale/significant employmentgenerating opportunities as close as possible to the southeastern metro
5.3.3 Support investors through the provision of
improved strategic information and planning
64
64
65
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
5.4.4 Introduce a facilitative land use
management system
P48 Assess development applications according to the land use management system, which should be guided by the Spatial Development Framework principles
5.5 Quality of the built environment
74
5.4.5 Make efficient use of non-renewable resources
74
P49 Introduce and/or support the introduction and
implementation of development bylaws and policies on the sustainable use of resources
74
P50 Encourage the use of green technologies and development practices
74
5.4BIntegrated development
P64 Avoid making decisions regarding the affordability of land for subsidised, rental, social and gap housing
programmes and projects on the basis of price alone
74
74
5.4.6 Promote a greater, more responsible mix of land
uses and people in appropriate locations
74
P51 Recognise that many land uses are compatible with residential development
74
P54 Ensure that land uses within residential areas support the daily functioning of the residential area, and contribute to its overall safety
P55 Avoid large concentrations of subsidised housing, and instead promote a greater mix of market-driven gap and subsidised housing developments in as many suburbs as possible
5.4.7 Ensure adequate and equitable provision of
social facilities, public institutions and public
open spaces
83
P66 Provide access to, and information about, public heritage resources 83
P67 Consider the relevance of social and landscape contexts when making planning and development
decisions that affect heritage resources
83
P69 Celebrate Cape Town’s rich history
83
P70 Provide positive spaces for cultural and social ceremonies and life-related events
84
P71 Develop high-quality destinations in newly developed and neglected areas
84
P72 Create and improve citywide quality public spaces
84
77
P57 Cluster social facilities and public institutions in civic precincts
79
84
P74 Identify additional scenic routes
84
86
Contents of the implementation strategy
86
Further studies
86
APPENDICES
87
A
List of plans to be withdrawn
87
B
Sector policy guide
88
C(i) Strategic impact assessment summary 91
C(ii) Environmental impact management zones
92
D
The City’s related sector policies and their current
legal status107
E
Summary of the draft Schedule of Standards and
Guidelines for the Provision of Social Facilities, Public
Institutions and Public Open Space108
79
P58 Initiate and/or participate in urban renewal programmes that will transform dormitory townships and suitably located informal settlements into suburbs
79
84
P73 Carefully manage land uses along scenic routes
6. The way forward
77
P59 Support the development of social housing in the
designated restructuring zones
83
P65 Identify, conserve and manage heritage resources
5.5.3 Preserve and enhance scenic routes
77
P56 Develop policies and guidelines to guide the provision and equitable distribution of social facilities, public institutions and public open spaces
5.4.8 Transform the southeastern metro and other
townships and informal settlements (where
appropriate) into suburbs
5.5.1 Enhance the value of heritage resources for the
people of Cape Town
5.5.2 Promote an accessible citywide destination system 84
77
77
83
P68 Ensure that buildings and sites of historical and
architectural significance make a positive contribution
to the economy and quality of urban life, and create an
enabling environment for urban regeneration
83
P52 Ensure that all new development areas are made up of a mix of people and land uses, and offer good access to economic opportunities, public institutions, social facilities and public transport
77
P53 Promote economic opportunity zones and civic precincts as the most appropriate locations for achieving a greater mix of land uses and higher-
density residential development
82
79
P60 Incorporate diverse urban land markets into a single land use management system and property market
79
5.4.9 Support land reform initiatives
80
P61 Identify land for land reform purposes
80
P62 Identify land for subsidised and gap housing according to criteria that support the development of an integrated settlement pattern
80
P63 Identify land for agricultural purposes according to a defined set of criteria
82
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ASGISA
Accelerated Growth Initiative for South Africa
CBD
Central Business District
CMA
TermS and Definitions
TERM
DEFINITION
Cape metropolitan area
biodiversity
Area of remnant habitat (water and biotic systems)
CTIA
Cape Town International Airport
CTIZS
Cape Town Integrated Zoning Scheme
civic precinct
Concentration of public facilities (e.g. schools, clinics,
hospitals) located in close proximity
DFA
Development Facilitation Act
du/ha
dwelling units per hectare
coastal edge
EIA
Environmental Impact Assessment
Demarcated area around the coast, primarily to
protect coastal resources, and avoid hazards and
financial risks pertaining to areas at risk of flooding
EIMZ
Environmental Impact Management Zone
EMF
Environmental Management Framework
coastal edge
management zone
Management zone between the sea and coastal edge
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
coastal node
Concentrated development at a specific location
GIS
Geographic Information System
ICT
Information Communication Technology
coastal processes
Natural processes of erosion and accretion, dune
migration, and beach sediment dynamics
IDP
Integrated Development Plan
IDZ
Industrial Development Zone
cultural landscape
IEM
Integrated Environmental Management
Sites and landscapes of historical significance, areas
of scenic beauty, and places of spiritual and/or
cultural importance
IRT
Integrated Rapid Transit
ITP
Integrated Transport Plan
densification
LGTA
Local Government Transition Act
Increased use of space, both horizontally and
vertically, within existing areas/properties and new
developments, accompanied by an increased number
of units and/or population threshold
LUMS
Land Use Management System
LUPO
Land Use Planning Ordinance
ecological buffer
MOSS
Metropolitan Open Space System
Strip of land adjacent to a watercourse, wetland or
vlei required for the protection and enhancement of
aquatic and riparian ecosystems
MSA
Municipal Systems Act
MSDF
Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework
ecological footprint
Total extent of impact of the city’s operations
(metabolism) on the natural environment
NEMA
National Environmental Management Act
NHRA
National Heritage Resources Act
NMT
Non-motorised Transport
NSDP
National Spatial Development Perspective
ecological services
PGDS
Provincial Growth and Development Strategy
PIIF
Public Infrastructure Investment Framework
Services that indirectly accrue from the natural
environment, and do not have direct market values,
such as flood attenuation, natural drainage and
erosion prevention, wastewater management
through biological treatment, air quality
management and filtration, carbon sequestration,
and biodegradable waste disposal
POS
Public Open Space
PSDF
Provincial Spatial Development Framework
PTP
Public Transport Plan
gap housing
SAHRA
South African Heritage Resources Agency
Housing for households with a monthly income of
between R3 500 and R10 000, who fall outside the
government housing subsidy income limit of R3 500
per month, and find it difficult to access housing in
the private market
SDF
Spatial Development Framework
SDP
Spatial Development Plan
green living
SIA
Strategic Impact Assessment
A specific lifestyle that attempts to reduce an
individual’s or society’s use of the earth’s natural
resources
SMME
Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises
TPC
Town-planning Compliant
gross base density
Average density of all land within the built area of
the city or some other defined parcel of land
UDZ
Urban Development Zone
VPADD
Voluntary Proactive Deal Driven
WSUD
Water-sensitive Urban Design
heritage resource
Any place or object of cultural significance; according
to the NHRA, unique, non-renewable and precious
locations; includes sites and landscapes of historical
significance, areas of scenic beauty, and places of
spiritual and/or cultural importance
inclusionary
housing
Harnessing the private sector property industry’s
initiative in the pursuit of housing delivery to the
middle-income and upper-income housing market,
also to provide (include) affordable/gap housing
opportunities
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
TERM
DEFINITION
TERM
incremental
densification
Small-scale densification that is almost invisible, e.g.
subdivisions and second dwellings
land redistribution
Land redistribution to the landless poor, labour
tenants, farm workers, and emerging farmers for
residential and productive uses to improve livelihoods
and quality of life
Any man-made change to property, including but not
urban development limited to construction or upgrade of buildings and
other structures
land reform
Encompasses three interrelated components, namely
land restitution, land tenure and land redistribution
land restoration
The process whereby persons or communities
dispossessed of land after 19 June 1913 as a result
of discriminatory laws and practices have their
land restored to them, or receive just and equitable
redress
mixed land use
Area of existing or proposed horizontal and/or
vertical integration of suitable and compatible
residential and non-residential land uses within the
same area or on the same parcel of land; implies
context-appropriate intensity of land uses that should
facilitate efficient public transport and a vibrant local
urban environment
metropolitan open
space system
Interconnected and managed open space network
that supports interactions between social, economic
and ecological activities, sustaining and enhancing
both ecological processes and human settlements;
includes natural areas and active and passive
recreation, such as sports fields and parks, but
also cemeteries, detention ponds, servitudes,
river corridors and road reserves to promote
interconnection and multi-use
multifunctional
The combination of different yet compatible functions
within one physical framework to serve a variety
of social and community groups; allow for a wider
range of facilities that reinforce one another in close
proximity, offering greater access to potential users;
differentiation in activity may be physical (different
activities on different floors or premises of the same
building) or in time (using the same facility for
different activities, but at different times)
non-motorised
transport
Walking or cycling as an important mode of transport
DEFINITION
subsidised housing
Housing supplied in terms of the National
Department of Housing’s housing subsidy scheme
urban edge
A demarcated edge line defining the outer limits of
urban development for a determined period of time;
two types of edge lines, namely urban edge line
and coastal edge line – the former being a medium
to long-term edge line, where the line has been
demarcated in a position to prevent urban sprawl, or
to protect natural resource boundaries
urban edge
management zone
Zone or buffer area on either side of the urban edge,
where land uses are to be managed to protect the
integrity of the urban edge line
urban footprint
The outer extent of existing urban development
water-sensitive
urban design
Minimises disruption of the natural water cycle by
reducing runoff, attenuating flooding, and treating
runoff before discharge into the receiving waters,
whilst at the same time increasing the amenity value
of water systems, and reducing the cost of water
infrastructure
zoning scheme
Determines the zoning categories and land uses
permitted within each category
Significant and concentrated development in terms of
scale, location, impact, diversity and agglomeration
nodal development
of function (facilities, services and economic
activities)
public open space
Land zoned as open space, located in urban areas
and accessible to the general public
social set back
A strip of land adjacent to a watercourse, wetland
or vlei that is required to allow for a public pathway;
could coincide with the ecological buffer
strip development
Continuous mixed-use development along a road
with frequent access
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
draft for comment
INTRODUCTION
Planning the future begins with an understanding of the
way things are right now: the place, the people, and the
social and economic forces underlying the trends that
shape Cape Town’s development.
City change and growth are inevitable, and development
pressures are a given. Nevertheless, a city government
with foresight and insight can guide and manage
public and private development to ensure the best
possible outcome for the city and its people. This best
possible outcome necessarily includes the protection
and enhancement of the city’s key economic, social and
environmental resources and assets, and the extension of
these economic, social and environmental opportunities to
everyone in the city.
The overall intention of the citywide Spatial Development
Framework (SDF) is to guide and manage urban growth,
and to balance competing land use demands by putting
in place a long-term, logical development path that will
shape the spatial form and structure of Cape Town. The
spatial strategies that underpin the proposed development
path are discussed in greater detail in Chapter 4. These
strategies are supported by a set of policies and guidelines
(Chapter 5) to inform day-to-day decision making, and
provide a framework for more detailed policy formulation
in terms of local-area or sector-specific spatial planning.
This proposed development path does not include fixed
deadlines and timetables, as economic, environmental and
social forces are unpredictable, and no-one can accurately
determine how fast the city will grow. The proposals set
out below may take decades to realise, and from time to
time will need to be reviewed to ensure that they remain
relevant, realistic and informed by changing dynamics and
local, national and global events.
CAPE TOWN
SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT
FRAMEWORK
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
PURPOSE OF THE SDF
The SDF is a long-term plan to manage growth and change,
as it:
• aligns the City of Cape Town’s (‘the City’s’) spatial
development goals, strategies and policies with relevant
national and provincial spatial principles, strategies and
policies;
• provides a long-term vision of the desired spatial form and
structure of Cape Town;
• provides the spatial component of a cross-sectoral medium to
long-term City Development Strategy;
• guides the proposals contained in the more detailed district
Spatial Development Plans (SDPs), which cover a shorter
planning time frame (+10 years), and the preparation of Local
Spatial Plans;
• helps spatially coordinate, prioritise and align public
investment in the City’s Five-year Integrated Development Plan
(IDP);
• identifies the areas not suited for development (especially
residential development), and the areas where the impacts of
development need to be managed; and
• provides policy guidance to direct decision making on the
nature, form, scale and location of urban development, land
use change, infrastructure development, disaster mitigation,
and environmental resource protection.
Note: The SDF does not confer new development rights, or limit
existing development rights.
SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT GOAL
The goal of the SDF is to achieve sustainable, equitable and
managed growth. Sustainability is the capacity to sustain or
support indefinitely. In the city context, it means offering a
future to our children and our children’s children, and the
continued existence of the city’s unique biodiversity and cultural
heritage, while at the same time meeting the sustenance needs
of its current residents. Sustainability must address service and
infrastructure provision as much as it must address biodiversity
protection. In the SDF, equity refers to life equality, where the
public good prevails over private, sectional interests, and where
people have access to a broadly similar range of opportunities,
resources and amenities. A city that works for children, the
disabled and the elderly is more likely to be a city that is equitable.
SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT
PRINCIPLES
The following principles underpin national legislation (particularly
the Development Facilitation Act/DFA) and international
and national best practice for successful city planning and
management. They should be used to guide the future
development of Cape Town.
• The city should work for all, especially children, the elderly and
disabled.
• The public good should prevail over the private good.
• All residents should have equal protection and benefits, and
no unfair discrimination should be allowed.
• Work harmoniously with nature; reduce the city’s ecological
footprint; and introduce sustainable disaster risk reduction
measures.
• Adopt a precautionary approach to the use of resources;
switch to sustainable patterns of resource use; and mitigate
against negative development impacts.
• Encourage local, national and international connectivity.
• Improve urban efficiency, and align planned growth with
infrastructure provision.
• Offer maximum access to the city’s opportunities, resources
and amenities, and redress spatial imbalances in this regard as
far as possible.
• Be responsive to the basic needs of communities by providing
a stronger link between regulatory processes (zoning schemes)
and spatial plans and policies.
• Create safe, high-quality living environments that
accommodate a range of living environments and lifestyles,
and offer a vibrant mix of land uses.
• Promote cross-sectoral planning, budgeting and growth
management approaches.
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
THE SDF
The SDF is based on four interrelated, spatial starting points,
which together give overall direction to the future spatial form
and development of Cape Town.
A city that is resilient and adaptive
Cape Town’s prosperity will be determined by how well it
responds to changes within and without. The City will need to
deal with rapid urbanisation, contrasting wealth and poverty, high
unemployment, infrastructure and service backlogs, energy and
water supply constraints, and climate change.
In addition, the City will need to compete nationally and globally
for investment in order to increase growth, and turn around local
poverty. It will constantly have to balance the provision of basic
needs, social services and utilities; the stimulation of economic
development and employment creation; and the management of
city growth and protection of environmental resources (including
the built and infrastructural environments).
Spatially, the City must be flexible and able to adapt rapidly to
changes in the pace of development, and shifts in the demand
for industrial, commercial and residential property. It will need to
be both proactive and precautionary in the way it prepares for
the impacts of climate change, depleting oil reserves and water
sources, and the widening gap between rich and poor.
A city in a region
A city within a region
Cape Town should not become a regional city or conurbation,
which absorbs all the surrounding towns in its growth path.
The diverse identities, functions and growth opportunities of
the towns and rural settlements surrounding Cape Town, such
as Stellenbosch, Malmesbury, Klapmuts and Paarl, need to be
preserved, and their functional interrelationships recognised,
respected and enhanced.
It is important to understand that the future of Cape Town and its
neighbours are interdependent. Coordinated planning, budgeting
and management of the region’s infrastructural development and
water, energy and biodiversity resources are critical. In addition,
greater coordination is required to enhance the region’s tourism
assets, and for the economic positioning of the cities and towns in
relation to each other, as well as collectively within a national and
global context.
A city anchored by its natural assets
Cape Town’s natural resources are what make Cape Town a
unique and desirable place in which to live, work and invest.
Because people derive benefits from the natural environment in a
number of direct and indirect ways, it follows that these natural
anchors should play an important role in shaping where and how
the city develops. This development must respect the presence,
role and function of these natural anchors, and should make the
most of the possible benefits residents and visitors could derive
from them.
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
A city anchored by its natural assets and organised
around development corridors
A city organised around development corridors
Successful modern cities are those that:
- offer an adequate and exciting range of opportunities,
facilities, services and amenities, which are as far as possible
accessible by foot, bicycle, bus and car (in that order of
priority); and
- provide the businesses and industries that drive the city’s
economy with a different kind of accessibility, namely easy
access to goods and services, and facilities that enable
economic activity and the easy movement of goods.
With our ever-increasing resource constraints and insecurities, it
follows that the public and private sector should collectively focus
and coordinate their efforts to build a city that has these vital
attributes.
For this reason, the SDF proposes that development in Cape Town
be focused on a series of metropolitan development corridors.
These corridors are systems of mutually reinforcing elements,
supported by coordinated infrastructure investments.
and as far as possible and appropriate, also any historic (five years
or older) existing approved structure plans that guide decisions at
district and local level (refer to Appendix A for more details).
A rigorous and inclusive public engagement process is critical for
the successful preparation of the citywide SDF, to secure Province
approval, as well as for the withdrawal of the outdated structure
plans. The intended public participation process consists of three
phases:
Phase 1: In February 2008, the City initiated the first phase of
public engagement in its 23 subcouncil areas.
Phase 2: This report is the subject of the second phase of public
consultation.
Phase 3: The third public engagement phase will take place when
the second draft of the SDF and district SDPs have been prepared
and granted preliminary Province approval. This engagement will
be in the form of a notice in the press, inviting comment on the
second draft of the plans.
Metropolitan development corridors:
• offer easy access to goods, services and people;
• are well served by facilities for pedestrians, cyclists, road-based
and rail-based public transport facilities;
• offer a vibrant mix of land uses (residential, commercial,
industrial and/or recreational);
• are reinforced by a road network that ranges from freeways to
local roads, to facilitate ease of movement; and
• are 15 minutes from most people’s homes.
These development corridors already exist in Cape Town, although
some are more prominent than others. Logical extensions to these
corridors are proposed as the focus for the managed growth of
the city.
LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY CONTEXT
The SDF aligns with the following key national and
provincial acts and policies:
• The Municipal Systems Act (MSA) (Act 31 of 2000)
• The Development Facilitation Act (DFA) (Act 108 of 1996)
• The National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) (Act
107 of 1998)
• The National Heritage Resources Act (NHRA) (Act 25 of 1999)
• The Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa
(ASGISA) 2006
• The National Spatial Development Perspective (NSDP)
BACKGROUND AND PROCESS
• The Provincial Growth and Development Strategy (PGDS)
• The Provincial Spatial Development Framework (PSDF)
In 2005, the City reviewed the successes and failures of
the Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework (MSDF),
and identified the development trends facing Cape Town.
Consequently in 2006, it embarked on a process of preparing
an updated citywide SDF and strategic impact assessment (SIA),
which includes the development of more detailed, medium-term
SDPs for each of the City’s eight planning districts. The SDF will
be submitted to the Provincial Government of the Western Cape
(‘Province’) for approval as a Section 4(6) structure plan in terms
of the Land Use Planning Ordinance (No. 15 of 1985) (LUPO).
Province will approve it as part of the IDP as well.
It is the City’s intention that these plans will replace the MSDF
Review (2001); the Cape Metropolitan Guide Plan, now the Cape
Metropolitan Area: Peninsula Urban Structure Plan (Guide Plan)
(1998); the Hottentots Holland Guide Plan (Guide Plan) (1998);
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
THE SIA
An SIA was undertaken to determine development trends and
challenges experienced within Cape Town. This assessment was
based on challenges relating to the following:
Urban growth
Urbanisation – It is estimated that in future, Cape Town will need
to accommodate some 15 000–18 000 new households per
annum, whilst having to address the existing housing backlog of
approximately 330 000 units.
Infrastructure backlogs – The pressure over the past decades to
accommodate new developments on the urban periphery has led
to underinvestment in Cape Town’s built footprint. Its impacts are
particularly pronounced in the older parts of the city, and in the
transport, stormwater and wastewater sectors.
Limited future spatial growth options – The valuable agricultural
land to the east, the mountains and Atlantic Ocean to the west,
the False Bay coastline to the south, as well as topographical
constraints such as the Tygerberg and Blaauwberg Hills, limit Cape
Town’s possible growth directions. Moreover, hazardous/noisegenerating land uses, e.g. the Vissershok landfill site and Cape
Town International Airport (CTIA), further reduce the land area
suited to residential development.
Resource consumption trends – Rapid and accelerated demand
for key resources (land, water and energy) far exceeds natural
resource capacity, and the supply as well as the consumption of
these resources are growing faster than the population growth
rate of 3,4%. Resource scarcity impacts severely on quality of
life, especially that of the urban poor, and also contributes to
pollution.
Environmental impacts
A natural environment under threat – Wetlands, beaches, highpotential agricultural areas, cultural landscapes, and scenic vistas
are being degraded by urban encroachment.
Compromised ecological services – Removal of, or damage to,
natural systems (e.g. rivers, wetlands and dunes) compromises
their ability to provide ecological services (e.g. flood attenuation,
water cleansing and coastal buffers).
Poor-quality open spaces – When open space is isolated,
unmanaged and not linked to neighbouring communities, such
communities could lose the opportunity to use the space optimally
for recreation, education and natural resource harvesting.
Possible impacts of climate change – In coming decades, global
warming is predicted to result in sea level rise in many low-lying
coastal areas, as well as increasing uncertainty about water
resources and the sustainability of biodiversity and established
agricultural crops.
10
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Poor accessibility, and unbalanced movement patterns
Radial transport network limitations – The radial rail and road
pattern’s focus on the Cape Town central business district
(CBD) has resulted in limited north-south linkages, and does
not adequately accommodate the multidirectional movement
patterns that have emerged with the dispersal of commercial and
employment activity.
Inefficient public transport network and services – Public
transport, especially rail, has a negative image due to
overcrowding, crime and the poor quality of the service. This
situation has been exacerbated by underinvestment in rail
infrastructure, trains and buses. While the role of the taxi industry
has increased steeply in recent decades, this industry is still not
integrated with the public transport system, and contributes to
traffic congestion.
Road congestion – In the absence of a well-functioning public
transport system and service, residents are forced to turn to
private transport modes to meet their mobility needs. As a
consequence, Cape Town is faced with increasing road congestion
during the morning and afternoon peak traffic, longer waiting
periods at major interchanges, and an increase in all-day traffic
volumes.
Economic patterns
Regional economy – The broader region and city’s qualitative
natural environment plays an important economic role, both as
the foundation of the tourism industry, and in indirect ways, such
as the attraction of skills to Cape Town.
A dynamic economy – Cape Town’s economic growth will be
centred around growth in financial services, tourism, and a niche
focus on creative industries.
Spatial economic marginalisation – To improve poor communities’
access to the economy, investment is required in less advantaged
areas, whilst simultaneously improving physical access to areas of
high economic opportunity, and removing the barriers to entry/
trading.
Spatial structure
A spread-out city – Should the pattern of low-density
development that has predominated in Cape Town for the last
40–60 years continue, most of the land within the City boundaries
and beyond the current urban edge could be developed in 50–60
years.
Spatial fragmentation – The cost of better located, higher-density
gap housing (targeted at the R3 500–R10 000 per month market)
and subsidised housing (targeted at the <R3 500 per month
market) limits its provision at the scale required to meet the City’s
needs. This hampers sustainable solutions, such as high-quality,
well-located, affordable high-density housing.
Quality of the built environment
Cultural landscape and urban heritage areas under pressure –
Development pressure is an increasing threat to places of cultural
and historic significance, and contributes to the decline in quality
of heritage and cultural features, buildings and landscapes. It is
therefore important that these sites are protected and enhanced.
Poor living environments – The city’s geographic and climatic
conditions vary substantially within the metropolitan area. The
most favourable areas have historically been occupied by wealthier
communities. Poorer communities resorted to, or were forcefully
relocated to, the areas of worst amenity.
Inadequate and poorly distributed places and facilities – The
provision of amenities and the equitable distribution of natural
quality places have generally been poor throughout Cape Town.
STRATEGIES AND POLICIES
Five key spatial strategies are proposed to help Cape Town achieve
its vision for a sustainable future Cape Town, and to realise the
spatial goals associated with this vision. These are as follows:
1.
Enhance the value of the natural and rural
environment and green spaces for the
people of Cape Town
4.
Direct urban growth, and promote
compact, integrated development
A compact form of development, with settlement growth directed
towards areas suitable for development, and away from important
resource areas and hazards, will be actively pursued. The future
spatial development of Cape Town also needs to be informed by
the infrastructure capacity and maintenance challenges facing the
city.
5.
Develop more great people’s places
What makes Cape Town special and unique, and more
importantly, what will continue to give it the edge as an attractive
place to live in and visit in the decades ahead, is its high-quality
destinations. Some of the destinations are of high cultural and
heritage importance, e.g. Robben Island and Groot Constantia;
some capitalise on the city’s natural assets, e.g. the Kirstenbosch
Botanical Gardens and Cape Point; whilst others are attractive
public places where people can relax and meet, e.g. the V&A
Waterfront and Sea Point Promenade. These destinations need to
be consolidated into a citywide destination network, and have to
be made even more accessible.
The substrategies and supporting policies that will facilitate the
implementation of these five key spatial strategies are summarised
in the following tables:
For social, economic and environmental reasons, it is critical that
Cape Town’s valuable natural resources and green spaces are
defined, protected and enhanced, and made more accessible
to the people of Cape Town. The sustainability of these natural
resources also depends on the protection and enhancement of
natural ecosystems.
2.
Establish an integrated grid-based
movement system
Cape Town must have a movement system that works for all,
and provides access to the city’s resources and amenities. The
movement system connects people, as well as people and
opportunities. Its infrastructural components (pedestrian routes,
bicycle lanes, roads and rail) and their patterns of interconnection
have a profound impact on spatial patterns and accessibility, and
hence on economic and social opportunities.
3.
Consolidate and intensify development on
the accessibility grid
The City should ensure that Cape Town’s growth and land use
management strategies and policies enhance its position in
the global and regional economy. Economic, social and higherintensity development should be steered towards the locations
that offer the greatest opportunity to the entrepreneur, and have
the best possible impact on people’s quality of life, especially that
of the poor. These locations are situated on the accessibility grid.
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
11
The spatial concept that should guide Cape Town’s development
12
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
The SDF at a glance
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
13
SUMMARY OF STRATEGIES AND POLICIES
Strategy 1
Enhance the value of the natural and rural
environment and green spaces for the
people of Cape Town
Supporting policies
Appropriately manage urban development impacts on
natural resources
P1 Lead by example in the protection and enhancement of
biodiversity through meeting national targets
P2 Reduce the impact of urban development on natural river
systems and water bodies
P3 Appropriately manage urban development along the coast
P4 Protect valuable agricultural areas from urban encroachment
P5 Adopt a proactive planning approach to mining resource
management
Improve access to a quality MOSS
P6 Ensure equitable access for all to a broadly similar range of
quality open spaces, resources and opportunities
P7 Ensure that any development within the MOSS is suitable for
the type of open space
P8 Introduce appropriate development guidelines to make the
most of MOSS benefits
Protect and enhance the city’s rural environment
P9 Prevent conventional urban development from intruding into
the rural environment
P10 Support appropriate development and activities in rural areas
P11 Protect rural landscapes
P12 Ensure that rural settlements are sustainable
P13 Rationalise and proactively manage smallholding areas
P14 Develop and manage rural gateways
Substrategies
• Appropriately manage urban development impacts on
natural resources
• Improve access to a quality metropolitan open space
system (MOSS)
• Protect and enhance the city’s rural environment
14
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Strategy 2
Establish an integrated grid- based
movement system
Supporting policies
Develop and enhance the NMT system
P15 Recognise walking and cycling as important ways of moving
around within the city
P16 Use the NMT Strategy and Plans as guidelines for all NMT
facilities
Create a safe, efficient and integrated citywide public
transport system that supports the accessibility grid
P17 Create a hierarchy of public transport services related to the
accessibility grid
P18 Promote the intensification of appropriate supporting land
uses along public transport routes in and around major
employment areas
P19 Provide new urban development with appropriate public
transport infrastructure and services
P20 Introduce maximum parking standards to manage parking
supply
P21 Lobby for the introduction and/or expansion of passenger rail
services
P22 Take the proposed new station locations into account when
assessing development applications
Align land uses with the accessibility grid
P23 Ensure that industrial, commercial and mixed land uses,
higher-density residential development, and community
facilities are located on the accessibility grid, i.e. on
development and activity routes and activity streets
Facilitate the development of strategic transport
infrastructure
P24 Support the development of an integrated system of airports
and appropriate surrounding land uses
P25 Create and manage a functional interface between ports/
harbours and their surrounding areas
Substrategies
• Develop and enhance the non-motorised transport (NMT)
system
• Create a safe, efficient and integrated citywide public
transport system that supports the accessibility grid
• Align land uses with the accessibility grid
• Facilitate the development of strategic transport
infrastructure
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
15
Strategy 3
Consolidate and intensify development on
the accessibility grid
Supporting policies
Enhance Cape Town and its broader region’s global
economic positioning
P26 Ensure that strategic economic infrastructure is in place
P27 Streamline land use planning processes, and improve
investment sector support and advice through the land use
management system (LUMS)
P28 Maintain and enhance the high-quality environment and
lifestyle opportunities afforded by the city
P29 Ensure that all future industrial areas have high levels of
connectivity
Redress the spatial dislocation between jobs and the
population living in the southeastern metro
P30 Reinforce and enhance the urban core corridor, especially
around Bellville
P31 Unlock other large-scale/significant employment-generating
opportunities as close as possible to the southeastern metro
Support investors through the provision of improved
strategic information and planning
P32 Prepare and regularly update an Economic Opportunity Zone
Management Plan
P33 Encourage development in the urban development zones
(UDZs) as well as industrial development zones (IDZs)
Improve access to economic opportunities by SMMEs
and informal traders
P34 Introduce appropriate land use management policies and
support mechanisms
P35 Make the provision of SMME trading space a condition
for granting large commercial and industrial developments
enhanced development rights
Substrategies
• Enhance Cape Town and its broader region’s global
economic positioning
• Redress the spatial dislocation between jobs and the
population living in the southeastern metro
• Support investors through the provision of improved
strategic information and planning
• Improve access to economic opportunities by small,
medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and informal
traders
• Encourage economic activity along the accessibility grid
16
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Encourage economic activity along the accessibility
grid
P36 Discourage developments on the edge/outside of the
economic opportunity zones, and away from the
accessibility grid
Strategy 4A
Direct urban growth, and promote
compact, integrated development (growth
management)
Supporting policies
Contain the footprint of the city
P37 Use development edges to contain urban sprawl, and protect
natural and rural assets
P38 The development edges should ideally be amended through
a city-led process
P39 Assess development applications on either side of the urban
and coastal edge based on the management/protection zone
guidelines
Promote appropriate densification
P40 Adopt a ‘middle path’ densification strategy that sets a
gross base density (average density) of 25 dwelling units per
hectare (du/ha)
P41 Make densification decisions based on the density decisionmaking framework, and balanced by resource limitations and
infrastructure availability
P42 Facilitate densification through a range of planning,
regulatory and fiscal measures and a communication strategy
P43 Proactively promote densification in densification priority
zones
Direct new growth to appropriate locations
P44 Manage urban growth through the deliberate and integrated
use of planning, and the regulatory and fiscal authority of
the state and the City
P45 Direct urban growth away from hazardous areas and
valuable natural and rural environments
P46 Phase greenfield development according to spatial planning
imperatives, the take-up of land within the urban edge, and
the City’s capital budget prioritisation criteria
P47 Establish a monitoring and evaluation mechanism to review
the status of areas affected by severe infrastructure capacity
constraints, and the limitations this places on the approval of
development applications
Substrategies
Introduce a facilitative LUMS
• Contain the footprint of the city
P48 Assess development applications according to the LUMS,
which should be guided by the SDF principles
• Promote appropriate densification
• Direct new growth towards appropriate locations
• Introduce a facilitative LUMS
• Make efficient use of non-renewable resources
Make efficient use of non-renewable resources
P49 Introduce and/or support the introduction and
implementation of development bylaws and policies on the
sustainable use of resources
P50 Encourage the use of green technologies and development
practices
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
17
Strategy 4B
Direct urban growth, and promote compact,
integrated development (integrated
development)
Supporting policies
Promote a greater, more responsible mix of land uses
and people in appropriate locations
P51 Recognise that many land uses are compatible with
residential development
P52 Ensure that all new development areas are made up of a mix
of people and land uses, and offer good access to economic
opportunities, public institutions, social facilities and public
transport
P53 Promote economic opportunity zones and civic precincts as
the most appropriate locations for achieving a greater mix of
land uses and higher-density residential development
P54 Ensure that land uses within residential areas support the
daily functioning of the residential area, and contribute to its
overall safety
P55 Avoid large concentrations of subsidised housing, and
instead promote a greater mix of market-driven, gap
and subsidised housing developments in as many suburbs
as possible
Ensure adequate and equitable provision of social
facilities, public institutions and public open spaces
P56 Develop policies and guidelines to guide the provision and
equitable distribution of social facilities, public institutions
and public open spaces
P57 Cluster social facilities and public institutions in civic precincts
Transform the southeastern metro and other
townships and informal settlements (where
appropriate) into suburbs
P58 Initiate and/or participate in urban renewal programmes
that will transform dormitory townships and suitably located
informal settlements
P59 Support the development of social housing in the designated
restructuring zones
Substrategies
• Promote a greater, more responsible mix of land uses and
people in appropriate locations
• Ensure adequate and equitable provision of social
facilities, public institutions and public open spaces
• Transform the southeastern metro and other townships
and informal settlements (where appropriate) into suburbs
• Support land reform initiatives
P60 Incorporate diverse urban land markets into a single LUMS
and property market
Support land reform initiatives
P61 Identify land for land reform purposes
P62 Identify land for subsidised and gap housing according
to criteria that support the development of an integrated
settlement pattern
P63 Identify land for agricultural purposes according to a defined
set of criteria
P64 Avoid making decisions regarding the affordability of land for
subsidised, rental, social and gap housing programmes and
projects on the basis of price alone
18
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Strategy 5
Develop more great people’s places
Supporting policies
Enhance the value of heritage resources for the
people of Cape Town
P65 Identify, conserve and manage heritage resources
P66 Provide access to, and information about, public heritage
resources
P67 Consider the relevance of social and landscape contexts
when making planning and development decisions that
affect heritage resources
P68 Ensure that buildings and sites of historical and architectural
significance make a positive contribution to the economy
and quality of urban life, and create an enabling environment
for urban regeneration
P69 Celebrate Cape Town’s rich history
P70 Provide positive spaces for cultural and social ceremonies and
life-related events
Promote an accessible citywide destination system
P71 Develop high-quality destinations in newly developed and
neglected areas
P72 Create and improve citywide quality public spaces
Preserve and enhance scenic routes
P73 Carefully manage land uses along scenic routes
P74 Identify additional scenic routes
Substrategies
• Enhance the value of heritage resources for the people of
Cape Town
• Promote an accessible citywide destination system
• Preserve and enhance scenic routes
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
19
Service
Integration
Strategy &
Planning
Transport, Roads
& Stormwater
Utility Services
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
P15
•
•
•
•
•
•
P16
•
•
•
•
Housing
•
Health
•
Finance
•
Community
Services
•
City Parks
•
Substrategies &
supporting policies
Economic
Development
Strategy
Safety & Security
SECTOR POLICY GUIDE
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
• P5
•
•
P4
•
•
•
•
P3
•
•
•
•
•
P2
•
•
P1
Appropriately manage urban development impacts on natural resources
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
P8
•
•
P7
•
P6
1. Enhance the value of the natural and rural
environment and green spaces for the people of
Cape Town
Improve access to a quality metropolitan open space system
P14
•
•
•
P13
•
•
•
P12
•
•
P11
•
•
•
P10
•
P9
Protect and enhance the city’s rural environment
•
•
Develop and enhance the non-motorised transport system
Create a safe, efficient and integrated citywide public transport system that supports the accessibility grid
2. Establish an integrated grid-based
movement system
P17
• •
•
•
P18
• •
•
•
P19
• •
•
•
P20
•
•
•
P21
• •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Align land uses with the accessibility grid
P22
•
P23
•
•
•
Facilitate the development of strategic transport infrastructure
20
P24
•
•
•
P25
•
•
•
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Service
Integration
Strategy &
Planning
Transport, Roads
& Stormwater
Utility Services
Safety & Security
•
•
•
P27
• •
P28
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Housing
Health
Finance
Community
Services
•
City Parks
P26
Substrategies &
supporting policies
Economic
Development
Strategy
Enhance Cape Town and its broader region’s global economic positioning
P29
Redress the spatial dislocation between jobs and the population living in the southeastern metro
3. Consolidate and intensify development on
the accessibility grid
P30
•
•
•
•
•
P31
•
•
•
Support investors by providing improved strategic information and planning
P32
•
•
•
•
P33
•
•
Improve access to economic opportunities by small, medium and micro enterprises and informal traders
P34
•
P35
•
•
•
•
•
Encourage economic activity along the accessibility grid
P36
•
•
•
Contain the footprint of the city
P37
•
•
•
•
•
P38
•
P39
•
•
Promote appropriate densification
4. Direct urban growth, and promote
compact, integrated development
P40
•
•
P41
•
•
•
•
P42
•
•
P43
•
Direct new growth towards appropriate locations
P44
•
•
•
•
•
P45
•
• P46
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
P47
•
•
•
•
Introduce a facilitative land use management system
P48
•
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
21
Finance
Health
Housing
Safety & Security
Service
Integration
Strategy &
Planning
Transport, Roads
& Stormwater
Utility Services
• •
•
•
•
P50
•
• •
•
•
•
Community
Services
•
City Parks
P49
Substrategies &
supporting policies
Economic
Development
Strategy
Make efficient use of non-renewable resources
Promote a greater, more responsible mix of land uses and people in appropriate locations
P51
•
•
•
•
•
•
P52
•
•
•
•
•
•
P53
•
•
•
•
•
•
• P54
•
•
•
P55
•
•
Ensure adequate and integrated provision of social facilities, public institutions and public open spaces
4. Direct urban growth, and promote
compact, integrated development
P56
•
•
•
•
•
P57
•
•
•
•
•
•
Transform the southeastern metro and other townships and informal settlements (where appropriate)
into suburbs
P58
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
P59
•
•
P60
•
•
Support land reform initatives
P61
•
•
•
P62
•
•
P63
•
•
P64
•
•
Enhance the value of heritage resources for the people of Cape Town
5. Develop more great people’s places
P65
•
•
•
•
P66
•
•
•
P67
• •
•
P68
• •
P69
•
• •
•
P70
•
•
•
Promote an accessible citywide destination system
P71
•
•
•
•
•
P72
•
•
•
•
•
• Preserve and enhance scenic routes
22
P73
• •
P74
• •
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
draft for comment
1. INTRODUCTION: THE FUTURE CAPE TOWN
Planning the future begins with an understanding of the
way things are right now: the place, the people, and the
social and economic forces underlying the trends that
shape Cape Town’s development.
City change and growth are inevitable, and development
pressures are a given. Nevertheless, a city government with
foresight and insight can guide and manage public and
private development to ensure the best possible outcome
for the city and its people. This best possible outcome
necessarily includes the protection and enhancement of
the city’s key economic, social and environmental resources
and assets, and the extension of these economic, social
and environmental opportunities to everyone in the city.
The overall intention of the citywide SDF is to guide and
manage urban growth, and to balance competing land
use demands by putting in place a long-term, logical
development path that will shape the spatial form and
structure of Cape Town.
The spatial strategies that underpin the proposed
development path are discussed in greater detail in
Chapter 4. These strategies are supported by a set of
policies (Chapter 5) to guide day-to-day decision making,
and provide a framework for more detailed policy
formulation in terms of local-area or sector-specific spatial
planning.
This proposed development path does not include fixed
deadlines and timetables, as economic, environmental and
social forces are unpredictable, and no-one can accurately
determine how fast the city will grow. The proposals set
out below may take decades to realise, and from time to
time will need to be reviewed to ensure that they remain
relevant, realistic and informed by changing dynamics and
local, national and global events.
CAPE TOWN
SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT
FRAMEWORK
TECHNICAL REPORT
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
23
‘City’ vs ‘city’
The SDF Technical Report refers to the City of Cape Town
municipality as ‘the City’, and to the municipal area as ‘the
city’.
1.1 Purpose of the SDF
The SDF is a long-term plan to manage growth and change,
as it:
• aligns the City’s spatial development goals, strategies and
policies with relevant national and provincial spatial principles,
strategies and policies;
• provides a long-term vision of the desired spatial form and
structure of Cape Town;
• provides the spatial component of a cross-sectoral, medium to
long-term City Development Strategy;
Existing and future spatial planning framework
24
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
• guides the proposals contained in the more detailed district
SDPs, which cover a shorter planning time frame (+10 years),
and the preparation of Local Spatial Plans;
• helps spatially coordinate, prioritise and align public
investment in the City’s Five-Year IDP;
• identifies the areas not suited for development (especially
residential development), and the areas where the impacts of
development need to be managed; and
• provides policy guidance to direct decision-making on the
nature, form, scale and location of urban development, land
use change, infrastructure development, disaster mitigation,
and environmental resource protection.
Note: The SDF does not confer new development rights, or limit
existing development rights.
1.2 Spatial development goal
1.3 Spatial development principles
The goal of the SDF is to achieve sustainable, equitable and
managed growth. Sustainability is the capacity to sustain or
support indefinitely. In the city context, it means offering a
future to our children and to our children’s children, and the
continued existence of the city’s unique biodiversity and cultural
heritage, while at the same time meeting the sustenance needs
of its current residents. Sustainability must address service and
infrastructure provision as much as it must address biodiversity
protection. In the SDF, equity refers to life equality, where the
public good prevails over private, sectional interests, and where
people have access to a broadly similar range of opportunities,
resources and amenities. A city that works for children, the
disabled and the elderly is more likely to be a city that is equitable.
The following principles underpin national legislation (particularly
the DFA) and international and national best practice for
successful city planning and management. They should be used to
guide the future development of Cape Town.
• The city should work for all, especially children, the elderly and
disabled.
• The public good should prevail over the private good.
• All residents should have equal protection and benefits, and
no unfair discrimination should be allowed.
• Work harmoniously with nature; reduce the City’s ecological
footprint; and introduce sustainable disaster risk reduction
measures.
If Cape Town is to become a sustainable, equitable, well-managed
city, it will need to address the following interrelated elements:
• Adopt a precautionary approach to the use of resources;
switch to sustainable patterns of resource use; and mitigate
against negative development impacts.
Economy
• Encourage local, national and international connectivity.
Only shared economic growth will turn around local poverty.
Participation in the city’s economy needs to be extended by
creating income-generating and investment opportunities, making
the most of employment opportunities, and reducing the income
gap between rich and poor. Spatial planning will support the
economy through ensuring that land and suitable infrastructure
are available for a broad range of economic activities in
appropriate locations, and by managing, guiding and offering
incentives for fixed capital investment.
• Improve urban efficiency, and align planned growth with
infrastructure provision.
Environment:
Better-quality green and public open spaces, such as the city’s
biodiversity network and coastal areas, will contribute to
investment and tourism. The source of inputs and destination
of outputs, including goods, products and waste, need to be
considered.
Society
Basic services, amenities and education must be available to
everyone, and the City needs to promote equal opportunities,
improve the quality of living environments, and reduce the levels
of crime. This will require the distribution of potential costs and
benefits of investment in social and economic infrastructure.
Governance
The fourth pillar is institutional sustainability, or governance.
The City is responsible for planning development and making
investment decisions that directly influence the future of Cape
Town and its residents.
For Cape Town to be sustainable, the City needs to embrace
sustainability in all its daily operations, and employ sustainability
principles in all its planning and decision making. Spatial planning
is an important way in which the City is able to do so by mapping
the desired patterns of living and investment, and through the
management of current and future development in an interrelated
fashion.
• Offer maximum access to the city’s opportunities, resources
and amenities, and redress spatial imbalances in this regard as
far as possible.
• Be responsive to the basic needs of communities by providing
a stronger link between regulatory processes (zoning schemes)
and spatial plans and policies.
• Create safe, high-quality living environments that
accommodate a range of living environments and lifestyles,
and offer a vibrant mix of land uses.
• Promote cross-sectoral planning, budgeting and growth
management approaches.
1.4 The SDF
The SDF is based on four interrelated, spatial starting points,
which together give overall direction to the future spatial form
and development of Cape Town.
A city that is resilient and adaptive
Cape Town’s prosperity will be determined by how well it
responds to changes within and without. The City will need to
deal with rapid urbanisation, contrasting wealth and poverty, high
unemployment, infrastructure and service backlogs, energy and
water supply constraints, and climate change.
In addition, the City will need to compete nationally and globally
for investment in order to increase growth, and turn around local
poverty. It will constantly have to balance the provision of basic
needs, social services and utilities; the stimulation of economic
development and employment creation; and the management of
city growth and protection of environmental resources (including
the built and infrastructural environments).
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
25
Spatially, the City must be flexible and able to adapt rapidly to
changes in the pace of development, and to shifts in the demand
for industrial, commercial and residential property. It will need to
be both proactive and precautionary in the way it prepares for
the impacts of climate change, depleting oil reserves and natural
water resources, and the widening gap between rich and poor.
A city within a region
Cape Town should not become a regional city or conurbation,
which absorbs all the surrounding towns in its growth path.
The diverse identities, functions and growth opportunities of
the towns and rural settlements surrounding Cape Town, such
as Stellenbosch, Malmesbury, Klapmuts and Paarl, need to be
preserved, and their functional interrelationships recognised,
respected and enhanced.
It is important to understand that the future of Cape Town and its
neighbours are interdependent. Coordinated planning, budgeting
and management of the region’s infrastructural development and
water, energy and biodiversity resources are critical. In addition,
greater coordination is required to enhance the region’s tourism
assets, and for the economic positioning of the cities and towns in
relation to each other, as well as collectively within a national and
global context.
A city anchored by its natural assets
A city in a region
Cape Town’s natural resources are what make Cape Town a
unique and desirable place in which to live, work and invest.
Because people derive benefits from the natural environment in a
number of direct and indirect ways, it follows that these natural
anchors should play an important role in shaping where and how
the city develops. This development must respect the presence,
role and function of these natural anchors, and should make the
most of the possible benefits residents and visitors could derive
from them.
A city organised around development corridors
Successful modern cities are those that:
- offer an adequate and exciting range of opportunities,
facilities, services and amenities that are as far as possible
accessible by foot, bicycle, bus and car (in that order of
priority); and
- provide the businesses and industries that drive the city’s
economy with a different kind of accessibility, namely easy
access to goods and services, facilities that enable economic
activity and the easy movement of goods.
With our ever-increasing resource constraints and insecurities, it
follows that the public and private sector should collectively focus
and coordinate their efforts to build a city that has these vital
attributes.
For this reason, the SDF proposes that development in Cape Town
is focused on a series of metropolitan development corridors.
These corridors are systems of mutually reinforcing elements,
supported by coordinated infrastructure investments.
A city anchored by its natural assets and organised
around development corridors
26
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Metropolitan development corridors:
• offer easy access to goods, services and people;
• are well served by facilities for pedestrians, cyclists, road-based
and rail-based public transport facilities;
• offer a vibrant mix of land uses (residential, commercial,
industrial and/or recreational);
• are reinforced by a road network that ranges from freeways to
local roads, to facilitate ease of movement; and
1.5 Hierarchy of spatial plans
and policies
The City’s current planning framework comprises plans that are
outdated, and have inconsistent status, conflicting development
objectives, and outdated information. The City plans to update
and rationalise this framework by putting the following hierarchy
of plans and policies in place:
• are 15 minutes from most people’s homes.
These development corridors already exist in Cape Town, although
some are more prominent than others. Logical extensions to these
corridors are proposed as the focus for the managed growth of
the city.
Hierarchy of spatial plans and policies
Spatial plan/
policy
Legislation/ policy
guiding approval
Purpose
What it is replacing/ adding to
Who approves
SDF
Long-term (20+ years) citywide spatial
structuring elements and plans, and
overarching policy frameworks
Guide plan (citywide)
MSDF
Province
MSA
LUPO (Section 4(6))
District SDP
Medium-term (+10 years) districtlevel spatial development concept,
environmental management framework
(EMF), proposed land uses in new
development areas, and upgrade
interventions
Province and Council-approved district
and local structure plans
Council
LUPO (Section 4(10))
– provision on the
lapsing of structure
plans after a specified
time frame
City’s system of
delegations
Local
Development
Plans
Detailed SDF related to e.g. the
management of land uses along a
particular road, and detailed density
plans
Will complement or where appropriate
supersede existing local structure plans/
development frameworks
Council
City’s system of
delegations
Strategy/policy
documents
Detailed issue/land use-specific policy
parameters that should determine land
use decisions, e.g. densification, urban
edge, and guest houses and B&B policy
Will replace or complement pre-existing
policies
Planning and
Environment Portfolio
Committee (PEPCO) (if
it does not impact on
other sectors)
City’s system of
delegations
Council, if other sectors
are impacted upon
Development
guidelines
Detailed guidelines that should inform
land use decisions, e.g. fire protection
guidelines
Will replace or complement pre-existing
guidelines
PEPCO (if it does
not impact on other
sectors)
City’s system of
delegations
Council, if other sectors
are impacted upon
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
27
1.6 The LUMS
In 2000, the City approved a process to develop a new LUMS
by streamlining processes, and revising and integrating the 27
existing zoning schemes into a single Cape Town Integrated
Zoning Scheme (CTIZS).
The LUMS should:
a. integrate separate and diverse land use management systems,
policies and approaches into a single, harmonious system;
LUPO, No 15 of 1985, is presently also under review, and could
be replaced by different legislation.
A rigorous and inclusive public engagement process is critical for
the successful preparation of the citywide SDF and district SDPs,
to secure Province approval, as well as for the withdrawal of the
outdated structure plans. The public participation process consists
of three phases:
b. provide for policies and guidelines to guide discretionary
decision making within the regulatory framework, e.g. the
Tourist Accommodation Policy, which sets guidelines and
criteria for decision making, and the Notification Policy
for Land Use Development Applications, which deals with
administrative procedures;
Phase 1
c. provide for standardised and uniform formats, workflows,
procedures, letters and systems to ensure legal compliance
and administrative efficiency; and
• create a sense of public/stakeholder ownership of and
involvement in the process; and
d. be compiled in a web-based (document manager) format
for easy access/linkage to information and application, both
internally and externally.
SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT
FRAMEWORK
Goals, principles, spatial structuring, elements, strategies, policies
Objectives
Environmental informants
New development areas
Upgrading areas
Implementation plans
• the citywide spatial concept and policy statements contained
in the SDF Technical Report, paying particular attention to
the proposed urban edge amendments, the coastal edge and
coastal protection zone, and densification strategy; and
Linkage mechanisms/ tools
Local & sectoral
Policies e.g.
Urban Edge
Guidelines &
criteria e.g. Veld
Fire Guidelines
Regulations e.g.
By-Laws
Overlay zones
(additional
development
rules to base
zone e.g. height
controls)
Integrated
Zoning Scheme
Base zone
Land use rights
Development rules
Provisions
Relationship of Cape Town’s SDF, District SDPs and the
CTIZS
1.7 Background and process
In 2005, the City reviewed the successes and failures of the MSDF,
and identified the development trends facing Cape Town. In
2006, it embarked on a process of preparing an updated citywide
SDF and SIA, which includes the development of more detailed,
medium-term SDPs for each of the City’s eight planning districts.
The SDF will be submitted to Province for approval as a structure
plan in terms of Section 4(6) of LUPO, No 15 of 1985 (or the
legislation that replaces it). In terms of the MSA (Act 31 of 2000),
Province will approve it as part of the IDP as well. Upon approval,
it will supersede the plans listed in Appendix A.
28
• elicit the public’s/stakeholders’ views on the development
issues facing metropolitan Cape Town, and the development
principles and strategic goals that should be guiding the
preparation of the SDF and district SDPs.
This report is the subject of the second phase of public
consultation. The purpose of this second phase is to table and
discuss:
City Development Strategy, IDP & Sector Strategies
District Spatial
• launch the process;
Phase 2
National & Provincial Government Policies
Development Plans
& Environmental
Management
Frameworks
In February 2008, the City initiated the first phase of public
engagement process in its 23 subcouncil areas. The purpose of
the first round of public consultations was to:
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
• the proposals contained in the district SDPs, particularly those
pertaining to the EMF, the conceptual framework, urban
restructuring and major upgrade, and new development area
plans.
Phase 3
The third public engagement will take place when the second
draft of the SDF and district SDPs have been prepared and granted
preliminary Province approval, and will invite comment on the
second draft of the plans.
Flowing from this, the citywide SDF and eight district SDPs will be
finalised. The SDF will be submitted to Province for approval.
Note: This document is the SDF Technical Report. The SDF that
will be submitted to Province for approval will be based on this
document, but will not necessarily be as detailed.
2. DEVELOPMENT AND POLICY CONTEXT
2.1 Global development context
Cities worldwide are associated with large numbers of people,
resources, services and infrastructure, and are therefore the
drivers or gateways of national and international economies.
Cities are also part of, and affected by, the cyclical performance of
global, regional and national economies, and have to take global
economic influences into account when planning for sustained
growth and resilience. Globalisation is encouraging cities across
the world to adopt a city-region approach in order to strengthen
their global positioning, and support their development.
The complex, dispersed and fragmented patterns of cities
are partly a result of regional and global relationships, as well
as modern day transport and communication technologies.
New spatial patterns are emerging across the globe with the
‘urbanisation of suburbia’ (decentralised centres, commercial/
office parks and limited access developments) and the ‘reurbanisation’ of derelict inner-city areas. Cities are also required to
deal with climate change and dwindling resources.
Cape Town is still a developing city; it is therefore also required
to deal with rapid urbanisation, high levels of poverty and
unemployment, and service and infrastructure backlogs. It is
not the only city that has to deal with these challenges. Many
developing cities are not able deliver the most basic level of
infrastructure and services required for healthy, safe living
environments.
These challenges will have a profound impact on the form and
functioning of cities of the future. They are raising questions
about the sustainability of the spatial structure and degree of
densification of most cities. The compact, mixed-use and public
transport-orientated city is now regarded as the sustainable,
smart-growth and only real solution.
2.2 Legislative context
The SDF must align with the Constitution of the Republic of South
Africa as well as the following key legislation:
• A Public Infrastructure Investment Framework (PIIF) indicating
the spatial locations towards which investment should be
directed
• An SIA evaluating the impact of the citywide and/or districtlevel plans
The citywide, longer-term spatial plan and SIA are the primary
focus of this report.
The MSA prescribes a much stronger link between spatial plans
(forward planning) and land use management. It does not
however prescribe a process or requirements in this regard.
The National Department of Land Affairs has recognised this
shortcoming, and is preparing a new national planning law
that will replace all the existing land use regulatory laws in the
country, and will give effect to the provisions of the MSA. Province
has similarly proceeded with their law reform project with the
purpose of replacing the existing LUPO (No 15 of 1985). Both
these processes have provided some indication of how planning
and land use management should be taken forward. The national
process promotes a normative approach to planning, and moves
away from an approach aiming to restrict/control development
based on zoning schemes, towards one that encourages/facilitates
development instead. This implies a more policy-driven approach
to land use management, where a broader range of instruments
and policies set the guidelines against which all land use decision
making takes place. Zoning schemes are therefore not seen as the
means to implement spatial plans, but as the law that regulates
land use rights. Guided by these considerations, the City has
started updating/redesigning the LUMS for Cape Town.
A strategic assessment of the environmental and heritage impacts
of the Future Cape Town strategy document was undertaken in
2006, and EMFs have been prepared for all the district SDPs. The
findings and recommendations of the MSDF Review, phase 1
public consultation process, SIA and EMFs have been incorporated
into the SDF.
In terms of the MSA, the SDF, as part of the IDP, prevails over
any other plan as defined in Section 1 of the Physical Planning
Act. The PIIF is an integral component of the medium-term to
long-term City Development Strategy, and together with the SDF
inform the preparation of the IDP. The PIIF is regularly reviewed.
The future land use and development projections contained in the
SDF and district SDPs are critical informants of the PIIF Review.
The DFA (Act 108 of 1996)
The MSA (Act 31 of 2000)
The MSA requires the preparation of an IDP, of which an SDF
is a central component. The requirements of an SDF are listed
in the Local Government: Municipal Planning and Performance
Regulations (2001), and include the following longer-term,
medium-term and shorter-term products:
• A citywide, longer-term spatial plan/policy/strategy guiding
the direction, nature and extent of longer-term growth and
development
• Guidelines for the LUMS
While the DFA does not apply in the Western Cape, the land
development principles are prescribed for all land development,
and are therefore of particular relevance to the SDF. According to
the DFA, land development should:
• positively perform in terms of convenience, equitability,
efficiency and attractiveness. Land development practices
should be focused on the promotion of economic growth,
facilitating higher densities in appropriate locations, and
thereby containing sprawl. The creation of people-scaled
development, good public spaces, as well as land use, spatial
and social integration should be core objectives of land
development;
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
29
• work harmoniously with nature, avoiding hazards,
respecting natural uniqueness, and recognising ecological
interdependencies. Land development should be based on
designing with nature, promoting ecological sustainability,
respecting natural landscapes, and creating a sense of place;
settlement and economic development opportunities are directed
towards growth centres, such as Cape Town and the activity
corridors that link the growth centres.
• accelerate the pace of development (overcoming line function
fragmentation and conflict resolution); and
The development vision put forward by the PGDS is a sustainable
“Home for All”. Through broadening economic participation,
investing in ‘connectivity infrastructures’, improving the
public transport and NMT systems, creating integrated living
environments, introducing social interventions, and improving
governance, the PGDS aims to achieve shared growth and
integrated development.
• promote security of tenure (individual ownership, collective
ownership and rental or communal ownership).
NEMA (Act 107 of 1998)
NEMA requires that its principles be applied by municipalities,
and used to undertake environmental impact assessments (EIAs)
and to prepare EMFs. The key principles require environmentally,
socially and economically sustainable development; the protection
of natural resources, and the maintenance of natural systems; the
provision of access to resources; and environmental management
that puts people and their needs first. NEMA requires that the City
support international agreements. This is of particular importance,
as Cape Town has two World Heritage Sites, an extensive
coastline, and is situated within the Cape Floristic Kingdom.
The NHRA (Act 25 of 1999)
The NHRA and the Provincial Heritage Ordinance promulgated
in terms of the NHRA empower local authorities, on certain
conditions, to formulate bylaws for managing local heritage
resources or other higher-order heritage resources where a
responsibility may be delegated. There are numerous sections in
the NHRA that clearly state what a local authority shall, must or
may do to protect valuable heritage resources.
2.3. Strategy and policy context
A broad range of national and provincial strategies and policies
need to shape the SDF. Some of the most significant strategies
and policies are the following:
ASGISA, 2006
National Government initially set itself the target of halving
poverty and unemployment by 2014. To meet this target, an
average growth rate of 6% of gross domestic product (GDP) is
required. In light of current global economic volatility, Government
has had to revise these targets, but remains committed to
ASGISA’s objectives. Infrastructure programmes, sector investment
strategies, skills and education initiatives, second-economy
interventions, and macro-economic and public administration
adjustments are the vehicles through which it hopes to attain its
targets.
The NSDP
The NSDP highlights the challenge of urbanisation for cities,
especially the metropolitan cities, and seeks to direct social and
infrastructure investment spatially within the three spheres of
government. At a national scale, it advocates capital investment
in areas of growth and potential, with an emphasis on providing
basic services and access to social services and human resource
development in areas of need and less potential. Future
30
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
The PGDS
The PSDF
The PSDF takes as its starting point the goal of sustainable
development. Its strategies are closely aligned with the NSDP: It
seeks to protect environmental assets, manage urbanisation and
the pressures it places on natural resources and infrastructure,
address economic and social divisions within the cities and towns
of the Western Cape, and provides a policy context for urban
development and the improvement of living conditions and quality
of the urban environment.
Intergovernmental dialogue: Regional Development
Strategy and 12-Point Strategy
Following the December 2005 Presidential Imbizo in Cape Town,
an intergovernmental task team was created to align thinking
about Cape Town and its future development. The team’s 2006
“Agenda for Action” report (“The 12-Point Plan”) records the
common commitment of all three spheres of government to the
critical long-term outcomes for the Cape Town functional region.
The draft Cape Town Functional Region Report (2007) puts
forward proposals regarding the key elements of a regional
development strategy. It draws on the strategies and plans of the
provincial and local authorities within Cape Town’s functional
region, as well as strategies of bodies such as Accelerate Cape
Town (ACT). It seeks to accelerate the economic development of
the Cape Town functional region by promoting it as:
• an inspirational destination – for visiting, working and
studying, which attracts an increasing number of tourists and
investment in niche knowledge sectors;
• a creative hot spot – where innovation and the creative arts
play an important role in job creation and the economy;
• an ecological leader – in sustainable development practices
and the development and use of ‘green’ technologies/
approaches;
• an employment accelerator – through employment
intermediation, human capital development, and the
introduction of bridges between the first and second economy
to accelerate employment;
• well connected and networked – locally, regionally, nationally
and internationally; and
• having the fundamentals in place – the regulatory frameworks
and mechanisms, urban infrastructure and social services
required to be globally competitive, and to provide a decent
quality of life for all.
City policy and strategies
The SDF has been informed by, and in turn informs, the City’s
corporate and sector-level policies and strategies. Of particular
importance are the City Development Strategy (being prepared),
Cape Town’s draft Economic Development Strategy (2009) and
the draft Integrated Transport Plan (ITP) (2008).
Cape Town’s draft Economic Development Strategy (2009) echoes
national and regional strategic directions. Its strategic thrusts are
to:
i. improve good governance, service delivery, and public and
market confidence;
ii. encourage investment in Cape Town;
iii. harness the city’s comparative and competitive advantages,
and target specific areas for development;
iv. promote SMME development and support;
v. encourage destination marketing; and
vi. promote skills development.
The ITP’s goal is a balanced, sustainable transport system. One
of its key interventions is the promotion of public transport, and
the enhancement of the public transport system through the
introduction of an integrated rapid transit (IRT) system. Other
areas of intervention include the promotion of NMT, travel
demand management, improving freight logistics and safety, and
the introduction of a security and enforcement strategy.
Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa
National Spatial Development Perspective
NATIONAL
Provincial Growth and
Development Strategy
Provincial Spatial
Development Strategy
PROVINCE
Cape Town Functional Region Development Strategy
FUNCTIONAL REGION
Spatial Development Plan
Cape Town City Strategy
(Including Spatial
Development Framework)
Integrated Transport Plan
Integrated Housing Plan
City Growth Management
Strategy
Integrated Environmental
Management Plan
Economic Development Strategy
Cape Town IDP
Etc.
CITY
Cape Town District Spatial
Development Plans and
Environmental Management
Framework and Local Plans
District Implementation Plan
DISTRICT
SDF informant policies and strategies
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
31
3. STRATEGIC IMPACT
ASSESSMENT
POPULATION PROJECTION
4 500 000
4 000 000
Cape Town is recognised all over the world as a unique city of
extraordinary scenic beauty. This has resulted in high property
values, and growth in the film, conference, tourism and service
industries.
3 500 000
POPULATION
3 000 000
Nevertheless, Cape Town is faced with a range of serious
challenges and development trends, which – unless addressed
with foresight – will have a marked impact on its future spatial
development.
2 500 000
2 000 000
1 500 000
1 000 000
3.1 Urban growth
500 00
3.1.1 Urbanisation
0
2010
2010
Middle Population Projection
2016
2021
High Population Projection
Comparison between high and medium population
projections for Cape Town
The Cape Town, Saldanha, Theewaterskloof and Overstrand
municipalities have since 1994 experienced unprecedented
urbanisation. This has made it increasingly difficult to find land for
housing, and to plan and provide services, and in addition has led
to an increasing number of informal settlements. It is likely that
in future, the City will need to accommodate some 15 000–18
000 new households every year, whilst still having to address the
existing housing backlog of approximately 330 000 units.
One of the major spatial challenges facing Cape Town is how
best to accommodate the needs and aspirations of the growing
numbers of urban dwellers who are likely to be unemployed, poor
and homeless.
It is socially, economically and politically unsustainable to continue
the current pattern of accommodating new, poor migrants within
existing peripheral, dense, poor communities. A new, more
inclusive approach would accommodate informality, and would
facilitate the incremental upgrade of people’s living conditions.
Such an approach is likely to be the only sustainable one.
3.1.2 A spread-out city
Low-density development has predominated in Cape Town for the
last 40–60 years. However, if this pattern continues, most of the
land within the city boundaries – and beyond the current urban
edge – could be developed within 50–60 years.
Visualisation of aggregated urban growth, 2002–2007
Source: Spatial Planning & Urban Design Department, City of
Cape Town (2009)
32
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
The physical extent of Cape Town grew by 40% between 1985
and 2005. Between 1977 and 1988, the city developed by an
average of 701 hectares per year; it is now developing at an
average rate of 1 232 hectares per year (almost double previous
averages).
High-income housing has the greatest impact on urban sprawl.
The top 20% of high-valued properties take up 40% of the
residential land in Cape Town. This figure excludes many of the
low-density golf, wine and equestrian developments within the
municipal area that, if included, would shift the disproportion
of land allocated to high-income development even further. The
current urban edge has managed urban growth over the past
10 years, despite continual pressure to relax it.
Map 3.1 Natural resource issues
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
33
This pressure will no doubt increase, but the City needs to become
even more firm, and less negotiable, in dealing with this pressure.
Now, compact development, urban growth management, and
the protection of crucial natural assets are the only sustainable
solutions. New developments will be neither viable nor sustainable
without transport and service infrastructure.
3.1.3Infrastructure backlogs
Although Cape Town’s infrastructure has expanded across the city,
it has not been maintained. The impact of this underinvestment
is particularly pronounced in the older parts of the city, and in the
transport, stormwater and wastewater sectors. Much of the road
network now requires urgent maintenance, while many of the
wastewater treatment works are operating beyond capacity, and
are prone to breakdowns (with serious environmental impacts).
Hardening of catchment surfaces (e.g. through the construction of
new buildings, driveways and car ports) is increasing stormwater
runoff, which, together with the poor quality of stormwater, is
disrupting the natural water cycle. Impacts include degradation
of stream channels, increased overbank flooding, floodplain
expansion, loss of ecosystem integrity and function, and loss of
biodiversity.
This situation is exacerbated by a disjuncture between the budget
required for the responsible management of roads, stormwater,
potable water, wastewater and solid waste infrastructure, and the
budget the City is able to allocate to this end.
3.1.4 Limited future spatial growth options
Agricultural land, the mountains and the ocean limit the growth
directions of the city, while hazardous or noise-generating land
uses (such as landfill sites and the airport) further reduce the land
area suited to residential development. It is therefore essential that
effective and efficient use be made of the land that is suitable for
urban development.
3.1.5 Resource consumption trends
Rapid and accelerated demand for water and energy far exceeds
natural capacity and the City’s ability to supply these resources –
and the consumption of these resources is growing faster than the
population growth rate (of 3,4%). The scarcity of these resources
impacts on the economy and on quality of life, especially that of
the urban poor.
The Berg River Dam is the only remaining surface water source.
At current levels of water consumption, this will only satisfy water
demand until 2015, after which the City will need to investigate
more costly water sources, such as recycled water, desalinated sea
water, or extracting water from the aquifers.
The City lacks conventional energy-generating capacity, but
electricity demand is growing at 4% a year. Cape Town imports
most of its power from Mpumalanga, and uses the Koeberg
Nuclear Power Station to supplement peak demand. Koeberg’s
exclusion zones and evacuation requirements have an impact
on the spatial development of the city, and any expansion of its
generating capacity may exacerbate this.
34
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
The City’s solid waste sites are filling up rapidly, as solid waste
grows at 6% per year. The proposed Donkergat and Klein
Brakkefontein landfill site are the only possible major sites
remaining within the municipal boundaries. In the future, waste
will at a substantial cost need to be transported to locations
outside the municipal boundaries, or waste minimisation
facilities (with their associated land requirements) will need to be
developed within Cape Town’s boundaries.
Private cars and freight are responsible for more than 50% of the
city’s energy use, and 65% of the city’s brown haze. Air pollution
levels are exceeding health guidelines more frequently than in the
past. CO2 emissions need to be reduced, and there needs to be
an increased and accelerated modal shift from private vehicles
to public transport. In addition, a reduction in travel demand is
urgently needed.
3.2. Environmental impacts
3.2.1 A natural environment under threat
Wetlands, watercourses, beaches, high-potential agricultural
areas, cultural landscapes (such as the Durbanville winelands) and
scenic views are being degraded by urban encroachment. The
Cape Flats area now has the highest concentration of threatened
plants per area of remaining vegetation in the world; yet Cape
Town is one of the most important global biodiversity hot
spots. Critical biodiversity areas are under constant threat from
development, and if developed, could result in a failure to meet
national biodiversity targets.
The instances where the City and/or Province are required
to mediate between conflicting property development and
environmental interests are increasing. To reduce the impact of
development, and assist property developers to make sound
investment decisions, it is important that the SDF clearly indicates
the areas that are environmentally sensitive, as well as those areas
that need to be protected or carefully managed.
Furthermore, most of the city’s rivers and water bodies are
recreationally unsafe due to rising E. coli levels, largely as a
consequence of polluted stormwater runoff (from urban and
agricultural areas) and breakdowns and spillages at wastewater
treatment works. Natural biota collapse has occurred in certain
systems (such as Zeekoevlei and Noordhoek wetlands).
Illegal mining, particularly sand mining and non-compliance with
mining permit conditions, makes it difficult to manage and protect
the biodiversity resources in areas such as Macassar and Philippi.
These activities also damage infrastructure (such as roads),
increase windblown sand problems, and affect the safety, health
and quality of life of the nearby residents.
3.2.2 Compromised ecological services
Natural areas in Cape Town have been confined to nature
reserves within a sea of urban development, fenced and managed
as distinct areas, removed from the urban fabric, and poorly
integrated into the social environment.
Map 3.2 Spatial growth limits
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
35
Map 3.3 Movement system challenges
36
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
This has affected the essential services provided by rivers, wetlands
and dunes, such as water purification, flood attenuation, food
security, and a healthy atmosphere and marine environment.
Providing these services through artificial means is costly, if at all
possible. Interventions that damage these natural systems, and
compromise their ability to provide these ecological services,
should be prevented.
3.2.3 Poor-quality open spaces
Cape Town cannot claim to have well-managed citywide
green areas and parks. Many small open spaces have been
developed as green areas, but are often underdeveloped or badly
maintained, and limited in purpose. In many instances, their
location was guided by sound urban design; however, it seems
they were provided with little consistency, and little regard to
their interrelatedness across the city. Dangerous, poor-quality
and underused parks and open spaces detract from, rather than
enhance, the quality of an area.
3.2.4 Possible impacts of climate change
Climate change is likely to result in a rise in the sea level, and
increased water shortages (affecting the agricultural sector, and
the sustainability of our biodiversity). Climate change could also
result in a greater frequency and intensity of storms, which could
damage or destroy city infrastructure and services. This could
result in liability issues for the City where land development has
been approved in risk areas.
3.3 Poor accessibility and unbalanced
movement patterns
3.3.1 Radial transport network limitations
The rail network and roads focus on Cape Town’s CBD, although
Cape Town residents travel in many other directions for work and
other business.
3.3.2 Inefficient public transport network and
services
Public transport is neither efficient nor viable in a city
characterised by urban fragmentation, monofunctional land uses,
and low residential densities. People living in outlying (and often
low-income) areas have very high transport costs.
Public transport is of a poor quality, and is unsafe and
overcrowded. This situation has been made worse by
underinvestment in the rail infrastructure, trains and buses, and
by lacking regulation of the taxi industry. Phase 1 of the new IRT
system is the first positive step in many years toward realising a
well-functioning, quality public transport system.
Facilities and infrastructure for NMT (walking and cycling) are
underprovided. These vulnerable road users are at increasing risk
because of poor road safety and street crime.
3.3.3 Road congestion
Cape Town is faced with increasing road congestion during the
morning and afternoon peak traffic, longer waiting periods at
major interchanges, and an increase in all-day traffic volumes.
Increased road-based freight movement makes the situation
worse. Traffic congestion wastes personal time and money,
decreases economic performance, and increases air pollution,
carbon emissions and through traffic in quiet, residential
neighbourhoods.
3.4 Economic patterns
3.4.1 Regional economy
Cape Town is the second largest economy in terms of GDP in
South Africa. Its economy operates across a city-region that
extends beyond the municipal boundaries, and dominates the
Western Cape, accounting for 76% of provincial turnover.
The city economy also benefits from the key regional economic
infrastructure, including Cape Town and Saldanha ports, and the
CTIA. The Port of Cape Town and the CTIA are set to undergo
major expansion, although their capacity to cater for longterm demand may be limited. The National Ports Authority is
considering the interdependent roles of the Cape Town and
Saldanha ports, as the latter has the potential to be a catalyst for
further large-scale industrial development.
As a port, Cape Town is relatively well positioned to participate in
the global economy. However, the city’s remoteness from Gauteng
is a disadvantage to many local industries.
Cape Town and the region’s high-quality natural environment is
the foundation of the tourism industry, and attracts skilled people
to the city.
3.4.2 A dynamic economy
Cape Town’s future economic growth will be centred around
financial services, tourism, creative industries, information
communication technology (ICT), boat building, and oil and gas
industry services. Cape Town also has the highest number of
SMMEs in the country.
Exports are likely to continue to be a key driver of economic
growth, contributing ±25% of new growth in GDP over the next
five years. Sectors that experience the highest growth in exports
tend to be high value-added, skills-intensive products and services.
The most resilient sectors are those with established markets and
customer loyalty, such as wine and fruit, although the growth
trends in these sectors are not sustainable, as they are not labourabsorptive, and concentrate on high-end skills.
Basic manufacturing, government services, and less skilled
occupation sectors are likely to continue to decline, further
reducing employment prospects for less skilled people.
The spatial structure of the city, and approaches to land use
management and infrastructure, require development to be
flexible so that it can accommodate these economic trends.
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
37
Map 3.4 Current economic patterns
38
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Map 3.5 Social and density patterns
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
39
3.4.3 Spatial economic marginalisation
Economic activity in Cape Town is concentrated in the CBD and
the development corridors radiating out to Bellville. This area
provides 50% of all formal employment across all sectors of the
economy, and 86% of formal industrial employment. Even though
the largest concentration of people still commute to Cape Town
CBD for employment, the decentralisation of employment centres
are increasing rapidly. Recent investments have reinforced this
spatial pattern, although the bulk of new economic growth is to
the north of the city.
There is also evidence of increasing suburbanisation of the
economy, and much economic activity appears to have become
home-based. The quality of existing business/industrial places
needs to be maintained in e.g. Epping and Paarden Eiland. New
suburbanisation should not be seen to compete with the Cape
Town CBD, but rather complementing its functioning.
Very little formal economic activity occurs in the southeastern
metro (Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Delft, Mfuleni and Nyanga).
Important exceptions are investments in the CTIA and the Airport
Industria, as well as the existing and proposed development in
Strand. Informal sector outlets and SMMEs tend to predominate.
They focus on immediate needs and survival in these areas.
3.5 Spatial structure (fragmentation)
Cape Town’s spatial structure remains fragmented, despite
dramatic political changes and growth and development over
the past 20 years. This urban form was shaped during the
apartheid ideology of separate development, where infrastructure
such as freeways, roads and buffer zones were used to divide
communities. Despite post-apartheid policies, limited spatial
integration has been achieved. Instead, new state-subsidised
housing and market-driven development have exacerbated spatial
fragmentation and exclusion. In addition, new forms of exclusion,
such as gated villages and car-orientated commercial centres, have
emerged.
The cost of better located, higher-density gap housing (targeted at
the R3 500–R10 000 per month market) and subsidised housing
(targeted at the <R3 500 per month market) limits their provision
at the scale required to meet the City’s housing challenges.
This hampers sustainable solutions, and tends to reinforce the
peripheral location of housing.
Together with natural topographical or water features, this has
resulted in a spread-out and fragmented city, which in turn
makes it difficult to provide well-located, efficient and sustainable
infrastructure and services. The consequences of this fragmented
form are visible in pollution, high transport costs, marginalised
communities, pressure on remaining biodiversity areas, and
continuous pressure to develop unsuitable land.
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
3.6
Quality of built environments
3.6.1 Poor living environments
Cape Town’s geographic and climatic conditions vary substantially
within the metropolitan area, and the most favourable areas are
currently occupied by wealthier communities. Poorer communities
resorted to, or were forcefully relocated to, areas that are not
naturally conducive to the development of a sense of place.
3.6.2 Inadequate and poorly distributed places
and facilities
Apartheid-era coastal resorts, such as Mnandi, are inappropriate,
and costly to manage; they provide no meaningful amenity to
their nearby dormitory townships. Community facilities have often
been provided in an ad hoc manner, resulting in duplication of
facilities in some areas, and an inadequacy in others.
Little provision has been made to accommodate significant
cultural and religious activities, such as initiation practices, within
these communities.
3.6.3 Cultural landscape and urban heritage areas
under pressure
The inequality of living environments is further reflected in
the cultural heritage of the city. A collection of unique urban
settlements has developed around the Peninsula mountain chain,
ranging from dense, inner-city environments, like Bo-Kaap,
Woodstock and Sea Point, and semi-rural valleys, like Hout Bay,
Noordhoek and Tokai, to small coastal enclaves, like Simon’s
Town, Kommetjie and Gordon’s Bay, and cultural landscapes,
such as Constantia, Somerset West, Durbanville winelands and
Mamre. These places provide some of the most sought-after
living environments in the country, and are also major tourist
destinations. Development pressure is an increasing threat to
these places, and contributes to the decline in quality of heritage
and cultural features, buildings and landscapes. It is important
that they are protected and enhanced.
Map 3.6
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
41
4. KEY SPATIAL STRATEGIES
TO ACHIEVE SUSTAINABLE,
EQUITABLE AND MANAGED
URBAN GROWTH
4.1KEY STRATEGY 1
Enhance the value of the natural and rural
environment and green spaces for the
people of Cape Town
The SDF proposes five key spatial strategies to help Cape Town
achieve its vision of a sustainable future, and realise the spatial
goals associated with this vision. These key spatial strategies are as
follows:
1. Enhance the value of the natural and rural environment and
green spaces for the people of Cape Town
2. Establish an integrated grid-based movement system
3. Consolidate and intensify development on the accessibility grid
4. Direct urban growth, and promote compact, integrated
development
5. Develop more great people’s places
The substrategies and supporting policies that will facilitate the
implementation of the five key strategies are discussed in Chapter
5.
The intent and ‘structuring elements’ of each of these strategies
are outlined below.
A ‘structuring element’ is a spatial building block that gives
overall structure to, and shapes the spatial plan for Cape Town.
A ‘structuring element’ is a spatial building block that gives overall
structure to, and shapes the spatial plan for Cape Town.
Cape Town’s geophysical features (such as mountains, plains
and the coastline), natural resources (such as biodiversity, highpotential agricultural lands, and hydrological systems) and cultural
landscapes are central to the way in which residents and visitors
identify with the city and its broader region. People use natural
and more formally developed open space for exercise, recreation,
and cultural and religious activities, but also derive a sense of wellbeing from viewing open space, or merely knowing it is there to
be used.
In addition, by using the ecological services of nature, the City
reduces some of its operating costs, e.g. reeds in wetlands help
purify stormwater, and improve river water quality.
For these resources and assets to be used and enjoyed by present
and future generations, it is critical that they are defined and
protected. It is also critical that they are accessible to everyone in
Cape Town.
42
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
The city’s protection-worthy natural resources and assets
will determine where urban development should not go in
the medium and longer term, and/or where the impact of
development must be carefully managed.
The strategy in space
4.2 KEY STRATEGY 2
Establish an integrated grid-based
movement system
These resources and assets are defined by the City’s MOSS. The
MOSS aims to establish, consolidate and extend a continuous,
linked and managed natural and developed (existing and
proposed) open space system.
This interconnected open space system aims to:
• improve the multifunctionality of open spaces;
• improve the recreational connectivity of open spaces, allowing
for continuous foot and cycle paths, as well as ecological
connectivity, allowing for easier movement of fauna;
• enhance people’s access to open spaces;
• direct the location of new city parks and recreational facilities
that could form part of, and extend, the open space system;
and
• protect important sensitive ecosystems and hydrological
systems – e.g. river and coastal corridors could be used for
passive recreational purposes, and could provide important
ecological services, such as flood attenuation, and protection
against more intense and frequent storms and sea level rise.
The MOSS includes three different open space types:
• Terrestrial – forests, biodiversity, landscaped parks, sports
fields, agricultural fields, geological features and historical sites
• Water – rivers, natural wetlands, dams, stormwater detention
ponds, estuaries and environmental sinks, such as the
wastewater treatment works
• Coastal/marine – in-shore and inter-tidal areas, sand dunes
and cliffs
The MOSS has also been divided into two priority categories:
• Critical MOSS – This generally includes river corridors, existing
and proposed nature reserves, irreplaceable biodiversity, and
high-potential agricultural areas that are unique, and cannot
be replicated elsewhere.
• Significant MOSS – This includes areas such as sport
complexes, significant biodiversity and agricultural areas of
significant value, smallholdings, and metropolitan or districtlevel parks that have high amenity (and often considerable
investment) value, but technically can be replicated. It also
includes open space that performs an important linkage or
network function.
Cape Town must have a movement system that provides all
Capetonians with convenient and affordable access to the city’s
resources and amenities. The movement system connects people,
as well as people and opportunities. This system is built around
a hierarchical accessibility grid, and is made up of pedestrian
routes, bicycle lanes, roads and railway lines. Their patterns of
interconnection have a profound impact on spatial development
patterns and accessibility, and hence on economic and social
opportunity. The approach to movement cannot simply be reactive
to existing demand patterns. The movement system must be
structured to create a public transport-orientated, equitable
pattern of access, so that all people can reach a broadly similar
range of opportunities and facilities in the city. In addition, the
building of a well-functioning NMT network requires more
attention.
To this end, the existing patterns of movement and development
need to be reconsidered. In line with Cape Town’s ITP, the plan is
to develop a metropolitan multidirectional, grid-based movement
system – moving away from the historical radial pattern of
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
43
movement, where movement systems were primarily aimed at
giving access to and from the historical city centre, at the expense
of east-west and north-south linkages.
Changing from a radial to a grid-based movement system
will:
• provide for multidirectional and varied origin and destination
patterns citywide;
• link excluded sectors of the city, and provide access to the core
of the city with its economic opportunities, services/facilities,
recreation and destinations;
• reinforce south-north movement axes to improve movement
between the False Bay coast and areas beyond the city
boundaries;
• facilitate the integration of new settlement areas, such as
Parklands, Fisantekraal, Bloekombos and Blue Downs, with the
city’s movement system;
• facilitate access to special places and recreation nodes on the
coast; and
• improve functional linkages with surrounding towns, especially
to the north.
The strategy in space
The hierarchical, multidirectional accessibility grid envisaged
for Cape Town would lay the foundation for the design of a
system of public transport routes and services (long-distance and
feeder services). The base level of the grid system should be the
pedestrian (+2 km), building towards a public transport feeder
service at +4 km intervals, and longer-distance public transport
services at 8–16 km intervals.
National accessibility grid hierarchy, and public transport
alignment with the grid
44
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
The intersection points of the grid represent points of public
transport modal integration and possible direction change. The
public transport stopping points are the most accessible locations
within the urban fabric.
Two route types, which are key elements of this grid, are
identified; these will steer development, and will provide
appropriate locations for denser development and more intense
mixed land use:
• An activity route – a route of metropolitan significance
characterised by continuous development, including centres
or nodes, mixed land use, linear commercial and business
developments, light industry, institutions, and social facilities.
It is also supported by medium-density to higher-density
residential development, and is characterised by direct access
and interrupted movement flows, especially at bus and taxi
stops, and traffic lights. This kind of route is pedestrianorientated in sections. Examples are Main Road, Voortrekker
Road and Koeberg Road.
• A development route – a route of metropolitan significance
that offers a line-haul public transport service. Along the
route, there may be interrupted movement flows at traffic
lights and intersections. Development and commercial/
business areas are by and large linked to parallel and
connecting side routes. Along this kind of route, commercial
and business development tends to be nodal. Travel speed and
land use intensity vary along the route, and could also include
short stretches of activity route development, including higherdensity residential areas. Klipfontein Road is an example of a
development route.
4.3KEY STRATEGY 3
Consolidate and intensify development on
the accessibility grid
Such economic opportunity zones should therefore serve as logical
investment locations, given their higher thresholds associated with
higher densities and concentrated flows of people; are convenient
and accessible, as they are served by public transport and public
amenities and facilities; and are supported by mobility routes that
facilitate relative ease of movement of people and freight.
The strategy in space
Three forms of economic opportunity zones are envisaged on the
accessibility grid. They are as follows:
Corridor development:
Depending on the intensity of activity, the width of the strip could
range from half a street block to two or more blocks. This type
of development is usually associated with activity streets, activity
routes, and the mature sections of development routes. Examples
of strip development are the Main Road from Observatory to Cape
Town, and Voortrekker Road from Salt River to Bellville.
Nodal development:
Economic and mixed-use development is concentrated in nodes
in specific locations, and the nodes are usually separated by
residential activity. This type of development is most closely
associated with development routes. Examples are the Epping
industrial area, and the Okavango business area.
Civic precinct:
A civic precinct is an agglomeration of mutually reinforcing
public and community facilities usually associated with economic
opportunity zones. Examples of higher-order facilities that may
be located in a metropolitan civic precinct are courts, post offices,
social welfare offices, halls, district libraries, public spaces and
parks. The hierarchy of civic precincts should be related to the
hierarchy of the accessibility grid.
Alignment and hierarchy of the accessibility grid, economic
opportunity zones, and civic precincts
Recognising that the public sector has not had a good track
record in guiding private investment towards specific locations,
the City is not proposing that economic activity be concentrated
in a few nodes. Instead, with the exception of noxious industries,
it is advocating that economic activity (formal and informal) be
encouraged to locate within economic opportunity zones across
the city, related to the accessibility grid.
Existing and future extensions to these economic opportunity
zones will be focal points for enabling public infrastructure
investment. Public investment in economic infrastructure (such as
ICT provision, and the upgrade of roads and utility services) will be
determined by the prioritisation of economic opportunity zones.
The location of public investment and proactive land management
strategies (such as overlay zones) will provide a measure of
certainty and direction to private investors. Investment in public
and social facilities, and the development of public spaces and
landscaping, will be prioritised at the points of highest accessibility
in the opportunity zones, whether at community or metropolitan
level. These agglomerations will be called ‘civic precincts’.
Opportunity
Accessibility Scale of
zone form of Span
grid
operation
development
Associated
civic
precinct
Primary
Citywide
16 km
Metropolitan
and subregional
Secondary
Interdistrict
and/or of
Strip and nodal
metropolitan
significance
8 km
District
Tertiary
Intersuburb
Strip and nodal
4 km
Local
Quaternary
Suburb
Usually nodal
2 km
Neighbourhood
Strip and nodal
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
45
The following two important principles guide the economic
opportunity zone and civic precinct concepts:
Intensity linked to accessibility:
The intention is to promote greater space-intensive commercial
and mixed land use activity along the accessibility grid. The higherorder activity is likely to be on the primary grid, while lower-order
activity will be on the tertiary and quaternary grid.
Reinforcement:
The aim is to recognise that certain types of economic activity
tend to locate together, and that access to public facilities can be
improved by clustering such activity types.
Within the existing urban area, it is possible to identify four metrosignificant development corridors, which exhibit different levels of
maturity, and are supported by other district-significant corridors,
such as the Klipfontein and Darwin Road corridors:
Western corridor: This runs from Simon’s Town northwards along the West Coast.
The southern portion of this corridor is fairly mature, while the
northern portion is still developing.
46
Eastern corridor:
This runs north of Kraaifontein, extending the axes that run from
Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha northwards. This is a developing
corridor.
Urban core: This runs from the Cape Town CBD to the east of the Bellville
CBD, and is the most accessible and mature corridor. It is located
in the physical centre of the municipal area, and therefore
integrates the southern parts of the city with the northern parts of
the city.
Western corridor: This runs from the Claremont/Wynberg area towards the Strand/
Somerset West area. It is for most of its length a developing
corridor. It is possible that a further significant west-east corridor
will develop in the northern part of the municipal area. The urban
core development corridor is the primary economic opportunity
zone, and its position as such needs to be retained and reinforced.
The urban core is centrally located within the metropolitan
area, and is highly accessible for those living in the northern,
southeastern and eastern sectors of the city. It currently attracts
a broad range of investment, development and employment
opportunities, and has the potential to grow and intensify this
role.
Road hierachy
Intechange
Public investment
Public response
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
4.4KEY STRATEGY 4
Direct urban growth, and promote compact,
integrated development
• supporting more transport options, as higher densities will
provide enough people to make public transport viable; and
• offering a better, more convenient lifestyle for people who
cannot drive, such as elderly, very young and disabled people,
as a greater number of facilities and opportunities will be
accessible by foot, bicycle or public transport.
A compact city will be achieved through introducing planning
tools that contain the city’s footprint (through urban and coastal
development edges) and encourage responsible densification
(through strategic infilling, and the intensification of land uses
within the existing urban footprint, aligned with concentrations of
economic activity, public transport, infrastructure and amenities).
New urban development will be directed towards locations where
its impact on the city’s natural and built heritage will be least felt,
or can be best managed, and where it is possible for sustainable
human settlement to be served by the full range of urban
opportunities and services. Similarly, new urban development
will be expected to achieve a compact form, with appropriate
planning for density, and a greater mix and intensity of land use.
Urban growth in Cape Town will therefore be guided as
follows:
• In the short term, the outward movement of the existing
urban footprint must be restricted as far as possible; in
this way, infrastructure capacity and current maintenance
challenges can be addressed, and a well-functioning public
transport system can be put in place.
• Higher densities must be attained in the existing urban areas
and undeveloped areas within the urban edge.
• A greater mix of land use and people will be encouraged.
• In the medium term, all new urban development should take
place within the existing urban edge, and a cross-sectoral
growth management plan must ensure that the phasing of
development is aligned with the provision of infrastructure.
The City needs actively to pursue a compact form of development,
where growth is directed towards areas suitable for development,
and away from important resource areas and hazards. The
future spatial development of Cape Town needs to be efficient;
it needs to make the most of existing infrastructure investments
and capacities, and the resources required for the adequate
maintenance of these systems, before creating new infrastructure
and maintenance demands.
• Urban development should not expand eastwards, and should
be selective in growing northwards, in order to protect vital
agricultural, heritage and biodiversity resources. Future growth
should be directed towards the Durbanville Hills and along the
western and eastern development corridors.
• In the longer term, if demanded, and once urban service
infrastructure can sustain it, the urban edge that acts as a
medium-term growth management boundary may be relaxed
and re-established at an appropriate location on development
corridors to the northeast and northwest.
Land is a scarce resource in Cape Town, and a delicate balancing
act is needed to deal with competing needs for conservation,
productive land, and urban development.
A more compact city will improve Cape Town’s efficiency
and sustainability by:
• helping to protect the environmentally sensitive land by
reducing demand for this land;
• making better use of the City’s limited resources for
infrastructure investments and maintenance;
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
47
The strategy in space
Two types of development edges will contain urban
development:
• The urban edge is a medium-term to long-term edge line
that has been demarcated to limit urban sprawl, or to protect
natural resources. As Cape Town grows, the city will need to
provide more undeveloped land for urban development, and
the edge line will have to be adjusted. These adjustments:
- must not be where natural, heritage or scenic resources
merit protection;
- should facilitate the logical extension of the city’s
infrastructure network; and
Urban edge and urban edge management zone
Coastal edge and coastal protection zone
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
- should allow sufficient urban development land within
the edge line to accommodate at least 10 years’ urban
growth.
• The coastal edge has been established to protect:
- the coastal ecological processes; and
- the coastline as a public amenity.
Only in exceptional circumstances may amendments be made to
the coastal edge.
4.5KEY STRATEGY 5
Develop more great people’s places
These spaces also accommodate the informal events that are
central to urban living. They are places of informal theatre, of
courtship, and of economic production and trading. When public
spaces are of a good quality, they improve the enjoyment of
the activities mentioned above, and instil in people a sense of
confidence and belonging. However, when the quality of the
space is poor, the entire environment is sterile, regardless of the
quality of individual buildings. Many opportunities exist for the
development of new or better-quality public spaces, particularly at
high accessibility points, such as transport interchanges or where
community facilities are clustered, as well as the linear street
connections between them.
The City needs to develop and enhance its destination and
public space network by:
• maintaining, enhancing and protecting existing destinations,
such as Kalk Bay, the Sea Point Promenade, Look-out Hill,
Grand Parade, Bo Kaap, the V&A Waterfront, the Chapman’s
Peak scenic route, and the winelands;
• supplementing the current range of metropolitan-scale
destinations by developing new ones, such as the proposed
Delft/Swartklip nature area;
• responsibly enhancing public access to the coast, and
investigating the feasibility of developing new/improved
coastal destinations along the False Bay coast and the West
Coast. It is important to provide meaningful and safe access
to these coastlines, especially for poorer communities who live
nearby;
• linking future public places to the civic precincts; and
• improving public transport and/or NMT access to all
destinations and public spaces.
These strategic public environment improvements can help
transform poor-quality living environments into a source of pride,
and a catalyst for a positive private sector response in historically
neglected areas.
What is a destination?
Cape Town’s high-quality destinations are what makes it unique,
and what will continue to give it the edge as an attractive place
to live in and to visit. Some of these destinations have cultural
and heritage significance, such as Robben Island and Groot
Constantia; others capitalise on the city’s natural assets, such as
Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden and Cape Point; while the V&A
Waterfront and Sea Point Promenade are attractive public places
where people can relax and meet. These destinations need to be
consolidated into a citywide destination network, and need to be
made even more accessible.
Similarly, urban public spaces, such as streets, squares,
promenades and green spaces, are an important form of social
and economic infrastructure. These places act as urban living
rooms, especially for people who live in crowded conditions.
Public spaces are particularly important in the lives of poorer
people, whose housing is often too small for the whole
household’s needs. Here, public space effectively extends the
house or informal dwelling, providing space for social and
economic activities.
A destination is a place that forms a significant landmark, and
is part of the identity of Cape Town. High-order destinations
are those that every resident and visitor should visit at least
once; while at local level, destinations include squares, parks,
pavements and sports facilities.
The strategy in space
Existing and proposed destinations and public spaces determine
the configuration of the envisaged network. There are three
destination types: nature-based, built and heritage, and meet the
coast.
Destination type
Examples
Nature-based
Table Mountain, Cape Point, Tygerberg Hills
Built and heritage
Constantia, Durbanville and Somerset West
winelands, Hout Bay Harbour, V&A Waterfront
Meet the coast
Houtbay, Blaauwberg, Muizenberg
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
49
Map 4.1 Spatial concept of Cape Town
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
5. SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT
POLICIES, AND GUIDELINES
FOR LAND USE MANAGEMENT
The following spatial and non-spatial substrategies and policies
will enable Cape Town to achieve its desired spatial form, as
reflected in Chapter 4. Private sector investors should therefore
take these strategies and policies into account when submitting
development applications, and public sector decision-makers
should be guided by them when considering such applications.
For ease of reference, the section headings link the strategy
statements, and the broad sectors to which they relate; Appendix
B identifies the sectors that are most affected by each of the
policy statements in this chapter.
Many of the SDF policies are informed by the SIA, and are
supported by generic urban development guidelines for a range of
environmental impact management zones (EIMZs) (see Appendix
C). The SDF policies also support, or are supported by, the policies
of other departments within the City. These policies and their
current legal status are summarised in Appendix D.
EIMZs
Each of the eight district SDPs contains an EMF that identifies
and describes the environmental constraints, opportunities
and management priorities in that district. The implications of
these constraints and opportunities for making land use and
environmental authorisation decisions are described in terms of
EIMZs.
These include the following zones:
• Hydrological (rivers and wetlands)
• Coastal and dune
• Conservation and biodiversity priority
• Cultural and recreational resources
• Urban uses
• Utilities
Within each EIMZ, undesirable activities or land uses are
identified, as well as the types of activities that could be
desirable, but need environmental assessment due to their
significant impact.
ENHANCE THE VALUE OF THE NATURAL AND
RURAL ENVIRONMENT AND GREEN SPACES
FOR THE PEOPLE OF CAPE TOWN
5.1 Environment
The City needs to protect and enhance its exceptional natural
and rural environments to ensure that future generations are still
able to enjoy them. The City also needs to develop a quality open
space system across Cape Town. To achieve this, the City proposes
to:
• appropriately manage urban development impacts on natural
resources;
• improve access to a quality MOSS; and
• protect and enhance the city’s rural environment.
5.1.1 Appropriately manage urban development
impacts on natural resources
Policy (P1)
Lead by example in the protection and enhancement of
biodiversity through meeting national targets
The City will lead by example by protecting and enhancing its
biodiversity for current and future generations. It will:
a. adopt a precautionary principle when assessing land use
applications that impact on biodiversity, and will prioritise
long-term responsibility over short-term gain;
b. seek to meet national biodiversity targets, as identified in its
Biodiversity Strategy. Appropriate environmental protection
mechanisms will be identified for the most important of these
areas;
c. ensure that all land use management decisions are guided by
Section A1.1 of the EMF (Appendix C);
d. devise creative options for achieving biodiversity gains in
critical biodiversity protection areas where development rights
already exist. Options could include urban/building design
solutions and the use of ‘biodiversity offsets’; and
e. maintain and improve the connectivity between remaining
biodiversity areas by means of multipurpose approaches to
corridor management.
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
51
Map 5.1 Biodiversity
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
POLICY (P2)
Reduce the impact of urban development on natural
river systems and water bodies
The City can ensure that the water flow and quality of river
systems and water bodies (such as aquifers and vleis), as well
as their ability to support their natural flora and fauna, are not
unduly compromised by:
a. identifying, on the basis of the draft Floodplain and River
Management Policy (2009), adequate flood lines and
ecological buffers to permit good flood attenuation and
riverine water purification, as well as to support biodiversity
(flora & fauna) connectivity and integrity; and
b. ensuring that all land use management decisions are guided
by Section A1.2 of the EMF (Appendix C); the Catchment and
River Management Plans; and the principles of water-sensitive
urban design (WSUD), as outlined in the draft Management of
Urban Stormwater Impacts Policy (2009)1. The City will retrofit
WSUD controls when approving development applications in
developed areas.
WSUD is an attempt to minimise the disruption of the natural
water cycle by:
• reducing stormwater runoff;
• attenuating flows; and
• treating runoff before discharge into the receiving waters.
WSUD also aims to increase the amenity value of water
systems, and to reduce the cost of water infrastructure.
POLICY (P3)
Appropriately manage urban development along
the coast
The City will manage coastal development in a way that enables
natural systems to function sustainably, reduces flood risk, and
makes responsible use of the economic and social benefits of the
coastal areas. Interventions include the following:
a. Limiting urban development between the high-water line
and coastal edge, and carefully managing land use within the
coastal protection zone. All land use management decisions
should be guided by the City Development Edges Policy:
Urban and Coastal Edge (2009)2; the Coastal Protection Zone
Policy (2009); Section A1.2 of the EMF (Appendix C); the draft
Coastal Development Guidance for Cape Town’s Coastline into
the Future report (2007); and relevant local plans.
b. Continually improving people’s understanding of the impacts
of climate change and sea level rise, and their land use
planning implications, as well as monitoring these impacts.
c. Promoting nodal rather than continuous strip development,
where undeveloped coastal areas are suited to urban
development.
d. Ensuring that any land-based activities associated with
aquaculture are subject to coastal and other guidelines.
POLICY (P4)
Protect valuable agricultural areas from urban
encroachment
Agricultural areas are essential for food security in Cape Town. To
promote food security, and mitigate against food price increases,
the City should therefore:
a. consider having ‘high-potential and unique agricultural
areas’ (see the map “Title of map” on next page) declared
as agricultural landscapes by the South African Heritage
Resources Agency (SAHRA);
b. investigate ways in which all agricultural areas of significant
value (as per the City’s Agricultural Land Study, 2008) could
receive local protection (over and above the urban edge)3.
Options include environmental or heritage overlay zones in
terms of the proposed Cape Town Integrated Zoning Scheme
(CTIZS); and
c. proactively prepare and implement action/management
plans that prevent urban encroachment and unlawful land
use, minimise negative impacts of urban development, and
manage water and other natural resources.
POLICY (P5)
Adopt a proactive planning approach to mining resource
management
In order to give effect to this supporting policy, the City should:
a. protect important but limited mining resource areas, such as
rock and stone mining, as well as specific mineral deposits, to
permit their future extraction;
b. proactively manage widespread sand mining resources to
reduce environmental degradation and visual impact;
c. ensure that all land use authorisations in mineral extraction
areas are guided by Section A1.5 of the EMF (Appendix C);
and
d. close down all illegal mining operations.
1 Also see P20
2 Also see P37–P39.
3 Also see P37–P39
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
53
5.1.2 Improve access to a quality MOSS
Quality open space
Quality open space is:
• accessible;
• attractive;
• multifunctional;
• well integrated with the urban area (part of civic precincts,
or linked to other public facilities); and
• well managed (clean and safe).
f. ensure that open spaces are linearly connected to each other
where possible, in order to improve the way in which they are
managed, as well as their functioning in ecological, social and
economic terms. Rivers and streams should form the backbone
of the MOSS, as they provide the best opportunity to create
linkages and continuity;
g. include open spaces that may otherwise not have been
considered important to the MOSS, such as roads, pedestrian
and cycling routes, and linear parks, to act as linkages where
relevant, and must manage them accordingly; and
h. rather have fewer public open spaces of higher quality where
resources are too scarce to accommodate all requirements.
POLICY (P6)
Ensure equitable access for all to a broadly similar range
of quality open spaces, resources and opportunities
MOSS plans and implementation strategies need to be prepared
at a metropolitan, district and local level. In addition, the City
must:
a. ensure that people can access the coast at regular intervals
(for leisure and fishing);
b. introduce more paths and routes along the coast;
c. ensure that historically disadvantaged communities have
improved access to the coastline in areas such as Monwabisi,
Mnandi Beach, Strandfontein and Silwerstroom Strand. This
must be done in an environmentally responsible and suitable
manner;
d. see to it that the delimitation of the new coastal development
nodes are guided by the studies on climate change and
sea level rise, and by the Coastal Management Bill (to be
promulgated in 2009)4; and
e. develop an appropriate hierarchy of open space types that
are spatially distributed to ensure that everyone has equitable
access to a broadly similar range of open spaces.
The draft Schedule of Standards and Guidelines for the
Spatial Provision and Development of Social Facilities, Public
Institutions and Public Open Space in Cape Town (2008)
should guide decisions about how much of each open
space type should be provided per area, and how it should
accommodate differences in mobility, density, demand profiles
and the spatial distribution of natural assets5. Generally:
- there should be some form of public open space, whether
a ‘pocket park’, ‘green belt’, corridor or multi-purpose
park, within 250–400 m of all residents;
- access to multifunctional parks and sports and recreational
complexes should be within 5 km, if accessed by public
transport or cycling; and
- public transport provision and significant district and
metropolitan open spaces should be aligned;
4
5
54
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Also see P2–P3.
Also see Section 5.5.2
Map 5.2 Agricultural areas for protection
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
55
Map 5.3 Metropolitan open space system
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Mapping the MOSS for Cape Town
In 2004, all cadastrally defined open space areas bigger than 1 000 m² that should form the MOSS were mapped on a geographic
information system (GIS). The areas were identified both by open space type and open space priority (see below).
To realise the MOSS in its entirety, this information must be supplemented with non-cadastrally defined land (such as some squares and
parts of road reserves).
Open space types and priorities:
Category
Type
Subtype
Priority
1. Indigenous forest
1.1 Indigenous forest
C
2.1 Fynbos, strandveld
C
2.2 Core nature areas and proclaimed reserves
C
3.1 Pine plantations
M
3.2 Gum plantations
M
4.1 Usually designated recreational parks
S
5.1 Sports fields, racecourses, golf courses
M or S
2. Fynbos/invaded fynbos/pure alien stand
3. Plantation forest
4. Landscaped parks
5. Sports fields
Terrestrial
6. Open grassy or barren areas
7. Agricultural
8. Paved, gravel open road spaces
9. Geological features
10. Historical/cultural sites
11. Rivers
12. Natural wetlands
Water
13. Artificial wetlands
14. Estuaries
15. Environmental sinks
16. Inshore
Coastal/marine
C: Critical
17. Intertidal
5.2 Kickabouts and pocket parks
M or S
5.3 Sports stadiums
S
5.4 Schools
M or S
6.1 Electricity servitudes, road reserves, etc.
C, S or M
6.2 Vacant lots
P
7.1 High-potential and unique agricultural areas
C
7.2 Agricultural areas of significant value
S
7.3 Grazing lands
S
7.4 Smallholdings
S
8.1 Malls, squares, piazzas, car parks
C, S or M
8.2 Major boulevards, avenues, pedestrian alleys
C, S or M
9.1 Geological features
C
10.1 Cemeteries
C or S
10.2 Other
S or M
11.1 Natural/seminatural rivers
C
11.2 Hardened banks/canals
C (alteration potential)
12.1 Floodplains
C
12.2 Marshes
C
12.3 Seasonal pans
C
12.4 Perennial vleis
C
13.1 Dams
C or S
13.2 Vleis and seeps
C
13.3 Detention ponds
S
14.1 Estuaries
C
15.1 Sewage works
C
15.2 Tip sites
S
16.1 Inshore
C
17.2 Rocky shores
C
17.3 Sandy beaches
C
18. Sand dunes
18.1 Sand dunes
C
19. Cliffs
19.1 Cliffs
C
S: Significant
M: Medium priority
P: Develop, except portion
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
57
POLICY (P7)
Ensure that any development within the MOSS is suitable
for the type of open space
Developments within the MOSS (see the map “Title of map” on
page 46) should be guided by the following6:
a. No development is permissible in critical MOSS areas, except
where development is consistent with, and augments, the
primary function of that area, and at the least does not
compromise its natural and cultural qualities.
b. Development could be considered in significant MOSS areas,
but would be at a high opportunity cost in respect of open
space. Development should preferably augment or be linked
to the primary function of a site, and if it does not enhance
its natural and cultural circumstances, it should at least not
compromise it.
c. Development may occur in medium or partial MOSS areas,
subject to certain conditions: It should either augment the
primary function of the site, or make provision elsewhere in
the community or city (depending on scale) for that open
space function to be enhanced.
POLICY (P8) Introduce appropriate development guidelines to make
the most of MOSS benefits
All developments must take note of the following guidelines7, and
the City must prepare a comprehensive set of MOSS guidelines:
a. All development adjacent to the MOSS must associate or
engage with the MOSS in an active and meaningful way, and
may not reduce the MOSS to a backyard space.
b. Encourage high-density development around open spaces to
improve use, surveillance and security.
c. Guard against the overshadowing of open space by
inappropriately high buildings.
d. Promote the development of a system of continuous cycle and
pedestrian paths.
e. Pursue multifunctional, innovative and flexible open space
planning and design. Open space planning needs to be able
to adapt to changing circumstances, demand patterns, and
requirements. Be more creative in the way places of burial,
memorial and cultural rites are provided. Problem areas in
the city can be used creatively to establish dignified and
meaningful open spaces. All planning and design should create
a sense of place.
f. Maintain public open spaces according to a management plan.
g. Encourage mixed-use development (cafés, hotels, bed and
breakfasts, residential developments, etc.) where urban
development and the MOSS meet, where appropriate or
strategic.
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
h. Make the most of the productive agricultural value of the
MOSS.
i. Within the urban area, enhance food security by encouraging
the development of food lots in appropriate locations (such as
in river floodplains, on undeveloped public open space, and/or
in road reserves where appropriate).
5.1.3 Protect and enhance the city’s rural
environment
Definition of ‘rural environment’
A geographic area within which a range and diversity of ruralassociated activities are accommodated. All of these activities
are essentially of a rural character, function and form, and
include agriculture, land reform, community commonages,
rural living, agro-tourism and enviro-tourism, and bulk
infrastructure and facilities serving the metropolitan area.
POLICY (P9)
Prevent conventional urban development from intruding
into the rural environment
Conventional residential, commercial, business and industrial
land uses are directly associated with urban living, and should be
limited to urban areas, as defined by the urban edge8.
POLICY (P10)
Support appropriate development and activities in rural
areas
Appropriate development in rural areas, i.e. beyond the urban
edge, includes:
a. development associated with farming activities, such as
worker housing, sheds, wineries, market gardening tunnels,
and in certain areas, agri-industrial activities (such as chicken
batteries) and small-scale farming;
b. development related to rural landscapes more generally,
such as tourism, nurseries, mining, and recreational activities
(equestrian, shooting, mountain and quad biking, golfing,
landing strips and cycle routes); and
c. certain wastewater treatment works, solid waste disposal sites,
power generation sites, water treatment sites and cemeteries.
Critical considerations are the developments’ prominence and
visual impact on the rural landscape, and the scale, form and
location of each development in its landscape context.
6 Also see P1–P5, and Section A1.1 to A1.5 in Appendix C
7 Also see Section 5.4.1
8 Also see Section 5.4.1
POLICY (P11)
POLICY (P14)
Protect rural landscapes
Develop and manage rural gateways
Rural landscapes or specific features of significance must be
identified, mapped and protected, irrespective of the nature,
extent or scale of future rural development9. These identified
landscapes or components must inform the nature, extent or scale
of future rural development.
POLICY (P12)
Ensure that rural settlements are sustainable
Strategic planning intervention is required to protect and
enhance rural settlements, such as Pella, Mamre, Philadelphia and
Klipheuwel. Interventions include the following:
Where major access roads traverse the rural areas (such as Sir
Lowry’s Pass), these rural gateways need to be managed to
protect the rural landscape. This could be done as follows:
a. Identify appropriate gateway areas, and establish a landscape
framework for each.
b. Identify intrinsic characteristics that give these gateways their
sense of place, and determine the appropriate mix, scale and
location of activities in the area.
c. Manage gateways in collaboration with adjacent
municipalities, as defined by the City’s Scenic Drives
Management Plan (2002).
a. Use urban edges to shape these settlements’ growth in the
short to medium term10.
b. Identify and implement guidelines for maintaining and
enhancing each settlement’s sense of place and character.
c. Facilitate the development of economic activities that
counteract the ‘dormitory’ nature of these settlements, such
as eco-tourism, intensive agricultural opportunities adjacent
to the settlements (including land reform and commonage
options) and agri-industry.
POLICY (P13)
Rationalise and proactively manage smallholdings
Specific interventions to control and enhance smallholding areas
include the following:
a. Prevent the establishment of new smallholding areas.
b. Prevent the intrusion of non-conforming land use.
c. Find creative ways to use rates and service charges to support
rural activities within smallholding areas.
d. Develop management partnerships with ratepayers’
associations.
9 Also see Section 5.5.1.
10 Also see P37–P39
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
59
ESTABLISH AN INTEGRATED, GRID-BASED
MOVEMENT SYSTEM
5.2 Movement system
If Cape Town is to become a city that works for all, the City must
create an efficient movement system linked to the multidirectional
accessibility grid. This movement system must support ease of
movement, and facilitate good connections between places and
people.
To do this, the City needs to:
• develop and enhance the NMT system;
• create a safe, efficient and integrated citywide public transport
system that supports the accessibility grid;
• align land uses with the accessibility grid; and
• facilitate the development of strategic transport infrastructure.
These strategies are aligned with the following City transport
plans:
POLICY (P16) Use the NMT Strategy and Plans as guidelines for all
NMT facilities
When assessing development applications, and preparing spatial
plans, NMT facilities should be considered in the following specific
locations:
a. Along lines with high pedestrian and cycle volumes
b. Around public transport interchanges (bus and rail) and
public facilities, such as schools, clinics, hospitals, parks and
destinations
c. Along activity routes and streets, along development routes,
and in civic precincts and economic opportunity zones
d. Where there are sufficiently high pedestrian volumes to
warrant the closure of roads, and the creation of pedestrian
malls (such as St George’s Mall)
5.2.2 Create a safe, efficient and integrated citywide
public transport system that supports the
accessibility grid
• The ITP
• The Public Transport Plan (PTP)
• The Rail Framework
POLICY (P17)
• The NMT Strategy
• IRT
Create a hierarchy of public transport services related to
the accessibility grid
5.2.1 Develop and enhance the NMT system
POLICY (P15)
Recognise walking and cycling as important ways of
moving around within the city
To create a climate conducive to walking and cycling in Cape
Town, the City should:
a. include walking and cycling as essential components of land
use planning;
b. create infrastructure and facilities that support increased
cycling; and
c. enable and encourage safe walking and cycling.
An IRT system consisting of rail and bus services will be established
across the city that will place over 75% of the population within
500 m of a high-quality public transport system. The IRT service
will consist of the following components:
a. A rail service that provides a high-performance, high-volume
and safe transit service, which will be the mode of choice for
long-distance commuters
b. A trunk service, provided by articulated and standard buses
on segregated right-of-way infrastructure, that offers an 18hour frequent and rapid service along major metropolitan and
district level roads, and along development and activity routes.
It will be integrated with the rail service.
c. A community service, provided by standard buses and smaller
vehicles, that feeds into the bus and rail services, and provides
access to community facilities. The service will operate along
district-level activity routes and streets.
d. Pedestrian and cycle lanes will be provided along the public
transport routes and around public transport stops, stations
and interchanges, to facilitate safe access to the services.
11 Also see Section 5.4.2
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
POLICY (P22)
Take the proposed new station locations into account
when assessing development applications
5.2.3. Align land uses with the accessibility grid
Public transport and accessibilty grid
POLICY (P23)
POLICY (P18)
Promote the intensification of appropriate supporting
land uses along public transport routes in and around
major employment areas
The intensification of land uses should be guided by the CTIZS and
the Densification Strategy for Cape Town11.
POLICY (P19)
Provide new urban development with appropriate public
transport infrastructure and services
Ensure that industrial, commercial and mixed land uses,
higher-density residential development, and community
facilities are located on the accessibility grid, i.e. on
development and activity routes and activity streets
All parking areas and transport depots should comply with WSUD
principles12. When assessing development applications from a
transport and land use perspective, decisions should be guided by
the following table, “Road and land use functional description”,
and the map “Title of map” on page 55.
5.2.4 Facilitate the development of strategic
transport infrastructure
POLICY (P24)
POLICY (P20)
Introduce maximum parking standards to manage
parking supply
Support the development of an integrated system of
airports and appropriate surrounding land uses
The development of a system of airports should be guided by the
following considerations:
POLICY (P21)
Lobby for the introduction and/or expansion of
passenger rail services
The following new passenger rail services should be introduced
and expanded as passenger volumes increase:
a. A new rail link from Khayelitsha via Blue Downs to Kuils River
(the proposed Blue Downs rail link). All land use planning
decisions should note the long-term opportunities that this
link will create.
a. The metropolitan area requires an integrated airspace
management approach.
b. In the short to medium term, the CTIA will provide the
national and international aviation function.
c. The City will manage land uses around the site identified for
the potential new/additional airport south of Atlantis (Airport
Systems Study, 2001) on the assumption that it will serve as
an airport until the long-term system of airports has been
resolved. It is envisaged that the site will be developed as a
general and/or national and international civil aviation airport.
d. All general aviation from Fisantekraal should be relocated to
Atlantis.
b. A new passenger service on the Atlantis railway line, with
services between Du Noon and Cape Town as the first phase.
e. The present function of the military airfield at Ysterplaat
should be rationalised to a helicopter base only. The balance
of the site must be used for mixed-use development.
c. A new passenger service on the Malmesbury railway line, with
services between Fisantekraal and Kraaifontein as the first
phase.
12 Also see P2.
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61
Road and land use functional description
Road
Examples
classification
Route
Characteristics
Freeway
• Transport function: Mobility
Freeway
• Major route that facilitates citywide and regional movement and linkage
• Designed for uninterrupted and rapid traffic flow (interchanges, grade-separated
at intersections and on/off-ramps)
• Freeway structure does not support direct access to abutting land uses
• Provides access to nodal development
• Access: Development opportunities are linked to freeway off-ramps, and to
parallel side roads/streets, with access to and from the freeway.
NI, N2, R300, N7, T2, De Waal Drive/Simon van der Stel
Freeway, M5
Connector
route
Expressway
• Transport function: Mobility
• Metrowide to district-scale route connecting areas, and facilitating higher
volumes of faster moving traffic
• Incorporates the expressway and arterial route function
• Limited interrupted movement flows at traffic lights
• Provides access to nodal development
• Access: Limited access at intersections to abutting nodes of residential and
commercial land uses. Could include sections of activity routes or activity streets.
Hout Bay Road, Victoria Road (Hout Bay),
Ou Kaapse Weg, Stellenbosch/ Polkadraai
Road, Baden Powell/R310, Spaanschemat
Road, Main/Red Hill Road, Broadway
Boulevard/R44
Development • Transport function: Mobility and accessibility
route
• Major citywide or district movement routes
• Interrupted movement flows at traffic lights
• Could include short stretches of activity route development, mixed land use and
higher-density areas
• Access: Limited direct access at intersections and slipways, with development
and commercial/business/industrial complexes linked to parallel and connecting
side roads
Durban Road, Symphony Way, Klipfontein
Road, Marine Drive/Otto du Plessis, Jan
van Riebeeck/35th Ave/Stellenbosch
Arterial, Spine Road/ Eerste River
Way and Frans Conradie/Halt Road/
Duinefontein Nooiensfontein/
Activity
route
Transport function: Accessibility
Secondary
Significant and/or metrowide to district activity route
arterial
Directly linked to development, including centres/nodes, mixed land use, commercial/
business developments and light industry, institutions, social facilities (including
recreation), transport interchanges and higher-density development (including
higher-density areas)
Access: Direct access on route, with interrupted movement flows especially at traffic
lights, intersections and bus/taxi stops
Pedestrian-orientated in sections
Examples: Main Road, Voortrekker/Van
Riebeeck Road, Kloof Street to Camps
Bay, Sea Point Main Road, WettonLansdowne Road, Koeberg Road,
Lansdowne Road and AZ Berman
Activity
street
Transport function: Accessibility
Local street section of concentrated activities, including mixed land use, businesses,
local institutions and facilities, public transport and higher densities (including
higher-density areas)
Access: Local area road, which allows for a high degree of access to activities
(including pedestrians). Direct access with stop-start movement patterns.
Examples: Main Road (Newlands), Main
Road (Somerset West), Main Road
(Strand), Long Street, Klip Road and
Gabriel Road
POLICY (P25)
Create and manage a functional interface between
ports/harbours and their surrounding areas
The City should:
a. engage the National Ports Authority about its long-term plans
for the development of the Cape Town and Saldanha ports,
and consider the economic and land use implications this has
for the Port of Cape Town and surrounding areas;
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Secondary
arterial, streets
b. engage with Transnet about its long-term plans for the future
and development of the Transnet Marshalling Yards (Bellcon),
the proposed inland container terminal, and alternative
development scenarios;
c. ensure that there is an appropriate interface between the port
and adjacent land uses, particularly on the Culemborg site;
d. ensure that road-based freight traffic around the Port of Cape
Town is appropriately managed; and
e. engage the National Ports Authority about the management
and long-term planning for the Simon’s Town port, and
harbours such as Kalk Bay, Hout Bay and Gordon’s Bay.
Map 5.4 Land use transport network
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
63
CONSOLIDATE AND INTENSIFY
DEVELOPMENT ON THE ACCESSIBILITY GRID
5.3. Economic
The City will promote Cape Town’s economic development,
and will encourage a more equitable spatial distribution of, and
increased connectivity to, economic activity in the economic
opportunity zones.
a. protect and enhance Cape Town’s beautiful setting, coastline,
biodiversity and other natural assets15;
b. protect and enhance the city’s heritage and cultural assets16;
c. appropriately support the development of, and synergy
between, high-quality schools, universities and other
institutions of higher learning17; and
d. ensure that there is an adequate and fair distribution of public
open space, recreational opportunities, and social facilities18.
POLICY (P29) To this end, the City will:
• enhance Cape Town and its broader region’s global economic
positioning;
• redress the spatial dislocation between jobs and the
population living in the southeastern metro;
• support investors through the provision of improved strategic
information and planning;
• improve access to economic opportunities by SMMEs and
informal traders; and
Ensure that all future industrial areas have high levels of
connectivity
5.3.2 Redress the spatial dislocation between jobs
and the population living in the southeastern
metro
• encourage economic activity along the accessibility grid.
POLICY (P30)
5.3.1. Enhance Cape Town and its broader region’s
global economic positioning
Reinforce and enhance the urban core corridor, especially
around Bellville
POLICY (P26)
Ensure that strategic economic infrastructure is in place
Refer to the City’s Economic Development Strategy (2008) for
details13.
To pay special attention to the urban core corridor, the City
should:
a. encourage the intensification of land uses in line with the
Densification Strategy for Cape Town, the draft CTIZS and
district SDPs (see the map “Title of map” on page 61);
b. prioritise public investment in infrastructure and the public
environment, with a special focus on:
- upgrading public spaces, and landscaping;
- unlocking the development potential of vacant and
partially developed land;
POLICY (P27)
- identifying, designing and developing essential
infrastructure and social amenities;
Streamline land use planning processes, and improve
investment sector support and advice through the LUMS14
- creating an interlinked public open space system, and
enhancing the parks;
- introducing land use and financial incentives; and
- improving the movement system within and throughout
the urban core.
POLICY (P28)
Maintain and enhance the high-quality environment and
lifestyle opportunities afforded by the city
Cape Town needs to realise its inherent economic opportunities,
and continue to attract visitors, investors and skilled labour.
The City‘s planning and land use management practices therefore
should:
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Also see P44, P32–P36, and Section 5.3.3.
See P48.
Also see Section 5.1.
Also see Section 5.5.1.
Also see Section 5.4.7.
Also see Section 5.4.7.
Also see P32
Also see P18 & P23
Also see P71
POLICY (P31)
Unlock other large-scale/significant employmentgenerating opportunities as close as possible to the
southeastern metro
The City will attempt to facilitate more employment opportunities,
with a special emphasis on the southeastern metro, through:
a. supporting private sector development initiatives in locations
that are easily accessible to the southeastern metro, and
attractive to investors, such as:
- the development of the Airport Industria in the short to
medium term;
- the Heartlands site in Strand in the medium to long term,
and public transport improvements between this site and
Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain; and
- the new coastal nodes that will be developed along the
False Bay coastline;
b. using public sector-led investment as a catalyst for private
sector investment in highly accessible locations within the
southeastern metro that up to now the private sector has
avoided. The public sector investment in the Khayelitsha CBD
and Philippi is an example of the application of this approach.
Further locations for such investment should be identified in
the Economic Opportunity Zone Management Plan19;
c. ensuring ICT broadband services for the southeastern metro as
soon as possible, and building and improving on linkages with
the film studio.
5.3.3 Support investors through the provision of
improved strategic information and planning
• include general management guidelines for economic
opportunity zones;
• identify the management issues and principles related to each
zone’s development dynamics, infrastructure capacity issues,
and urban planning;
• prioritise public intervention and investment in the zones;
• identify incentives linked to the CTIZS that encourage
development, and direct developers towards strategic
locations; and
• include economic use of natural resources.
POLICY (P33)
Encourage development in the UDZs as well as IDZs
The City needs to encourage private sector developers to make
use of the incentives offered by the UDZs and IDZs. Job creation
in these areas could alleviate economic and transport movement
pressure in the city.
5.3.4 Improve access to economic opportunities by
SMMEs and informal traders
POLICY (P34)
Introduce appropriate land use management policies and
support mechanisms
The City should:
POLICY (P32)
a. ensure the availability (through sale or lease) of an appropriate
range of well-priced City-owned land suitable for SMMEs and
informal traders;
Prepare and regularly update an Economic Opportunity
Zone Management Plan
b. develop a range of informal and formal trading areas, and
food centres on public land in the economic opportunity
zones, for example in public spaces, on pavements, in road
reserves, in parking areas, and at transport interchanges;
This plan should enable investors to understand the pattern of
economic activity linked to the most prominent growth sectors in
Cape Town, and the opportunities and constraints that exist in the
different economic opportunity zones.
c. encourage liquor outlets and shebeens to locate in economic
opportunity zones; and
d. develop new or enhanced existing destinations in previously
disadvantaged areas that offer economic and tourism
opportunities21.
The plan should20:
• identify the characteristics of the different economic
opportunity zones (type of activities located there,
development dynamics, level of development, and scale at
which it operates);
• review the performance and demarcation of IDZs;
• assess which zones can best accommodate the city’s future
growth sectors;
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
65
POLICY (P35) Make the provision of SMME trading space a
condition for granting large commercial and industrial
developments enhanced development rights
5.3.5 Encourage economic activity along the
accessibility grid
POLICY (P36)
Discourage developments on the edge/outside of
the economic opportunity zones, and away from the
accessibility grid
When assessing development applications, the following should
be taken into account:
- The extent to which the development would compromise the
spatial planning strategies
- The likely effect on future public or private sector investment
needed to safeguard the vitality and viability of an economic
opportunity zone
- The likely impact on undeveloped land within the economic
opportunity zone
- Potential changes to the quality, attractiveness, physical
condition, and role and character of the affected economic
opportunity zone(s)
- The social impacts and economic linkages and leakages
of tourism-related investments with regard to the local
community
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Map 5.5 Economic opportunity zones
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
67
DIRECT URBAN GROWTH, AND PROMOTE
COMPACT, INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT
POLICY (P38)
Avoid ad hoc amendments to development edges
5.4A Urban growth management
A compact form of urban growth, which makes effective and
efficient use of the city’s resources, is required to put Cape
Town on a more sustainable growth path. To achieve this, the
management of urban growth needs to become a deliberate
action, rather than the outcome of uncoordinated planning and
budgeting.
To facilitate the development of a compact city, and improve its
operation and performance, the City will have to:
• contain the footprint of the city;
• promote appropriate densification;
• direct new growth towards appropriate locations;
• introduce a facilitative LUMS; and
• make efficient use of non-renewable resources.
Amendments to the urban edge lines should be City-initiated.
They should be based on guiding principles (see the table
“Principles for amending the urban and coastal edge line” on
page 64); future planning; and an edge review process, which
takes place at least every 10 years. The coastal edge line should
only be amended on the basis of new or better information.
A summary of policies and guidelines applicable to the city’s
development edges
Summary of policies and guidelines applicable to the city’s
development edges (urban and coastal edge)
Overarching
policy
City SDF
District SDPs
5.4.1 Contain the footprint of the city
POLICY (P37)
Use development edges to contain urban sprawl, and
protect natural and rural assets
The draft City Development Edges Policy: Urban and Coastal
Edge (to be approved in 2009), and its supporting detailed
urban and coastal edge documents, should determine where
urban development may take place (see the table “A summary
of policies and guidelines applicable to the city’s development
edges” on the next page). As soon as Province approves the SDPs
in terms of Section 4(6) of LUPO, the urban edge line will acquire
statutory status.
Edge lines should be defined by a road, contour or cadastral line,
and should set the limit for urban development for a determined
period of time. There are two types of edge lines, namely the
urban edge line and the coastal edge line.
- The urban edge line is a 10-year to 20-year edge line, where
the line is demarcated to limit urban sprawl, or to protect
natural resource boundaries.
- The coastal edge line is demarcated around the coast,
primarily for safety, but also for environmental and social
reasons.
The success of the City Development Edges Policy is dependent
on the implementation of other key supporting planning
mechanisms, such as the densification strategy22 and the rural
management policies23.
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
City
Development
Edges:
Urban and
Coastal Edge
Policy statements and development guidelines related
to the urban and coastal edge
Report title
Date of approval/status
To be approved by Province
1. City SDF
i.t.o. Section 4(6) of LUPO
To be approved by Council
2. District SDPs
i.t.o. Section 4(10) of LUPO
1. Melkbosstrand
Approved by Council June
Urban Edge Study
2001
2. Peninsula Urban
Approved by Council June
2001
Edge Study
3. Northern Metro
Approved by Council June
2001
Urban Edge Study
4. Helderberg Urban
Approved by Council June
2001
Edge Study
3. Draft Urban Edge
Plan: Atlantis,
Mamre, Pella, Draft July 2008
Philadelphia and
Klipheuwel
Endorsed by PEPCO 2008
4. Urban Edge Review
– public comments to be
Proposals
elicited
5. Coastal
Development
Draft August 2007 – public
Guidance for Cape
comments to be elicited
Town’s Coastline
into the Future
6. Coastal Protection
Submitted to PEPCO March
Zone Policy
2009
7. Urban Edge
Guidelines Manual
Endorsed by MAYCO 2005
8. Veld Fire Related
Planning Guidelines
Endorsed by MAYCO 2005
9. City Development
Edges Policy
Submitted to PEPCO June 2009
22 Also see Section 5.4.2.
23 Also see Section 5.1.3.
Principles for amending the urban and coastal edge line
Principles for amending the urban edge line
i. The City must review the development edge lines at least every 10 years, and make adjustments informed by the City’s future
planning directives, development trends, as well as the take-up of land within the edge. The adjustments should not be of such a
scale that they undermine the purpose of the edge.
ii. If the City deems it necessary, it can make necessary adjustments to the line within the 10-year period. Such amendments must be
supported by the City’s forward planning imperatives.
iii. The development edge lines should not be compromised whilst development opportunities still exist within surrounding urban areas.
iv. The cumulative impact must be considered where a number of developments could over time necessitate bulk infrastructure
upgrades.
v. The long-term future of Cape Town’s spatial development, as expressed in the City SDF, must be taken into account in current
decision making.
vi. Precedent is not a determinant.
vii. Public process must be adhered to, and the value of public participation must be recognised in all development edge line
amendments.
viii.Decision making must be consistent with achieving a more compact metropolitan urban form.
ix. The City’s ability to provide and/or maintain additional bulk infrastructure, either within or beyond the edge, should be taken
into consideration when determining the delineation of the edge, as the upgrade of bulk infrastructure on the city’s periphery to
accommodate new developments should not be prioritised in the short to medium term.
x. Access to public areas must be retained.
xi. Critical and significant elements of the MOSS, as well as high/medium-potential agricultural land must be protected. As a general
principle, development edge lines delineated to protect these resources should not be amended.
xii. Any amendments to the urban edge line should take into account the generic criteria outlined in the draft City Development Edges
Policy.
xiii.Coastal processes must not be negatively affected.
xiv. In coastal areas, nodal development, rather than strip development, should be supported in all new development areas identified in
the SDF, district SDPs and EMFs.
xv. Visual amenity and valuable view lines should not be lost.
xvi.Given the scale and nature of the demand for government-subsidised housing, and the potential shortage of land available for
this type of housing, the City recognises that, in exceptional circumstances, a proactive amendment of the line may be required to
accommodate the needs of this market. At least 50% of the land released should be for households that receive a housing subsidy in
terms of the National Department of Housing’s subsidy scheme, as well as housing serving the gap market.
Principles for amending the coastal edge line
The coastal edge line should not be amended, as it protects a natural resource. However, the following principles could warrant the
amendment of the coastal edge line:
i. Improved information from coastal risk assessment studies on the impacts of climate change could facilitate a further refinement of
the coastal edge line or coastal protection zone.
ii. In instances where a detailed EIA proves that the coastal edge was incorrectly delineated, an amendment of the coastal edge could
be considered.
iii. In coastal areas, nodal development, rather than strip development, should be supported in all new developments. Identified new
nodal boundaries within the coastal edge are provisionally drawn, and will be refined on the basis of detailed environmental and
planning studies conducted for these node proposals.
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
69
POLICY (P39)
POLICY (P41)
Assess development applications on either side of the
urban and coastal edge based on the management/
protection zone guidelines
Make densification decisions based on the density
decision-making framework, and balanced by resource
limitations and infrastructure availability
To ensure a positive interface between urban/rural and urban/
coastal areas, management zones and subzones have been
demarcated on either side of the edge line. The guidelines
associated with each management zone should give direction
to the management of land use. These zones are defined by the
individual geographical urban edge studies, as well as the Coastal
Protection Zone study.
The figure “Density decision-making framework” on page 67
outlines the framework components that should guide decisions
regarding the location and form (scale, height and orientation) of
densification. These components include:
5.4.2 Promote appropriate densification
• contextual conditions;
The City’s draft Densification Strategy (November 2008), when
approved, will guide all decisions related to the densification of
Cape Town. Four key policies are proposed by the strategy.
Ways of achieving densification
• Constructing second dwellings
• Increasing the existing bulk and number of units through
the expansion of the building area, or by adding additional
floors
• Consolidating vacant or developed erven, and then
redeveloping them at higher densities
• Subdivision of land
• Higher density infill on vacant and underused land
POLICY (P40)
Adopt a ‘middle path’ densification strategy that sets a
gross base density (average density) of 25 du/ha
In terms of the ‘middle path’ strategy, higher levels of
densification will be encouraged at specified spatial locations, and
incremental densification will be permitted across the city where
appropriate and feasible. Densification will be permitted in terms
of the applicable zoning scheme, building regulations, and other
relevant legislation (such as that which enables the submission of
land use applications), as well as the availability of infrastructure
and services. A gross base density of 25 du/ha is the minimum
target, as the City should aim for a significantly greater average
density over the medium to longer term (15+ years).
Gross base density norm
A gross base density of 25 du/ha is the internationally accepted
minimum density necessary to operate an efficient, sustainable
public transport system. It is also the density prescribed by the
PSDF (2005).
24 Also see P41
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
• location assessment criteria;
• the locations targeted for different types of densification, and
their associated density guidelines;
• density design guidelines; and
• the citywide SDF, the district SDPs, and where in place, local
density plans.
The map “Title of map” on page 69 identifies the metropolitan
and district-scale spatial structuring elements referred to in the
figure “Density decision-making framework”. The details of each
of the aforementioned components are discussed in the City’s
draft Densification Strategy (2008).
POLICY (P42)
Facilitate densification through a range of planning,
regulatory and fiscal measures and a communication
strategy
A range of citywide and area-specific mechanisms, such as
financial incentives and disincentives, regulatory and zoning
measures, density plans, and design controls, can support
densification. These mechanisms need to be investigated further,
prioritised, and if appropriate, applied.
POLICY (P43)
Proactively promote densification in densification
priority zones
In the short term, densification should be encouraged in the
following locations24:
a. Zoning rights: Areas where zoning rights correlate with one of
the following zones proposed by the CTIZS: general residential
zones 1–6; community zones 1–2; local business zones
1–2; general business zones 1–7; and mixed-use zones 1–3.
Electricity, water, wastewater and stormwater capacity should
exist in these areas, or be planned within the next three years.
Alternatively, where appropriate, the developer must be able
to cover the cost of the required infrastructure upgrades.
b. Infill sites: The development of these sites should be guided
by the density decision-making framework, and should
ideally be at a higher density than the adjacent properties.
The most desirable infill areas are those located close to
economic opportunities and social amenities. Culemborg,
Stikland Hospital and Wingfield are large infill areas that are
also very well located. Being state-owned, they also represent
a huge opportunity to realise greater socio-economic urban
integration. Their release for urban development should be
proactively pursued by the City.
c. Greenfield developments within the urban edge, and more
specifically adjacent to existing urban development: The
development and zoning of these areas should be guided
by the targeted gross base density and the density decisionmaking framework. A design framework/precinct local plan
may be required to guide the densification of properties larger
than 1 hectare in extent. The appropriate mechanisms referred
to in P40 should be put in place to support the densification
of the prioritised areas.
Density decision-making framework
Spatial location criteria and density parameters
Type Areas to be targeted Specific locations
Location
assessment criteria
Considerations
• Access to public
transport
• Proximity to places of
employment, services
and facilities
• Access and proximity to
open space
• Water, wastewater and
stormwater capacity,
quality and quantity
All single residential
areas
Density guidelines at the specific locations
All locations – where permissable in terms of Second dwellings and other forms of
existing rights, or applications for rezoning/ development acceptable, if no external departures
consent use/departure/subdivision
required, and no negative impact on character of
the area and existing rights
Specific residential areas Within areas of focused public sector
or parts thereof
investment, e.g. subsidised housing areas
40–150 du/ha (gross)
80–300 du/ha (net)
Informed by spatial structure
Development route
50–180 du/ha (gross)
100–375 du/ha (net)
4–15 storeys
Particular points namely:
• points of direct access;
• transport intersections/
interchanges;
• places of intense mixed-use
Activity route
At all points along the route, especially:
• public transport stops/stations;
• route intersections;
• mixed-use areas; and
Activity street
Same as activity route
50–180 du/ha (gross)
100–375 du/ ha (net)
4–15 storeys
15–50 du/ ha (gross)
35–100 du/ha (net)
Town houses – 4 storeys
Urban backbone (a
Applicable to the residential component,
25–180 du/ha (gross)
broad band extending
and areas abutting development and activity 50 du/ha – 375 (net)
from Cape Town CBD to routes/streets
Attached housing – 15 storeys
Bellville CBD)
Contextual informants
• Natural environment
• Land use
• Built and heritage
character
• Socio-economic
• Infrastructure capacity
• Transport impact
assessment
Density design guidelines
• Urban design and built
form guidelines
Major economic
opportunity zone
Generally within and abutting the defined
city or district-level economic opportunity
zones, especially the multifunctional part
35–150 du/ha (gross)
75–375 du/ha (net)
3–15 storeys
Local economic
opportunity zone
Generally associated with interdistrict and
suburban economic opportunity zones
35–50 du/ha (gross)
75–125 du/ha (net)
3–5 storeys
Metropolitan, district
and local parks
Generally abutting parks, especially large
and/or multifunctional parks
25–180 du/ ha (gross)
50–375 du/ha (net)
Attached housing – 15 storeys
Amenity/attraction
areas – urban, natural and coastal special
places, urban edge
management areas
Areas that do not negatively impact on
natural/coastal processes and built/heritage
environmental resources
Location-specific. Where appropriate, influenced
by the urban and coastal edge management
guidelines.
Mixed-use areas/
locations
Largely within nodes, business complexes,
certain retail industrial areas, and on public
transport routes
25–180 du/ha (gross)
50–375 du/ha (net)
Attached housing – 15 storeys
Citywide SDF and district SDPs
Local Density Plans
Decision re the appropriate location, form, scale, height and orientation of densification for the area/site
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
71
5.4.3. Direct new growth towards appropriate
locations
POLICY (P44)
Manage urban growth through the deliberate and
integrated use of planning, and the regulatory and fiscal
authority of the state and the City
The City should establish a growth management programme
that provides a platform for planning implementation. This
programme should be developed in collaboration with all spheres
of government, surrounding municipalities, the private sector and
communities. The feasibility of creating a new regional body to
horizontally coordinate planning at the Cape Town city-region
scale should be investigated.
This programme will also provide the City with the opportunity
to propose and implement a menu of measures that can support
or inhibit development in certain locations. These measures
are usually categorised as economic, administrative/regulatory
and financial, e.g. a property tax regime that supports certain
developments in a particular location, and penalises similar
development in an inappropriate location.
e. The City’s Veld Fire Related Planning Guidelines (2008) must
be applied to developments in fire-prone areas. While fireprone zones are not mapped in the guidelines, it is generally
accepted that the most vulnerable areas tend to be on steep
land, where the southeaster blows from the veld towards the
urban area.
POLICY (P46)
Phase greenfield development according to spatial
planning imperatives, the take-up of land within the
urban edge, and the City’s capital budget prioritisation
criteria
Many of the existing suburbs of Cape Town are faced with
infrastructure maintenance and capacity challenges. A large
proportion of the City’s infrastructure budget should therefore in
the next 10 years be spent on infrastructure asset maintenance
and upgrades, and the provision of a well-functioning public
transport system. This will leave limited resources for the
development of new areas. New greenfield developments will
need to be prioritised, based on the criteria outlined in the table
“Criteria for the prioritisation of development” below.
Criteria for the prioritisation of development
POLICY (P45)
Direct urban growth away from hazardous areas and
valuable natural and rural environments
These areas are either already determined through proclamations
or specialist studies, or will be determined as a requirement of a
development application process, where appropriate25.
In hazardous areas, land uses must be managed as follows:
Phase 1:
• Infrastructure capacity already exists for all/most services.
• Infrastructure urgently needs to be rehabilitated and/or
upgraded.
• New capacity has to be created to address health and
environmental risks.
• Capital investment is contractually committed, and will be
completed within a short period of time.
Phase 2:
• Infrastructure capacity already exists for some services.
• Infrastructure urgently needs to be rehabilitated and/or
upgraded.
a. No new urban development should be permitted in mining
blasting zones, servitudes (power lines, road, rail, etc.), heavy/
noxious industrial zones, solid waste disposal and wastewater
treatment sites, or cemeteries.
• Capital investment is contractually committed. but will take
some years to become operational.
b. Mitigation measures are required for any development in the
above areas where development already exists, as well as any
buffer zones.
• New development areas that are a logical expansion of the
infrastructure network, and align with development trends
and the City’s spatial growth plans
Phase 3:
c. All urban development that takes place in the vicinity of
the CTIA and other airports within the Cape metropolitan
area must take place within the framework of restrictions
imposed by National Government (the Minister of Transport)
on the use of land in the noise zones of the airports. National
Government reviews these guidelines from time to time.
d. All urban development within Koeberg Nuclear Power
Station’s 5 km exclusion zone and 16 km evacuation zone
must take place within the framework of the National Nuclear
Regulator’s policies and evacuation procedures.
25 Also see Section 5.1.1
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Map 5.6 Major land extensive precautionary areas
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
73
The map “Title of map” on the next page shows the spatial
implications of the application of the above criteria. Private sector
developers need to note these phases when purchasing land and
planning developments. The map also indicates the areas towards
which development could be directed in the longer term (15 to
50 years), if the need arises, and if the infrastructure is in place to
sustain such growth.
POLICY (P47)
Establish a monitoring and evaluation mechanism
to review the status of areas affected by severe
infrastructure capacity constraints, and the limitations
this places on the approval of development applications
5.4.4 Introduce a facilitative LUMS
DIRECT URBAN GROWTH, AND PROMOTE
COMPACT, INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT
5.4B Integrated development
To accommodate Cape Town’s growing population successfully,
and redress our social and land use fragmentation, the City needs
to promote more integrated settlement patterns in existing and
new residential areas. People need to live closer to the facilities,
amenities and services they regularly require. They should be able
to access higher-order facilities and amenities by way of a 15minute public transport trip.
In order to develop an integrated Cape Town, the City will:
• promote a greater, more responsible mix of land uses and
people in appropriate locations;
• ensure adequate and equitable provision of social facilities,
public institutions and public open spaces;
POLICY (P48)
• transform the southeastern metro and other townships and
informal settlements (where appropriate) into suburbs; and
Assess development applications according to the LUMS,
which should be guided by the SDF’s principles
• support land reform initiatives.
What is LUMS?
LUMS is a system to manage, control and regulate land use
and land use changes, and may include land use objectives,
principles, norms, policies, processes, procedures, a zoning
scheme, zoning maps and performance measures.
5.4.6 Promote a greater, more responsible mix of
land uses and people in appropriate locations
POLICY (P51)
Recognise that many land uses are compatible with
residential development
5.4.5 Make efficient use of non-renewable resources
POLICY (P49)
Introduce and/or support the introduction and
implementation of development bylaws and policies on
to the sustainable use of resources
Some examples of such bylaws and policies are the proposed
bylaw on the installation of solar water heaters in all new
developments; policies that relate to the installation of wind
generators on residential properties; and the use of passive solar
design principles when assessing building plans.28
With careful design and good urban management, many activities
can be located in or near residential areas. The only land uses that
are not compatible with residential development are:
- certain industries, particularly noxious and land extensive
industries;
- shebeens and unlicensed liquor outlets;
- activities that attract high traffic volumes; and
- activities that create noise at unsociable hours.
The draft CTIZS provides guidelines for the integrated
management of land use.
Definition of ‘mixed land use’
POLICY (P50)
Encourage the use of green technologies and
development practices
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Mixed land use refers to the horizontal and vertical integration
of suitable and compatible residential and non-residential land
uses within the same area or on the same parcel of land (MSDF
guidelines).
Map 5.7 Higher density locations
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
75
Map 5.8 Phasing of city growth
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
POLICY (P52)
Ensure that all new development areas are made up of
a mix of people and land uses, and offer good access
to economic opportunities, public institutions, social
facilities and public transport
When considering rezoning and subdivision applications, the City
will favour developments that:
a. offer a range of housing options to different housing markets,
closer to work opportunities; and
b. locate business activities closer to low-income residential areas.
• The voluntary proactive deal driven (VPADD) approach: This
approach involves the identification of publicly owned land
that can be used for inclusionary housing projects. The
projects will be executed in partnership with the private sector.
• A town-planning compliant (TPC) approach: This approach
tries to leverage affordable/gap housing off the efforts of the
private sector, e.g. by prescribing that a specified percentage
of the houses delivered in a particular location of the city be
sold to the ‘inclusionary/gap’ housing market.
Inclusionary Housing Policy
This policy seeks to redress historical residential imbalances by
harnessing the private sector property industry’s initiative in the
pursuit of housing delivery to the middle-income and upperincome housing market, also to provide (include) affordable/
gap housing opportunities.
Proximity should be measured by walking distance, and should
not exceed 1 km.
POLICY (P53)
Promote economic opportunity zones and civic precincts
as the most appropriate locations for achieving a
greater mix of land uses and higher-density residential
development
Within the older parts of the city, this pattern is well established.
This however now needs to be encouraged in the newer parts of
Cape Town.
5.4.7 Ensure adequate and equitable provision of
social facilities, public institutions and public
open spaces
The importance of social facilities, public institutions and
public open spaces
Social facilities, public institutions and public open spaces
provide an essential collective support system for the urban
population. In an environment of resource constraint, a focus
on the communal facilities and public places of urban life could
have a significant impact on people’s living conditions.
POLICY (P54)
POLICY (P56)
Ensure that land uses within residential areas support
the daily functioning of the residential area, and
contribute to its overall safety
Develop policies and guidelines to guide the provision
and equitable distribution of social facilities, public
institutions and public open spaces
Local corner or spaza shops, live-work units, and early childhood
development facilities are examples of activities compatible with
residential areas.
P55
Avoid large concentrations of subsidised housing, and
instead promote a greater mix of market-driven gap and
subsidised housing developments in as many suburbs as
possible
The National Department of Housing’s draft Inclusionary
Housing Policy stipulates that local authorities should prepare an
Inclusionary Housing Plan, which indicates how they will deal with
the following:
The draft Schedule of Standards and Guidelines for the Spatial
Provision and Development of Social Facilities, Public Institutions
and Public Open Space (when approved), and the Public Open
Space Operational Policy (still to be drafted), should guide the
City’s negotiations with property developers regarding the
provision of these amenities. The standards and guidelines should
be adjusted to the local context, and be implemented within
predefined limits or ranges.
The location of social facilities, public institutions and public
open spaces should also be guided by the district SDPs, Local
Development Plans, and the Community Services Directorate’s
master plans. A summary of the draft Schedule of Standards and
Guidelines for the Spatial Provision and Development of Social
Facilities, Public Institutions and Public Open Space is enclosed as
Appendix E. DRAFT FOR COMMENT
77
Notional distribution of civic precincts and clustering of social and public facilities
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
POLICY (P57)
POLICY (P59)
Cluster social facilities and public institutions in civic
precincts
Support the development of social housing in the
designated restructuring zones
The following principles should guide the location of social
facilities and public institutions. They should:
• be located in the most visible locations possible, e.g. the civic
clusters;
• be clustered to reinforce one another, and increase their
convenience of use, and safety and security;
• be hierarchically organised, i.e. compatible social facilities
and public institutions of a similar hierarchy, scale/threshold,
travel mode and distance should be clustered together (see
Appendix E);
• be shared between user groups; and
• be provided on the understanding that it is preferable to have
fewer facilities of a better quality where resources are too
scarce to accommodate all requirements.
5.4.8 Transform the southeastern metro and other
townships and informal settlements (where
appropriate) into suburbs
POLICY (P58)
Initiate and/or participate in urban renewal programmes
that will transform dormitory townships and suitably
located informal settlements into suburbs
POLICY (P60)
Incorporate diverse urban land markets into a single
LUMS and property market
The incremental improvement of living conditions in informal
settlements, and site-and-service and starter-housing schemes
should be supported by a stepped tenure and land use
management system. This system should build bridges between
formal and informal development processes, and create the
conditions necessary for the poor to improve their living
conditions incrementally. In addition, it should facilitate the
improvement of their residential areas, and make it possible for
them to realise the formal market value of their properties.
The diagram “Diverse urban land markets” below identifies the
critical ‘rungs’ (submarkets) on the housing and tenure ladder
that need to be supported by a stepped LUMS. The design of a
tenure and land use management system that can accommodate
these steps will require a more in-depth understanding of how
the different submarkets operate, followed by the development of
more nuanced policy interventions.
5.4.9 Support land reform initiatives
The Land Reform Programme
The townships and informal settlements (where appropriate)
should be upgraded by:
• supporting policies that seek to bring jobs closer to historically
disadvantaged areas;
• promoting greater economic and social integration26;
• improving access to Cape Town’s amenities27;
• improving the public and cultural environment28;
• ensuring that communities have access to essential and social
services29;
• maintaining and improving infrastructure and services; and
• providing an expanding level of infrastructure, services and
facilities.
Given the legacy of apartheid, the transformation of townships
and informal settlements into suburbs will not take place
overnight, nor will it take place without a well-formulated plan of
action supported by public investment.
Priority should be given to incrementally improving the living
conditions and sense of citizenship of the most marginalised
residents of Cape Town, the homeless, and poorly housed.
National Government’s Land Reform Programme is supported
by the City’s Land Reform Policy, and encompasses three
interrelated components, namely land restitution, tenure and
redistribution.
Land restitution:
The process whereby persons or communities dispossessed of
land after 19 June 1913 as a result of past discriminatory laws
and practices have their land restored to them, or receive just
and equitable redress.
Land tenure: The purpose of the tenure programme is to
provide marginalised groups with security of tenure and/or
guide and regulate their relocation.
Land redistribution:
The purpose of land redistribution is to redistribute land to
the landless poor, labour tenants, farm workers and emerging
farmers for residential and productive uses, to improve their
livelihoods and quality of life. The City’s three-year Integrated
Housing Plan and Urban Agriculture Policy, and P62 and P63
below align with this aspect of the programme.
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
79
Diverse urban land markets
Source: Based on diagram prepared by Urban Land Mark (2007)
POLICY (P61)
POLICY (P62)
Identify land for land reform purposes
Identify land for subsidised and gap housing according
to criteria that support the development of an integrated
settlement pattern
The City’s land reform programme will be supported by:
a. maintaining and updating a database of undeveloped and
partially developed land, and by improving its information on
state land ownership;
b. using state land to facilitate the spatial restructuring of the
city, with direct and indirect benefits for the poor;
The abovementioned criteria that the City will use are contained
in the table “Criteria to be used to guide the identification of
land for subsidised and gap housing” on the next page. The IDP
will indicate the pieces of land to be used for the City’s three-year
Integrated Housing Plan.
c. identifying land in areas within the city’s growth path that can
be used in the short to medium term for subsidised and gap
housing programmes and projects;
d. identifying land for urban agriculture;
e. supporting land banking initiatives, e.g. by assisting with land
identification;
f. de-densification of overcrowded settlements, especially
informal settlements; and
g. establishing new, and densifying existing commonages as a
means of land reform and urban agriculture promotion.
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
26
27
28
29
Also see Sections 5.3.2–5.3.4.
Also see Section 5.2.
Also see Section 5.2.2.
Also see Section 5.4.6.
Criteria to be used to guide the identification of land for subsidised and gap housing
Principle
Subcomponents
Contain urban sprawl and protect the
urban edge
The land identified should:
• contribute to the development of a more compact city;
• maximise the use of existing infrastructure and service capacity; and
• not be located adjacent to the urban edge (where possible).
Facilitate urban integration, and
promote the establishment of viable
communities
The land identified should:
• be in close proximity to existing economic, social and public transport opportunities; and
• support a mutually beneficial mix of social, residential, recreational, commercial and employment opportunities.
Facilitate a range of housing options
and delivery approaches
The land identified should:
• be suited to the development of new settlements, the upgrade and de-densification of existing informal
settlements, high-density housing, rental accommodation, and the release of land to the homeless; and
• note that the size of the housing project, and type of delivery agent influence its economic viability.
Be suited to housing development
The identified land should:
• encourage environmentally sustainable land development practices and processes;
• not lead to the loss/have a damaging impact on natural and built assets that merit longer-term protection; and
• ensure healthy, safe living conditions.
Take the beneficiaries’ economic and
social well-being into account
When identifying land, and providing infrastructure and shelter for the unhoused and poorly housed, it is important to
take their livelihood strategies and social support networks into account.
Framework to be used to guide the identification of land for urban agriculture
Location
Categories/scale of farming
Commercial (largescale and mediumscale)
Scope
Animal production
Livelihood and
trading
Plant production and trading
emerging farming
X
Survival and
trading
Community kraals
Survival and
(publicly owned and
trading
managed)
X
X
X
Close to where people live
Availability and affordability of water
Advantageous if flat
Good horticultural soils
Animal husbandry
X
Vegetable production
X
Vegetables/horticulture
Flowers/Herbs
X
X
X
Dairy/Meat
X
X
X
Locational factors
Close to where people live
Availability and affordability of water
Advantageous if flat
Good horticultural soils
X
Animal production and trading
Community
gardens/allot-ments Survival and
(publicly owned and trading
managed)
Aquaculture
Rural
Plant production
Small-scale/
Commonages
(City-owned and
City-managed)
Small- Peri- urban
holding/
(inside
Urban
large
urban
erven
edge)
X
Extensive grazing/pasture
Close to where people live
Availability and affordability of water
Advantageous if flat
Good horticultural soils
Close to where people live
Availability and affordability of water
Advantageous if flat
Good horticultural soils
Outside urban area, but as close as
possible to residential area
Work on minimum grazing principle
Place-specific
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
81
POLICY (P63)
Identify land for agricultural purposes according to a
defined set of criteria
The defined set of criteria mentioned above is outlined in the
table “Framework to be used to guide the identification of land
for urban agriculture” on page 80.
POLICY (P64)
Avoid making decisions regarding the affordability
of land for subsidised, rental, social and gap housing
programmes and projects on the basis of price alone
The land price and short-term and long-term capital and recurrent
operating costs incurred by the household as well as relevant
departments within the City should also be taken into account.
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
DEVELOP MORE GREAT PEOPLE’S PLACES
5.5 Quality of the built environment
The City needs to respect, protect and enhance the heritage
of Capetonians’ past and present, and establish a network of
great destinations and public spaces where people can gather.
Destinations include heritage resources (both in the natural and
built environment) and public places (such as public squares,
promenades and stadiums). Such places are not only the
foundation of the city’s identity, international marketability, and
economy, but also form the basis of Cape Town’s unique sense of
place. These places must therefore be conserved, so that future
generations know and understand their history and the struggles
and developments that shaped Cape Town’s development.
The City will ensure access to public heritage sites, particularly
where people have traditionally enjoyed right of access to them.
In addition, the City will where possible encourage the creation of
views of heritage sites where there is no general access, and will
ensure that these are appropriately marked and interpreted for
public understanding.
POLICY (P67)
Consider the relevance of social and landscape contexts
when making planning and development decisions that
affect heritage resources
The City will:
To help maintain and improve the quality of the built environment,
the City must:
a. ensure that heritage resources are conserved as far as possible
in their authentic state, to reflect their historical and cultural
value;
• enhance the value of heritage resources for the people of
Cape Town;
b. acknowledge the significance of scale when making
conservation-related decisions, and evaluating heritage
resources within broader contexts;
• promote an accessible citywide destination system; and
• preserve and enhance scenic routes.
Why are heritage resources important?
Heritage has the power to affirm diverse cultures, and
contribute to nation-building. Heritage resources are important,
because they link society through memory to a sense of social
and individual identity. They belong to, and represent, all the
people of Cape Town. While they may be place-specific and
culture-specific, the value of respect for the past is universal
(Cultural Heritage Strategy for Cape Town).
5.5.1 Enhance the value of heritage resources for
the people of Cape Town
POLICY (P65)
c. wherever appropriate ensure that a place’s character is
protected based on its context and scale (rather than
protecting the character of individual sites and/or objects); and
d. where possible ensure that new developments in historic
precincts are of an appropriate scale, and in an appropriate
architectural ‘language’ (massing, articulation and texture).
POLICY (P68)
Ensure that buildings and sites of historical and
architectural significance make a positive contribution
to the economy and quality of urban life, and create an
enabling environment for urban regeneration
Where appropriate, the City will:
• encourage investment in the adaptive reuse of historic sites;
Identify, conserve and manage heritage resources
The Cultural Heritage Strategy for Cape Town, and the Integrated
Environmental Management (IEM) Policy will ensure that the
city’s heritage resources are conserved, enhanced and responsibly
managed.
These policies, together with Cape Town’s Heritage Asset Register,
must be available to everyone.
POLICY (P66)
Provide access to, and information about, public heritage
resources
• discourage historic sites’ demolition or inappropriate
alteration; and
• facilitate the integration of the conservation and adaptive
reuse of heritage buildings with urban regeneration strategies.
POLICY (P69)
Celebrate Cape Town’s rich history
Cape Town’s historical legacies, especially those that have
been underrepresented (such as the struggle for freedom from
oppression) must form part of the future identity of the city.
These must be celebrated and reinforced through urban form,
architectural design, signage, and where appropriate, artwork.
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
83
POLICY (P70)
POLICY (P73)
Provide positive spaces for cultural and social
ceremonies and life-related events
Carefully manage land uses along scenic routes
The City needs to identify and, where appropriate, provide land
and/or facilities for cultural and social ceremonies and life-related
events. This must be done in consultation with the relevant
communities and interest groups.
No further deterioration of the scenic visual quality of these routes
should be permitted. The preparation and assessment of all land
use planning applications adjacent to the 41 designated scenic
routes in Cape Town must be informed by the City’s Scenic Drive
Management Plan (2002).
Some of the key guidelines are as follows:
5.5.2 Promote an accessible citywide destination
system
POLICY (P71)
Develop high-quality destinations in newly developed
and neglected areas
The envisaged new destinations will complement existing places,
such as Groot Constantia, Cape Point, Kirstenbosch and the Sea
Point Promenade.
Particular emphasis will be put on unused or underused
opportunities, such as the Delft-Swartklip Park, and creating
opportunities in areas that are not well served by destinations.
POLICY (P72)
a. All development within the scenic envelope as well as the
scenic corridor shall be subject to the policies and guidelines for
scenic drives. These conditions should be reinforced through
district SDPs, Local Development Plans, and zoning regulations.
b. All future buildings, roads and infrastructure, including power
lines, alongside designated scenic routes, or that can be seen
from scenic routes, should be sited and designed according to
relevant guidelines. Such development should also undergo
heritage, environmental and visual impact analyses before
applications are approved or rejected.
c. Pipelines, transmission lines and telecommunications masts
should be aligned with existing and proposed transport (road
and/or rail) corridors, rather than along point-to-point crosscountry routes (provided that this does not impact on cultural
and scenic landscapes).
d. Overlay zones as per the CTIZS could be used as a mechanism
to protect and enhance valuable scenic routes.
e. Where appropriate, adjoining municipalities should be
encouraged to define and manage scenic routes within their
administrative areas.
Create and improve citywide quality public spaces
a. In the shorter term, priority should be given to the
development of public spaces that unlock economic
opportunities and/or are located in underserved or neglected
areas.
POLICY (P74)
Identify additional scenic routes
b. Public spaces should be provided in all new civic precincts.
5.5.3 Preserve and enhance scenic routes
Scenic routes
Scenic routes are public roads that traverse areas of
outstanding scenic quality. Scenic routes facilitate appreciation
of the Cape Town’s natural, built and cultural heritage, and
in themselves have become attractions – they are memorable
gateways into and out of the city. The tourism and recreational
potential of the metropolitan area is enhanced by the user’s
scenic experience and understanding. The following two types
of scenic routes have been identified:
• SR1 routes are limited-access routes that traverse areas of
high scenic quality (such as Chapman’s Peak).
• SR2 routes traverse areas of high scenic quality, and are
frequently accessed (such as Hout Bay Main Road).
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
As the city develops, it may be necessary to identify additional
scenic routes using the criteria outlined in the Scenic Drives
Network – Volume 1: Study Report (2002).
Map 5.9 Destination places and scenic routes
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
85
6. THE WAY FORWARD
To ensure the practical application and success of the spatial principles,
concepts, strategies and policies of the SDF, a multifaceted implementation
plan is required. This plan will be prepared when the second draft of the SDF
is compiled for approval by PEPCO, before it is submitted to Province for
provisional inspection.
Ensuring the approval of the SDF as a structure plan in terms of Section 4(6)
& 4(10) of LUPO (i.e. as an approved policy by Council and Province) and the
approval of the district SDPs in terms of Section 4(10) of LUPO is the critical
first step towards the implementation of the SDF. 6.1 Contents of the implementation strategy
The SDF implementation strategy will emerge from the forthcoming public
and stakeholder engagements on this draft of the SDF, as well as on the
district SDPs. The implementation strategy will identify and prioritise:
• the metropolitan-significant upgrade or new development
interventions, e.g. the development of the Monwabisi and
Kapteinsklip coastal nodes, that will give effect to the SDF’s
proposals;
• the studies and monitoring mechanisms that will enhance the
City’s understanding of development trends, planning decision
compliance with the SDF and other supporting policies, and
the impact of the SDF;
6.2 Further studies
In the months ahead, the City’s Spatial Planning & Urban Design Department
will complete/initiate the following studies that will enrich and refine the
recommendations contained in the draft SDF:
• The service access planning project being undertaken by
the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
This project assesses the existing distribution of a range of
social facilities, and identifies the areas where there is a gap
or overprovision of facilities. It will also identify the facilities
that will be needed in the medium term, as well as their best
possible location. This information will be used to refine the
schedule of standards and guidelines the CSIR prepared for
the provision of social and public facilities and public open
space.
• Modelling of the city’s future growth. A land designation
exercise, which involved assigning a long-term use to
some 55 000 undeveloped properties in the city, has been
completed. This information will now be used to predict the
volume of development that can be accommodated within
the urban edge, to inform the master planning of municipal
infrastructure, and to supply the City’s departments (Housing,
Transport, Economic Development) as well as prospective
investors and developers with useful information.
• A cross-sectoral, detailed investigation into the costs and
benefits and/or development impacts of the City’s preferred
future growth options
• spatial planning policies that need to be prepared or refined in
support of the strategies outlined in the SDF;
• Investigation into the tools and mechanisms that will facilitate
densification
• closer linkages with land use management tools, such as the
CTIZS; and
• Economic opportunity zone study. This study will investigate
the economic trends and spatial patterns linked to the most
prominent economic growth sectors in Cape Town, and
will identify the opportunities and constraints that exist in
the different economic opportunity zones in order to guide
prospective private and public investment.
• the spatial planning tools and mechanisms that need to be
prepared to support the implementation of policies such as
the Cape Town Development Edges Policy: Urban and Coastal
Edge.
The implementation of the SDF also requires the alignment of spatial
strategies and infrastructure planning and budgeting. This will be done
through the IDP and a Ten-year Growth Management Plan.
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
• Refinement of the coastal edge management guidelines
• Review of smallholding areas to determine which of them
must be retained
• Development of a system for monitoring and evaluating the
implementation of the SDF in day-to-day planning decisions
APPENDIX A
List of plans to be withdrawn
It is the City of Cape Town’s (the City’s) intention that the
City Spatial Development Framework (SDF) and the eight
district Spatial Development Plans (SDPs) will replace the
following plans:
A. Guide plans
Guide plans that were proclaimed in terms of the Physical
Planning Act, Act 88 of 1967, but which are now deemed
to be urban structure plans in terms of Section 37 of the
Physical Planning Act, Act 125 of 1991:
• Guide Plan for the Cape Metropolitan Area: Peninsula (1988)
• Guide Plan for the Cape Metropolitan Area: Hottentots
Holland Basin (1988)
• Atlantis & Environs Guide Plan (1981)
B. Approved structure plans
Historic (five years or older) structure plans approved in
terms of Section 4(6) of the Land Use Planning Ordinance
(LUPO):
• Lansdowne Road Philippi Structure Plan (1995)
• Imhoff’s Gift Local Structure Plan (1989)
• Sir Lowry’s Pass Structure Plan (1997)
• Gordon’s Bay Structure Plan (1989)
• De Grendel Structure Plan (1989)
• Goodwood Structure Plan (1988)
C. Draft structure plans
Structure plans that were being prepared for approval, but
not yet submitted:
• Helderberg Subregional Structure Plan (2000)
• Somerset West Structure Plan (2000)
• Kommetjie-Ocean View & Environs Local Structure Plan (2000)
• Fish Hoek Valley Local Structure Plan (date sent not available
- will try and find out )
• South Peninsula Local Structure Plan (sent 2005)
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
87
APPENDIX B
Sector policy guide
Service
Integration
Strategy &
Planning
Transport, Roads
& Stormwater
Utility Services
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
P15
•
•
•
•
•
•
P16
•
•
•
•
Housing
•
Health
•
Finance
•
Community
Services
•
City Parks
•
Substrategies &
supporting policies
Economic
Development
Strategy
Safety & Security
The following guide provides a summary of the five strategies and related policies discussed in the technical document, as well as their
relation to the different sector departments within the City.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
• P5
•
•
P4
•
•
•
•
P3
•
•
•
•
•
P2
•
•
P1
Appropriately manage urban development impacts on natural resources
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
P8
•
•
P7
•
P6
1. Enhance the value of the natural and rural
environment and green spaces for the
people of Cape Town
Improve access to a quality metropolitan open space system
P14
•
•
•
P13
•
•
•
P12
•
•
P11
•
•
•
P10
•
P9
Protect and enhance the city’s rural environment
•
•
Develop and enhance the non-motorised transport system
Create a safe, efficient and integrated citywide public transport system that supports the accessibility grid
2. Establish an integrated grid-based
movement system
P17
• •
•
•
P18
• •
•
•
P19
• •
•
•
P20
•
•
•
P21
• •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Align land uses with the accessibility grid
P22
•
P23
•
•
•
Facilitate the development of strategic transport infrastructure
88
P24
•
•
•
P25
•
•
•
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Service
Integration
Strategy &
Planning
Transport, Roads
& Stormwater
Utility Services
Safety & Security
•
•
•
P27
• •
P28
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Housing
Health
Finance
Community
Services
•
City Parks
P26
Substrategies &
supporting policies
Economic
Development
Strategy
Enhance Cape Town and its broader region’s global economic positioning
P29
Redress the spatial dislocation between jobs and the population living in the southeastern metro
3. Consolidate and intensify development on
the accessibility grid
P30
•
•
•
•
•
P31
•
•
•
Support investors by providing improved strategic information and planning
P32
•
•
•
•
P33
•
•
Improve access to economic opportunities by small, medium and micro enterprises and informal traders
P34
•
P35
•
•
•
•
•
Encourage economic activity along the accessibility grid
P36
•
•
•
Contain the footprint of the city
P37
•
•
•
•
•
P38
•
P39
•
•
Promote appropriate densification
4. Direct urban growth, and promote
compact, integrated development
P40
•
•
P41
•
•
•
•
P42
•
•
P43
•
Direct new growth towards appropriate locations
P44
•
•
•
•
•
P45
•
• P46
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
P47
•
•
•
•
Introduce a facilitative land use management system
P48
•
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
89
Finance
Health
Housing
Safety & Security
Service
Integration
Strategy &
Planning
Transport, Roads
& Stormwater
Utility Services
• •
•
•
•
P50
•
• •
•
•
•
Community
Services
•
City Parks
P49
Substrategies &
supporting policies
Economic
Development
Strategy
Make efficient use of non-renewable resources
Promote a greater, more responsible mix of land uses and people in appropriate locations
P51
•
•
•
•
•
•
P52
•
•
•
•
•
•
P53
•
•
•
•
•
•
• P54
•
•
•
P55
•
•
Ensure adequate and integrated provision of social facilities, public institutions and public open spaces
4. Direct urban growth, and promote
compact, integrated development
P56
•
•
•
•
•
P57
•
•
•
•
•
•
Transform the southeastern metro and other townships and informal settlements (where appropriate)
into suburbs
P58
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
P59
•
•
P60
•
•
Support land reform initatives
P61
•
•
•
P62
•
•
P63
•
•
P64
•
•
Enhance the value of heritage resources for the people of Cape Town
5. Develop more great people’s places
P65
•
•
•
•
P66
•
•
•
P67
• •
•
P68
• •
P69
•
• •
•
P70
•
•
•
Promote an accessible citywide destination system
P71
•
•
•
•
•
P72
•
•
•
•
•
• Preserve and enhance scenic routes
90
P73
• •
P74
• •
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
APPENDIX C(i)
Strategic impact assessment summary
Strategic impact assessment (sia) of the spatial development framework (sdf)
STRATEGIC
ISSUES
EXISTING TRENDS AND
IMPLICATIONS
Urbanisation
Contain and direct new growth
Rate of urban growth, population
towards suitable areas and sustainable New development areas
growth and demand
forms
POSSIBLE INDICATORS
Extent of urban sprawl
Densification strategy
Identification of potential densification
areas
Extent of urban sprawl
Loss of biodiversity
Biodiversity strategy: biodiversity
network and implementation
framework
Clarification of national biodiversity
targets; integration of conservation
planning principles with growth
management
Percentage of
endangered and critically
endangered biodiversity
Develop a quality metropolitan open
space system (MOSS)
Linked, multifunctional open space system
Climate change mitigation and
adaptation strategies
Identification of vulnerable areas and
activities to inform mitigation actions
Loss of agricultural, rural and
smallholding areas
Identify and protect priority agricultural
resource areas
Infrastructure backlogs
Identification of economic core and
structure
Constraints and development
boundaries to future growth
Agricultural land review;
urban edge guidelines
Resource consumption
Minimise consumption of limited water
and energy resources
Radial transport network limits
Accessibility
growth
and movement
Public transport failing to meet
systems
demand
Spatial
economy
STRATEGIC IMPACTS OF THE SDF
Urban sprawl and a spread-out
city
Natural assets
and ecological Poor-quality open spaces
systems
Risks and impacts of global
climate change
Spatial limits
to growth
POLICY AND STRATEGY RESPONSES
Promote compact, directed urban growth
Green space per capita
Extent of urban sprawl
Accessibility grid to guide urban
design, and improve equitable access
Integrated Transport Plan (ITP)
Implementation of the ITP – spatial
implications
Spatial economic marginalisation
Identification of economic core and
linkages
Economic resources –
Agriculture
Tourism
Heritage
Mineral resources
Identification of priority agricultural areas
Contain and direct new growth in and
Protection of tourism and heritage
towards suitable areas and sustainable
resource areas
forms
Identification of strategic and accessible
mineral resources
SIA of the SDF
Environmental impact management tools
Planning stage
(‘Package of plans’)
Integrated environmental
management (IEM) tool
Scope, contents and focus
Citywide SDF
SIA
Situation analysis, sustainability assessment (issues, strategies, objectives and indicators)
District SDP
Environmental Management Framework
(EMF)
Environmental attributes and priorities
Identification of geographical areas and activities in an area/ activity suitability matrix
Strategic Environmental Management Plan (SEMP)
Project planning
Environmental assessment and authorisation Scope issues, impacts and alternatives
(environmental impact assessment/EIA or
Assessment of impacts and mitigation for decision making
environmental assessment/EA)
Implementation
Environmental Management Plan
Specifications for mitigation of impacts and site management
Operation
Environmental Management System
Systematic management of environmental aspects, checking and correcting actions
Reporting
Sustainability report
Auditing
Focus on agreed sustainability indicators
Compliance with relevant standards and procedures
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
91
APPENDIX C(ii)
Environmental impact management zones
THE FOLLOWING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT MANAGEMENT ZONE (EIMZ) TABLES ARE INTENDED TO GUIDE DECISIONS ON
APPROPRIATE LAND USES AND THE KEY ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS THAT NEED TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT. THESE TABLES
ARE GENERIC (I.E. THEY PROVIDE GUIDANCE FOR THE CITY AS A WHOLE AT STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK/SDF
LEVEL). FOR DISTRICT-SPECIFIC INFORMATION, PLEASE SEE THE DISTRICT-SPECIFIC EIMZ TABLES IN THE SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT
PLANS (SDPs)/ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS (EMFs).
Overview of EIMZs
EIMZ
SDF policy P2
Policy P3
Policy P1
Policies P62–P71
Hydrological zone
Coastal and dune
zone
Conservation and
biodiversity priority
zone
Cultural and
Economic resources
recreational resources
zone
zone
Conservation and
biodiversity areas
• Conservation
areas
• Critical
biodiversity area
1
• Critical
biodiversity area
2
• Critical ecological
support areas
• Other natural
vegetation
Cultural and heritage
areas
• Cultural
landscapes
• Potential
archaeological
sites
• Other significant
heritage resource
areas
• Grade 3 heritage
sites
• Scenic routes
ENVIRONMENTAL Flood risk areas
ATTRIBUTES
• Flood risk area 1
(1:50-year flood
line)
• Flood risk area 2
(1:100-year flood
line)
• Flood risk area 3
Rivers and wetlands
• Rivers and
associated buffer
areas
• Wetlands and
associated buffer
areas
Coastal protection
areas
• Coastal
protection zone
Dune areas
• Sensitive dune
fields
Aquifers
• Highly productive
aquifers
• Moderately
productive
aquifers
92
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Policies P9–14
High -potential
agricultural areas
• High-potential
and unique
agricultural
land worthy of
statutory or longterm protection
• Agricultural areas
of significant
value given
existing, or
potential and
emerging use
Public open spaces
• Structuring open • Smallholdings
and agricultural
spaces
areas
Mineral extraction
areas
• Priority mineral
resource areas
Policies P42–44
Urban uses and
utilities zone
Landfill exclusion
areas
• Landfill sites and
buffer zones
Industrial and
commercial areas
• Industrial areas
• Commercial
areas
Infrastructure and
utilities areas
• Infrastructure
servitudes,
including
wastewater
treatment works
(WWTWs)
1.1 Hydrological zone
Flood risk areas
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact1
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact2
• Any activity that impedes the
Flood risk area 1
hydrological functioning and
This refers to areas within the
flooding of a river
1:50-year flood line, i.e. where
floods of this magnitude occur • Bulk infrastructure, including
WWTWs, pump stations, power
on average once every 50 years.
generation and electrical substations
• Solid and liquid waste disposal
NOTE: ALL ACTIVITIES
• Telecommunication exchangers and LISTED AS UNDESIRABLE ARE
transmitters
PROHIBITED IN TERMS OF
• Manufacturing, storage, treatment,
THE FLOODPLAIN AND RIVER
transportation or handling of
CORRIDOR MANAGEMENT
hazardous substances
POLICY (2009). • Any permanent building with
foundations, such as residential,
business, educational, community
and public facilities and institutions,
e.g. prisons, military bases, police
stations, fire stations, hospitals and
old age homes
• Informal residential areas
• Railway stations, modal interchanges
or bus depots
• Any structure that would pollute the
river if it was flooded
• The infilling or depositing of any
material into a watercourse, instream dam or wetland
• Establishment of cemeteries
• Abattoirs
• Industrial activities
• Service stations
• Conservation-related facilities or
• Conservation activities
infrastructure
• Public open space areas with
• All excavation and mining-related
appropriate low-impact recreational
activities
activities
• Essential engineering and utility
services relating to outfall
sewers, stormwater systems and
underground services
• Transmission towers
• On-site sewage treatment
(conservancy tanks)
• Road, rail, pipeline and cable
crossings and bridges
• Bank protection, flow diversion
structures and earthworks (e.g. dams
weirs, walls and levees)
• Parking areas
• Pedestrian walkways
• Agricultural and agri-industrial activities
• Resorts and camping/caravan sites
• Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
• Sports fields and picnic areas
Flood risk area 2
This refers to areas within the
1:100-year flood line, i.e where
floods of this magnitude occur
on average once every 100
years.
• Bulk infrastructure, including
WWTWs, pump stations, power
generation and electrical substations
• Solid waste disposal sites
• Telecommunication exchangers and
transmitters
• Manufacturing, storage, treatment,
transportation or handling of
hazardous substances
• Community and public facilities
(including hospitals, old age homes,
fire stations and educational
facilities)
• Informal residential areas
• Railway stations or bus depots
• Any structure that would pollute the
river if it was flooded
• Establishment of cemeteries
• Abattoirs
• Industrial activities
• Service stations
• Conservation related facilities or
infrastructure
• All excavation and mining related
activities
• Roads and railways
• Transmission towers and rooftop
base stations
• Formal residential development (that
complies with specific conditions for
development within this zone *)
• Bank protection, flow diversion
structures and earthworks (e.g. dams
weirs, walls, levees and infilling)
• Tourism facilities (that comply with
specific conditions for development
within this zone *)
• Commercial development (that
complies with specific conditions for
development within this zone *)
• Renewable power generation
• Agri-industrial activities
• Resorts
*
Activities can be
considered in conjunction with the
implementation of appropriate
engineering solutions to localised
potential flooding
* Activities can be considered
* Activities can be considered
in conjunction with the
in conjunction with the
implementation of appropriate
implementation of appropriate
engineering solutions to
engineering solutions to
localised potential flooding
localised potential flooding
NOTE: ALL ACTIVITIES LISTED
AS UNDESIRABLE ARE
PROHIBITED IN TERMS OF
THE FLOODPLAIN AND RIVER
CORRIDOR MANAGEMENT
POLICY (2009). Flood risk area 3
This refers to areas prone
to flooding. They are not
necessarily associated with river
or vlei systems, as flooding may
originate from groundwater,
or collection of stormwater or
runoff in low-lying areas.
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
• City of Cape
Town’s Floodplain
and River Corridor
Management Policy
(2009)
• City of Cape Town’s Management of
Urban Stormwater
Impacts Policy
(2009)
• Conservation activities
• Public open space areas with
appropriate low-impact recreational
activities
• Resorts and camping/caravan sites
• Essential engineering and utility
services relating to outfall
sewers, stormwater systems and
underground services
• On-site sewage treatment
(conservancy tanks)
• Parking areas
• Agricultural activities
• Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
93
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact1
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact2
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
Planning and environmental
decision guidelines
Important issues to be considered in these zones include stormwater quality and quantity management, catchment management, health and safety
issues, biodiversity and rehabilitation, and visual and heritage issues.
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) and land use requirements
• A detailed Environmental Management Plan (EMP) must be drawn up and implemented for all activities approved in these zones, in accordance
with the City of Cape Town’s specifications for EMPs.
• *A stormwater analysis is required to determine the extent and scale of activities that are or are not permitted.
• Although some agricultural activities may be permitted within the flood risk and flood fringe areas, the nature of the impacts and appropriate
mitigation must be determined in the EIA process, and must be shown to be acceptable prior to approval (i.e. they must not pollute water
resources, or increase flood risk).
• No agricultural activities should be approved within the 1:2-year flood line.
• Undesirable activities should only be authorised under exceptional circumstances, subject to compelling motivation (e.g. where there is an existing
right).
• New development within the 1:50 and 1:100-year flood lines should be subject to formal acknowledgement by the owner of flood risk, and is only
permissible where there are existing rights.
• Where facilities associated with sports fields, golf courses or picnic areas have been conditionally permitted in the 1:50-year zone, floor levels must
be above the 1:50-year flood line.
Other compliance requirements
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998).
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the City of Cape Town’s Floodplain and River Corridor Management
Policy (2009).
• Agricultural activities close to water bodies must comply with the conditions contained in the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act (Act 43 of
1983) pertaining to rivers and wetlands.
• *Any structural developments in the 1:100-year flood line must comply with the conditions as stipulated by the City of Cape Town Catchment
Management Branch with regard to floor heights, structural stability, etc.
Best practice
• All new buildings and developments along rivers should be orientated towards the river, where possible, and the principles of water-sensitive
urban design (WSUD) need to be applied.
1
2
94
These activities should be supplemented with the activities as contained in the
draft Floodplain Management Policy, once this is released.
These activities should be supplemented with the activities as contained in the
draft Floodplain Management Policy, once this is released.
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
Rivers and wetlands
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact1
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact2
Rivers and associated buffer
• Any land use or activity that will
areas
have an impact on the vegetation
cover or hydrological functioning of
These are the buffer areas
the buffer area, including:
that have been determined
− industrial development;
according to the City of Cape
− mining activities;
Town’s standard procedure for
− business development;
the calculation of buffers for
− residential development;
rivers (refer to the Floodplain
− community and public facilities;
and River Management Policy,
− utilities and infrastructure;
2009). Buffer widths range from
− agricultural activities; and
10 to 40 m from the top of the
− transport systems.
river bank.
• Conservation-related facilities or
infrastructure
• Essential engineering and utility
services relating to outfall sewers
and stormwater systems
• Essential road, rail, pipeline and
cable crossings and bridges
• Sports fields and picnic areas
• Resorts and camping/caravan sites
• Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
• Conservation activities
• Public open space areas with
appropriate low-impact recreational
activities
Wetlands and associated
buffer areas
These include all wetlands
(including manmade wetlands)
as determined in the City of
Cape Town’s Phase 4 Wetlands
Mapping Project, 2008.
• Conservation related facilities or
infrastructure
• Essential engineering and utility
services relating to outfall sewers
and stormwater systems
• Essential road, rail, pipeline and
cable crossings and bridges.
• Sports fields and picnic areas
• Resorts and camping/caravan sites
• Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
• Conservation activities
• Public open space areas with
appropriate low-impact recreational
activities
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
• Any land use or activity that will
have an impact on the vegetation
cover or hydrological functioning of
the buffer area including:
− industrial development;
− mining activities;
− business development;
− residential development;
− community and public facilities;
Wetland buffers have not been
− utilities and infrastructure;
drawn on the maps, as very few
− agricultural activities; and
have been calculated. Wetland
− transport systems.
buffers vary in width, extending
up to 75 m from the outer edge
of the wetland (delineated).
Planning and environmental
decision guidelines
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
• City of Cape Town’s
Floodplain and River
Management Policy
(2009)
• City of Cape Town’s Management of
Urban Stormwater
Impacts Policy
(2009)
Important issues to be considered in these zones include stormwater quality and quantity management, catchment management, infill and illegal
dumping, health and safety issues, biodiversity and rehabilitation, and visual and heritage issues.
EIA and land use requirements
• Undesirable activities should not be authorised, unless there are exceptional circumstances, and subject to compelling motivation.
• A detailed EMP must be drawn up and implemented for all activities approved in these zones, in accordance with the City of Cape Town’s
specifications for EMPs.
• Input must be obtained from the City Of Cape Town’s Catchment Management Department where development is contemplated on or near
wetlands.
Other compliance requirements
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998).
• Authorisation of the activities in these areas must be in compliance with the City of Cape Town’s Floodplain and River Management Policy (2009).
• For any development within 100 m of a river or wetland, buffer widths must be confirmed in accordance with the City of Cape Town’s Floodplain
Management Policy prior to the approval of the activity.
1
2
3
These activities should be supplemented with the activities as contained in the
draft Floodplain Management Policy, once this is released.
These activities should be supplemented with the activities as contained in the
draft Floodplain Management Policy, once this is released.
These activities should be supplemented with the activities as contained in the
draft Floodplain Management Policy, once this is released.
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
95
Aquifers
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
Highly productive aquifers
This zone includes highly
productive intergranular,
fractured, and intergranularand-fractured aquifers.
• Manufacturing, storage, treatment,
transportation or handling of
hazardous substances
• Solid and unregulated liquid waste
disposal
• WWTWs
• Any activity that can cause
groundwater pollution, or prevent
the abstraction of water
• Water abstraction
• Industrial activities
• Mining-related activities and
infrastructure
• Establishment of cemeteries.
• Agricultural activities
• Conservation activities and related
facilities or infrastructure
• Engineering and utility services
(excluding waste disposal and
WWTWs)
• Roads, rail, pipelines and cables
• Public open space areas
• Residential development
• Tourism facilities
• Commercial development
• Institutional facilities (including
educational facilities)
• Transmission towers and rooftop
base stations
• Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
Moderately productive
aquifers
This zone includes moderately
productive intergranular,
fractured, and intergranularand-fractured aquifers.
• Not applicable
• All activities can be considered in
this zone, however the following
activities may have a significant
impact:
− Manufacturing, storage,
treatment, transportation or
handling of hazardous substances
− Solid and liquid waste disposal
− WWTWs
− Mining activities
− Establishment of cemeteries
− Water abstraction
− Industrial activities
− Agricultural activities
• Conservation activities
• Conservation-related facilities or
infrastructure
• Engineering and utility services
(excluding waste disposal and
WWTWs)
• Public open space areas with
appropriate recreational activities
• Residential development
• Commercial development
• Tourism facilities
• Light industrial activities
• Roads, rail, pipelines and cables
• Transmission towers and rooftop
base stations
• Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
Planning and environmental
decision guidelines
• Department of
Water Affair’s
(DWAF) Guideline
for the Assessment,
Planning and
Management
of Groundwater
Resources in South
Africa (2008)
• DWAF’s
Groundwater
Resource-directed
Measures (2006)
• Department of
Environmental
Affairs &
Development
Planning’s
(DEA&DP) Guideline
for Involving Hydrogeologists
Specialists in EIA
Processes (2005)
Important issues to be considered in these zones include groundwater contamination and sustainable water abstraction.
EIA and land use requirements
• Types of activities that may have a significant impact (orange category) must demonstrate that there will be no significant impact on aquifer water
quality. Alternative locations (sites) for such activities must be considered in the EIA process.
• Open space located over aquifers may be needed for extraction or treatment of aquifer water. Opportunities to utilise aquifer water must not be
foreclosed by inappropriate location of developments on open spaces needed for this purpose.
• Activities that abstract large volumes of water from major aquifers must demonstrate that such abstraction is sustainable.
• An EMP must be drawn up and implemented for all activities approved in this zone, in accordance with the City of Cape Town’s specifications for
EMPs.
• Aquifer recharge areas and sole-source aquifers should be protected from potential sources of pollution.
Other compliance requirements
• Activities in this zone must be in compliance with the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998).
96
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
1.2. Coastal and dune zone
Coastal protection areas
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact
• Tidal pools; embankments;
stabilising walls
• Infrastructure associated with marine
and safety uses (e.g. lifesaving)
• Essential engineering and utility
services (outfalls)
• Pedestrian walkways and trails
• Landscaping
• Environmental education facilities
• Tourism facilities at identified nodes
• Renewable energy
• Conservation activities
• Public open spaces with appropriate
low-impact recreational activities
• Essential activities required for the
environmental management of the
coastal area
• Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
Coastal protection zone
The coastal protection zone is
delineated by the coastal edge
line. It has been determined
by the City of Cape Town,
using a number of parameters,
including sea level rise, storm
surge events, biodiversity,
coastal access, and other
dynamic coastal processes. The
maps also show coastal risk
areas (see below).
• Any activity that will impact on the
coastal environment and natural
coastal processes, including *
− bulk infrastructure, including
WWTWs and power generation;
− manufacturing, storage,
treatment, transportation
or handling of hazardous
substances;
− any permanent structure with
foundations, including residential
and tourism uses, as well as
canals, weirs and dams;
− all excavation and mining-related
activities and infrastructure;
− transmission towers and rooftop
base stations;
− cemeteries;
− agricultural activities; and
− outdoor advertising.
• Any other activity entailing clearance
of indigenous vegetation within
100 m of the high-water mark.
Coastal flood risk areas
These are areas that have been developed in the past, but that have been identified as being vulnerable to flooding.
In most cases, they are located outside (inland of) the coastal edge. However, there are some pockets of developed or
semideveloped land on the seaward side of the coastal edge that would also qualify as coastal flood risk areas. The City of Cape Town will be developing a policy for management of the coastal flood risk areas. In all cases, a
precautionary approach must be adopted, and emergency planning for flood and storm events must be undertaken.
Important issues to be considered in these zones include sea level rise, storm events and coastal erosion, vegetation, health and safety issues, access
to the coastal zone, pollution, dunes and sand movement, risk and liability issues, potential for archaeological or palaeontological sites, and scenic
and visual quality.
Planning and environmental
decision guidelines
• DEA&DP’s Coastal
Zone Policy
• Draft Delineation
of the Proposed
Coastal Protection
Zone for the City of
Cape Town: Draft
Report (2009)
• City of Cape
Town Coastal
Development
Guidance for Cape
Town Coastline into
the Future (2007)
• National Policy for
Sustainable Coastal
Development in
South Africa
• Draft Coastal
Zone Policy for the
Western Cape
• City of Cape Town
Energy and Climate
Change Strategy
• A Climate Change
Strategy and Action
Plan for the Western
Cape, South Africa
(2008)
EIA and land use requirements
• The coastal edge line should guide the determination of the seaward boundary of urban development.
• Development inside the coastal protection zone can be considered in developed areas, where existing rights exist. Risk and liability issues
regarding such development must be resolved by the City of Cape Town prior to approval.
• Undeveloped areas within the coastal protection zone should be considered as ’no-go’ areas for any type of development, excepting at strategic
coastal nodes, as identified by the City of Cape Town.
• Development of coastal nodes must consider the functioning of the coastal ecological corridor in the EIA, and must implement measures to retain
this functioning.
• Appropriate emergency planning must be developed for any development within the coastal protection zone and coastal flood risk areas, including
flood warnings, evacuation procedures and routes.
• An EMP must be drawn up and implemented for all activities approved in this zone, in accordance with the City of Cape Town’s specifications for
EMPs.
Other compliance requirements
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the Integrated Coastal Management Act (2009).
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the Draft Delineation of the Proposed Coastal Protection Zone for the
City of Cape Town: Draft Report 2009.
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
97
Dune areas
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact
Types of activities that may not have a
significant impact
• Pedestrian walkways
• Conservation activities
Sensitive dune fields
• Activities involving excavation and
mining
• Landscaping associated with coastal • Public open spaces with appropriate
This zone constitutes sensitive
• Activities restricting the natural
and dune management
low-impact recreational activities
dune fields, including embryo,
• Essential activities required for the
movement of sand
linear, parabolic, sand sheet and
• Activities that harden the surface,
environmental management of the
transverse dunes.
and stabilise the dunes
coastal and dune areas
• Activities that result in high traffic
(pedestrian and vehicular) activity
• Activities that will destabilise or
destroy dunes, e.g. driving on dunes
• Any other activity entailing clearance
of indigenous vegetation within 100
m of the high-water mark
Planning and environmental
decision guidelines
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
• DEA&DP’s Coastal
Zone Policy
• City of Cape Town
Coastal Zone Policy
• City of Cape
Town Coastal
Development
Guidance for Cape
Town Coastline into
the Future
• National Policy for
Sustainable Coastal
Development in
South Africa
• Draft Coastal
Zone Policy for the
Western Cape
EIA and land use requirements
• This should in principle be regarded as a ‘no-go’ area, and no further development in this zone should be allowed without a detailed assessment
of the impacts on the dune system.
• Undesirable activities should not be authorised, except under exceptional circumstances, and subject to compelling motivation.
• An EMP must be drawn up and implemented for all activities approved in this zone, in accordance with the City of Cape Town’s specifications for
EMPs.
Other compliance requirements
• Authorisation of the activities in this zone must be in compliance with the Integrated Coastal Management Act (2009).
• Authorisation of the activities in this zone must be in compliance with the Draft Delineation of the Proposed Coastal Protection Zone for the City
of Cape Town: Draft Report 2009.
98
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
1.3 Conservation and biodiversity priority zone
Conservation and biodiversity areas
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact
Conservation areas
• Any land use or activity that will
have an impact on the vegetation
This zone includes protected
cover or ecological functioning of the
and managed biodiversity areas
area, including:
(see the City of Cape Town
− manufacturing, storage,
BioNet: Terrestrial Systematic
treatment, transportation
Conservation Plan Re-analysis:
or handling of hazardous
Methods and Results, 2008).
substances;
− solid and liquid waste disposal;
− industrial activities;
− residential and commercial
development;
− all excavation and mining-related
activities;
− establishment of cemeteries;
− abattoirs;
− agricultural and agri-industrial
activities; and
− outdoor advertising.
• Tourism and hospitality facilities
• Conservation activities
• Environmental education facilities
• Activities necessary for the
• Essential engineering and utility
management of the conservation
services
area/reserve
• Institutional activities (museums,
• Hiking trails and walks
etc.)
• Parking areas and offices (related to
conservation activities)
• Transmission towers and rooftop
base stations
• Any other activity entailing clearance
of 3 ha or more of critically
endangered indigenous vegetation
Critical biodiversity area
(CBA) 1
(irreplaceable core flora sites)
This zone encompasses critical
irreplaceable and connectivity
biodiversity sites, i.e. Bionet
categories CBA 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d
and 1e.
• Any land use or activity that will
have an impact on the vegetation
cover or ecological functioning of the
area, including:
− manufacturing, storage,
treatment, transportation
or handling of hazardous
substances;
− solid and liquid waste disposal;
− bulk infrastructure, including
WWTWs and power generation;
− industrial and agri-industrial
activities;
− residential and commercial
development;
− all excavation and mining-related
activities;
− establishment of cemeteries;
− abattoirs; and
− outdoor advertising.
• Conservation related facilities or
• Conservation activities
infrastructure
• Urban open space areas with
appropriate low-impact recreational
• Essential roads, rail, pipelines and
cables
activities
• Essential engineering and utility
services
• Tourism facilities
• Hiking trails and walks
• Environmental education facilities
• Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
• Any other activity entailing clearance
of critically endangered indigenous
vegetation
• Agricultural activities (outside the
urban edge)
Critical biodiversity area 2
(restorable sites)
This zone encompasses
the important restorable
biodiversity sites, i.e. Bionet
category CBA 2.
• Any land use or activity that will
have an impact on the vegetation
cover or ecological functioning of the
area, including:
− manufacturing, storage,
treatment, transportation
or handling of hazardous
substances;
− solid and liquid waste disposal;
− bulk infrastructure, including
WWTWs and power generation;
− industrial and agri-industrial
activities;
− residential and commercial
development;
− all excavation and mining-related
activities;
− establishment of cemeteries;
− abattoirs; and
− outdoor advertising.
• Conservation activities
• Conservation-related facilities or
• Urban open space areas with
infrastructure
appropriate low-impact recreational
• Essential roads, rail, pipelines and
cables
activities
• Essential engineering and utility
services
• Tourism facilities
• Hiking trails and walks
• Environmental education facilities
• Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
• Any other activity entailing clearance
of critically endangered indigenous
vegetation
• Agricultural activities (outside the
urban edge)
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
• The Identification
and Prioritisation
of a Biodiversity
Network for the City
of Cape Town
• City of Cape Town’s
Natural Interface
Study: Veld Fire
Planning Guidelines
(2004)
• DEA& DP’s
Guideline
for Involving Biodiversity
Specialists in EIA
Processes (2005)
• The Fynbos Forum’s
Guidelines for
Environmental
Assessment in
the Western Cape
(2005)
• City of Cape Town
BioNet: Terrestrial
Systematic
Conservation
Plan Re-Analysis:
Methods and
Results (2008)
• A Climate Change
Strategy and Action
Plan for the Western
Cape, South Africa
(2008)
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
99
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
Critical ecological support
The desired land use is one that does not permit any further degradation in habitat quality (i.e. no hardening of surfaces in
areas (CESAs)
already transformed areas), and where possible, the long-term restoration of indigenous vegetation. Suitable activities will
therefore to a large extent depend on the habitat condition and existing land use in the CESA.
These sites may comprise of
habitat of variable quality
– from a very poor condition, to
pristine. They have in common
the provision of essential
ecosystem processes, from fire
and hydrological regimes, to
corridors for animal movement. Other natural vegetation
This zone encompasses other
natural vegetation sites that do
not fall under the categories
discussed above.
• Manufacturing, storage, treatment,
transportation or handling of
hazardous substances
• Industrial activities
• Mining-related activities
Planning and environmental
decision guidelines
Important issues to be considered in these zones include vegetation, biodiversity, connectivity and access, fire control and land management issues,
pollution, and invasive alien vegetation and faunal species.
• Conservation-related facilities or
• Conservation activities
infrastructure
• Urban open space areas with
appropriate low-impact recreational
• Essential road, rail, pipelines and
activities
cables
• Essential engineering services
relating to tourism facilities
• Pedestrian walkways and trails
• Tourism facilities
• Institutional activities
• Residential and commercial
development
• Agricultural activities
• Transmission towers and rooftop
base stations
• Establishment of cemeteries
• Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
• Any other activity entailing clearance
of critically endangered indigenous
vegetation
EIA and land use requirements
• Areas of high biodiversity importance outside the urban edge should be regarded as ‘no-go’ areas for development.
• New development inside the urban edge that conflicts with areas of high biodiversity importance should only be considered under exceptional
circumstances in other areas, subject to compelling motivation, and in consultation with the City of Cape Town’s Biodiversity Management Branch.
• Specialist botanical input must be obtained for proposed new development inside the urban edge that conflicts with areas of high biodiversity
importance.
• An EMP must be drawn up and implemented for all activities approved in this zone, in accordance with the City of Cape Town’s specifications for
EMPs.
• Formalised reserves and sites should be regarded as ‘no-go’ areas, and no further development of any kind should be allowed in these areas
without a detailed assessment of the impacts.
• A variety of different types of critical vegetation are included in the CBA 1 zone. For planning purposes, reference must be made to a detailed
biodiversity map, and the Biodiversity Branch must be consulted.
Other compliance requirements
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the National Environmental Management Protected Areas Act (Act 57 of
2003).
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the National Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of 1998).
Best practice
• Where possible, all infrastructure, services and structures should be located outside patches of vegetation that have been identified as CBAs.
• Identify opportunities to permit low-impact sustainable development that contributes to a net increase in the protection of biodiversity, and the
establishment of functional biodiversity nodes and corridors.
• Opportunities for sustainable, low-impact community utilisation of biodiversity resources should be identified.
• Note that unless the biodiversity network is secured elsewhere, other natural vegetation areas may become important if required as biodiversity
offsets.
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
1.4 Cultural and recreational resources zone
Cultural and heritage areas
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact
•
•
•
•
•
• Agricultural activities, excluding
abattoirs and feedlots (in cultural
landscape)
• Residential units as permitted in
terms of the applicable zoning
scheme and agricultural legislation
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
Cultural landscapes
Cultural landscapes may
be constituted from a wide
variety of characteristics, or
combinations thereof (e.g. a
sparse distribution of old farm
homesteads). • Mining-related activities and
infrastructure
• Industrial activities
• Subdivision and densification
• High-density residential or
commercial development
• Any alterations, additions or
new structures unsympathetic to
protected buildings or the general
character of area
Liberation struggle sites
These sites are usually meeting places used during the liberation struggle, and usually have no formal recognition or status.
Public consultation will be needed to identify such sites. Development proposals will need to be sensitive to the history and
memory of such sites.
Initiation sites
At present, there are no formally recognised or demarcated initiation sites. An initiation site usually prevents usage of the
site for any other purpose. Public consultation will be needed to identify such sites. Development proposals will need to be
sensitive to the existing or potential use of the site as an initiation site.
Potential archaeological sites
This zone includes areas
of archaeological and
palaeontological value.
• *All excavation and mining-related
activities and infrastructure
• Off-road vehicle trails
• Any development outside the urban
edge
1
Scenic routes
Planning and environmental
decision guidelines
Institutional facilities
Agri-tourism
Tourism and hospitality facilities
Hiking and horse trails
Transmission towers and base stations
• Establishment of cemeteries
• Essential engineering services and
infrastructure
• Tourism and hospitality facilities
• Institutional and educational
facilities
• Special coastal node development
• Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
• Bulk infrastructure and energy
generation (including renewable
energy)
• Activities that compromise or restrict • Dependent on section of road.
views
Suitable activities should be
congruent with and sympathetic to
• Activities inconsistent with the
landscape/townscape
landscape/townscape.
• Outdoor advertising
• Conservation activities
• Public open space
• Viewing sites
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
• DEA&DP’s Guideline
for Involving Heritage Specialists
in EIA Processes
(2005)
• DEA&DP’s Guideline
for Involving Visual
Specialists in EIA
Processes (2005)
• DEA&DP’s EIA
Guideline Series:
Guideline for the
Management of
Development on
Mountains, Hills
and Ridges of the
Western Cape
(2002)
• City of Cape Town
Scenic Routes
Management Plan
• City of Cape Town
Heritage Resources
Strategy
• Not applicable
Important issues in these zones include archaeological, heritage, visual and architectural/landscaping factors.
EIA and land use requirements
• Mining activities are generally not desirable within cultural landscape zones. Where these occur, mining can be considered, subject to a full
heritage impact assessment and the appropriate mitigation measures (e.g. the recovery and removal of any archaeological material prior to
mining).
• Scenic routes should be protected.
Other compliance requirements
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the requirements of the National Heritage Resources Act (Act 25 of
1999).
Best practice
• A full heritage impact assessment is recommended for proposed development in any of the above areas.
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101
Public open spaces
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
Structuring open spaces
• Waste disposal activities (including
WWTWs)
• Mining activities
• Industrial activities
• Residential development
Planning and environmental
decision guidelines
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact
• * Limited commercial activities
• Institutional activities (museums,
churches, etc.)
• Tourism facilities
• Establishment of cemeteries
• Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
• Transmission towers and rooftop
base stations
• Outdoor advertising
• Small-scale urban agricultural
activities
• Conservation-related facilities or
infrastructure
• Public open space areas with
appropriate recreational activities
• Essential engineering services
relating to outfall sewers and
stormwater systems
• Road, rail, pipeline and cable
crossings and bridges
• Landscaping
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
• City of Cape Town’s
metropolitan open
space system
(MOSS)
Important issues in these zones include health and safety issues, access, heritage and visual issues, and stormwater and biodiversity management.
EIA and land use requirements
• Avoid development outside the urban edge.
• The only commercial activities to be considered include small cafés, kiosks and restaurants, where appropriate.
• Undesirable activities should not be authorised, except under exceptional circumstances, and subject to compelling motivation.
• Local communities must be consulted about the removal or redevelopment of public open spaces.
Other compliance requirements
• Illegal dumping and pollution should be strictly monitored within these areas.
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the City of Cape Town Outdoor Advertising and Signage Bylaw, 2001.
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the City of Cape Town Bylaw Related to Streets, Public Places and the
Prevention of Nuisances, 2004.
Best practice
• All development adjacent to open spaces should be orientated towards the open space to encourage the use and passive surveillance of these
areas.
• Safety and security should be considered in the upgrade, landscaping or development of public open spaces.
• Where feasible, opportunities for low-impact sustainable use of open spaces by local communities should be considered (e.g. small-scale urban
agriculture).
1
102
Please note that cultural landscapes, potential archeological areas and other
heritage areas have been mapped based on the best available data, and have
not been refined, peer-reviewed or ground-truthed.
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
1.5 Economic resources zone
High-potential agricultural areas
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact
Dams and weirs
Water abstraction
Road, rail, pipelines and cables
Engineering and utility services and
infrastructure
Agri-tourism (including farm shops/
stalls)
Animal care facilities
Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
Transmission towers and rooftop
base stations
Riding stables
• Agriculture (excluding abattoirs and
feedlots)
• Horticultural activities
• Handling and storage of agricultural
products
• Hiking trails and paths
• Residential units (as allowed in
zoning schemes)
Dams and weirs
Water abstraction
Road, rail, pipelines and cables
Engineering and utility services and
infrastructure
Agri-tourism (including farm shops/
stalls)
Institutional activities (e.g.
agricultural schools)
Animal care facilities
Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
Transmission towers and rooftop
base stations
Riding stables
Retail and commercial activity
related to marketing of the area’s
produce
• Agriculture (excluding abattoirs and
feedlots)
• Horticultural activities
• Handling and storage of agricultural
product
• Hiking trails and paths
• Residential units (as allowed in
zoning schemes)
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
High-potential and unique
agricultural land worthy
of statutory or long-term
protection
• Residential and commercial
development (Residential use as
permitted by agricultural zoning
scheme is acceptable.)
• Manufacturing, storage, treatment,
transportation or handling of
hazardous substances
• Industrial activities
• Activities that can pollute water, or
soil resources (which are required for
agricultural activities)
• Other non-agricultural land use
(except those permitted in zoning
schemes)
• Mining activities
•
•
•
•
• Residential and commercial
development
• Manufacturing, storage, treatment,
transportation or handling of
hazardous substances
• Industrial activities
• Activities that can pollute water or
soil resources (which are required for
agricultural activities)
• Other non-agricultural land use
(except those permitted in zoning
schemes)
• Mining activities
•
•
•
•
Agricultural areas of
significant value given
existing, or potential and
emerging use
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Other agricultural areas
These are areas of lower
agricultural potential or value,
but that function as the rural
hinterland.
• Urban development outside the
urban edge
• Industrial activities
• Storage of hazardous substances
• Activities that can pollute water and
soil resources (which are required for
agricultural activities)
• Institutional facilities
• Mining activities
Dams and weirs
Water abstraction
Road, rail, pipelines and cables
Agri-industrial activities
Cellars and storage facilities
Offices for agriculture-related
activities
• Tourism and hospitality-related
facilities
• Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
• Transmission towers and rooftop
base stations
• Agriculture (excluding abattoirs and
feedlots)
• Agri-tourism (including farm shops/
stalls)
• Animal care facilities
• Engineering and utility services and
infrastructure
• Hiking trails and paths
• Residential units (as allowed in
zoning scheme)
• Conservation activities
• Riding stables
Smallholdings and agricultural
areas
These are areas currently being
used for agricultural purposes,
regardless of soil potential.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
• Agriculture (excluding abattoirs and
feedlots)
• Agri-tourism (including farm shops/
stalls)
• Animal care facilities
• Engineering and utility services and
infrastructure
• Hiking trails and paths
• Residential units (as allowed in
zoning scheme)
• Conservation activities
• Riding stables
Urban development
Industrial activities
Storage of hazardous substances
Activities that can pollute water and
soil resources (which are required for
agricultural activities)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dams and weirs
Water abstraction
Road, rail, pipelines and cables
Agri-industrial activities
Residential and institutional facilities
for rural community
Retail and commercial activity for the
rural community
Cellars and storage facilities
Offices for agriculture-related
activities
Tourism and hospitality-related
facilities
Sustainable harvesting of natural
resources
Transmission towers and rooftop
base stations
*Mining activities
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
• National Policy on
the Protection of
High-potential and
Unique Agricultural
Land (2006)
• Strategic Plan
for South African
Agriculture (2001)
• Land Redistribution
Policy for
Agricultural
Development
• DEA&DP’s Guideline
for Involving Economists in EIA
Processes (2005)
• Urban Agricultural
Policy for the City of
Cape Town (2007)
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
103
Environmental attributes
Planning and environmental
decision guidelines
Undesirable types of activities
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
Important issues in these zones include soil potential, water pollution, biodiversity, economic and social issues, slope, and heritage and visual factors.
EIA and land use requirements
• Limited residential development as per the zoning rights for agricultural land can be allowed.
• Development outside the urban edge into areas of high agricultural value and high agricultural significance should not be authorised.
• Development outside the urban edge into “other agricultural areas” or smallholding areas should only be considered under exceptional
circumstances, and subject to compelling motivation.
• Rural development outside the urban edge should not exceed densities of one dwelling unit per 10 ha (Provincial Spatial Development Framework,
2005), and subdivision should be discouraged. In some areas, a lower density may be appropriate.
• In some areas where smallholdings and mineral resource areas overlap, applications to mine should be considered on merit, and in consultation
with the Department of Agriculture.
Other compliance requirements
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act (Act 43 of 1983).
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act (Act 70 of 1970).
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones should be in compliance with the draft Sustainable Utilisation of Agricultural Resources Bill, 2003.
Best practice
• Encourage urban agricultural activities, were feasible.
Mineral extraction areas
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
Priority mineral resource areas • Mining activities extending below
the water table
These are areas that have
• Mining activities that do not
been identified in the Mining
effectively implement the required
Structure Plan (2002) as highEMP and rehabilitation plans
priority mineral deposits.
Planning and environmental
decision guidelines
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
• Urban and infrastructure
development prior to mineral
extraction
• Mining activities with the relevant
approved environmental procedures
and documents
• Related infrastructure and facilities
• Post-mining and rehabilitation land
uses
• The Mining
Structure Plan, 2002
Important issues in these zones include water pollution, biodiversity, economic, health and safety issues, access, noise, dust, odour and visual factors.
EIA and land use requirements
• Extraction of mineral resources should be considered prior to the authorisation of urban or other development in mineral resource areas.
• Mining activities should not be authorised without the required EMPs and rehabilitation plans.
• Mining companies must commit sufficient financial resources to rehabilitation prior to approval.
• Where high-priority mineral resources overlap with areas of biodiversity importance, specialist input from the Biodiversity Management Branch is
to be obtained prior to the authorisation of mining activities.
• Where high-priority mineral resources overlap with areas of archaeological and heritage importance, an assessment of these impacts must be
undertaken, and appropriate mitigation measures must be approved by Heritage Western Cape prior to authorisation.
• Where high-priority mineral resources overlap with areas of high agricultural potential, input must be obtained from the Department of Agriculture
prior to authorisation.
• Sand mining can be considered in areas of high-potential agricultural soil, provided that sufficient measures are implemented to stockpile and
return top soil. In addition, the depth of mining should not exceed a minimum level above the water table (± 800 mm).
• Sand mining of dunes can only be considered outside the coastal protection zone, and subject to specialist input and the implementation of
appropriate mitigation measures.
• Where mineral resources are close to visually sensitive areas, scenic routes and residential areas, visual, health and safety impacts and adequate
mitigation measures must be determined prior to approval.
Other compliance requirements
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (Act 28 of 2002)
and the Land Use Planning Ordinance (LUPO).
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CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
1.6 Urban uses and utilities zone
Landfill exclusion areas
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact
• Commercial activities
• Industrial activities
• Other activities, subject to conditions • DWAF, Second
and approval of the relevant
Edition, 1998 Waste
authorities, and specifications of the
Management Series
relevant closure plans
• DWAF, Draft Third
Edition, 2005 Draft
Waste Management
Series
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
Landfill sites and buffer zones
These include landfill sites and
the buffer areas around existing
and proposed landfill sites.
•
•
•
•
Planning and environmental
decision guidelines
Important issues in these zones include air, stormwater and groundwater pollution, health and safety issues, access, noise, odour, dust and visual
factors.
Residential development
Educational facilities
Health and social facilities
Groundwater abstraction
EIA and land use requirements
• Do not permit groundwater abstraction and residential land use in landfill buffer zones, or any other activities where people are required to remain
permanently on site.
Other compliance requirements
• Air quality risk assessment and/or health and odour impact assessments must be used to determine appropriate buffer zones in compliance with
DWAF’s minimum requirements.
• Use and extent of landfill buffer zones must be addressed in closure plans, and must be approved by the relevant authorities.
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the National Environmental Management Air Quality Act (Act 39 of
2004).
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998).
Industrial and commercial areas
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
Industrial areas
These include areas currently
zoned for industrial use.
• Any upgrades or additional industrial • Heavy (scheduled) industrial
activities that will cause air emission
activities
standards or ambient pollution levels • Incinerators
to be exceeded • Major roads
• Airfields
• Waste transfer stations
•
•
•
•
Commercial areas
These include areas currently
zoned for commercial use.
• Heavy (scheduled) industrial activity
• Commercial
• Infill development
• Engineering and utility services and
infrastructure
• Substations and electrical
infrastructure
Planning and environmental
decision guidelines
•
•
•
•
Light industrial activities
Incinerators
Major roads
Airfields
Light industrial
Commercial
Infill development
Engineering and utility services and
infrastructure
• Substations and electrical
infrastructure
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
• A Guide to
Reporting and
Estimating
Emissions for
the Integrated
Pollutant and Waste
Information System
(IPWIS) 2005
• City of Cape Town’s
Air Pollution Control
Bylaw (2001)
• Air Quality
Management Plan
for the City of Cape
Town (September
2005)
Important issues to be considered in these zones include air and stormwater pollution, health and safety issues, and noise, odour and visual factors.
EIA and land use requirements
• Where proposed new industrial areas are surrounded by dense residential development, consideration has to be given to the social, health and
safety impacts of the proposed industries.
• Freshwater and/or groundwater specialist input must be obtained, and appropriate mitigation measures implemented, for industrial activities
proposed on highly productive aquifers, or close to river and wetland buffers.
• An EMP must be drawn up and implemented for all activities approved in these zones, in accordance with the City of Cape Town’s specifications
for EMPs.
Other compliance requirements
• Any industrial activities must ensure that stormwater quality and treated effluent discharged into rivers are monitored, and adhere to quality
standards.
• Industrial activities must comply with the relevant air pollution guidelines, including the City of Cape Town’s Air Pollution Control Bylaw (2001).
• Authorisation of the activities in these zones must be in compliance with the National Environmental Management Air Quality Act (Act 39 of
2004).
• No activity or use that includes the on-site storage of hazardous substances shall be permitted, unless a risk management and prevention plan has
been submitted, and Council has approved it (draft Integrated Zoning Scheme November 2007).
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
105
Infrastructure and utilities areas
Environmental attributes
Undesirable types of activities
Infrastructure servitudes,
including wastewater
treatment works
These include power cables
and underground pipelines and
infrastructure.
• Permanent structures and buildings
other than those related to service
provision
Planning and environmental
decision guidelines
Types of activities that may have a
significant impact
Types of activities that may not have
a significant impact
• Roads and rail
• Transmission towers and rooftop
base stations
• Agricultural activities (including
urban agriculture)
• Telecommunication infrastructure
•
•
•
•
•
•
Relevant policy and
guideline documents
for environmental
management
Conservation activities
Public open space
Landscaping
Stormwater management
Pipelines and cables
Engineering and utility services and
infrastructure
• Power generation activities and
power lines
• Pedestrian walkways
• Substations
Important issues to be considered in these zones include health and safety issues, vegetation, pollution and visual factors.
EIA and land use requirements
• No permanent activities or structures should be approved within servitude areas, except for the designated infrastructure, and bulk services
activities and structures.
Other compliance requirements
• Municipal bylaws and regulations regarding engineering services and infrastructure must be adhered to.
Best practice
• Servitudes can potentially be used for public open spaces, urban agriculture, etc., subject to the relevant planning approvals.
• Where feasible, electrical power lines should be placed underground.
106
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
APPENDIX D
The City’s related sector policies and their current legal status
STRATEGIES/POLICIES/GUIDELINES
STATUS
City Development Strategy
Being prepared
Integrated Transport Plan
Being prepared
Economic Development Strategy
Being prepared
Integrated Metropolitan Environmental Management Policy (2001)
Approved by Council 2001
Floodplain Management Guidelines (2003)
Approved by Mayoral Committee (Mayco) 2003
Floodplain and River Corridor Management Policy (2009)
Approved by Mayco 2009
Management of Urban Stormwater Impacts Policy (2009)
Approved by Mayco 2009
Draft Delineation of the Proposed Coastal Protection Zone for the City of Cape Town
Draft report 2009
Energy and Climate Change Strategy (2006)
Approved by Mayco 2006
BioNet: Terrestrial Systematic Conservation Plan Re-analysis: Methods and Results (2008)
Approved by Mayco 2006
Scenic Routes/Drives Management Plan (2002)
Approved by Council 2002
Cape Metropolitan Open Space System Strategy
Being prepared
Urban Agricultural Policy for the City of Cape Town (2006)
Approved by Mayco 2006
Structure Plan for Mining (2002)
Approved by Council 2002
Air Quality Management Plan for the City of Cape Town (2005)
Approved by Mayco 2005
Densification Strategy for Cape Town (Nov 2008)
Endorsed by Planning and Environment Portfolio Committee (PEPCO),
public comments to be elicited
Cultural Heritage Strategy (2005)
Approved by Mayco 2008
Draft Cape Town Integrated Zoning Scheme
Endorsed by PEPCO, public comments to be elicited
Draft Schedule of Standards and Guidelines for the Spatial Provision and Development of
Social Facilities, Public Institutions and Public Open Space in Cape Town
Being prepared
Melkbosstrand Urban Edge Study
Approved by Council June 2001
Peninsula Urban Edge Study
Approved by Council June 2001
Northern Metro Urban Edge Study
Approved by Council June 2001
Helderberg Urban Edge Study
Approved by Council June 2001
Draft Urban Edge Plan: Atlantis, Mamre, Pella, Philadelphia and Klipheuwel
Draft July 2008
Urban Edge Review Proposals
Endorsed by PEPCO 2008, public comments to be elicited
Draft Coastal Development Guidance for Cape Town’s Coastline into the Future
Draft August 2007, public comments to be elicited
Coastal Protection Zone Policy
Endorsed by PEPCO March 2009
Urban Edge Guidelines Manual
Endorsed by PEPCO 2005, submitted to Council March 2009
Veld Fire Related Planning Guidelines
Endorsed by PEPCO 2005, submitted to Council March 2009
City Development Edges Policy: Urban and Coastal Edges (2009)
Approved by PEPCO in May 2009
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
107
APPENDIX E
Summary of the draft Schedule of Standards and Guidelines for the Provision of Social Facilities,
Public Institutions and Public Open Space
Religious centre
Early childhood centre
700 - 2 000
2 400 - 3 000
local play park
3 000
Sport local
3 000
Community park
5 000
Food gardens
6 000
Primary school
6 000
Secondary school
10 000
Post office
10 000
Neighbourhood sports complex
10 000
Community info centre
22 000
Fire station
30 000
Community centre/hall
30 000
Clinic (health)
30 000
Library
35 000
Municipal offices
50 000
Old-age home
50 000
District sports complex
50 000
District park
50 000
Police station
60 000
Community health centre & ARV
60 000
Children’s home
60 000
Home affairs/other gov. institutions
60 000
Urban centres
10 000 plus
Business complex
40 000 plus
Civic centre/city hall
60 000
Cemetery
100 000
Metropolitan sports complex
120 000
Metropolitan park
120 000
Tertiary institution
150 000
Hospital
450 000
Initiation site
108
500 000
Major public venue
1 000 000
International sports venue
1 000 000
CAPE TOWN SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK TECHNICAL REPORT
metropolitan
Typical Population
Threshold
Sub-metro
Facility
Local
Summary of facility thresholds and scale of implementation
Primary school
•
Secondary school
•
Tertiary education/tradeschool
•
Community hall
•
•
•
•
•
•
Indoor sports hall
Sports stadium
Local sports field incl. Multi-purpose outdoor courts
Parks: community
•
•
Parks: district
Parks: metropolitan
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Urban agriculture
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Police station
•
Fire station
•
•
Initiation sites
Nature conservation
Nature conservation
Religious centre
•
L1 hospital
Religious centre
•
•
•
•
Initiation sites
•
•
Cemetery
Primary health care centre
•
•
•
•
Fire station
•
•
•
Police station
•
•
•
L1 hospital
•
•
•
•
Primary health care centre
•
•
•
•
Cemetery
Urban agriculture
Swimming pool
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Swimming pool
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Parks: metropolitan
•
Parks: district
•
Parks: community
Community hall
•
Local sports field incl. Multi-purpose outdoor courts
Tertiary education/tradeschool
Library
Library
Sports stadium
Secondary school
•
COMPATIBLE FACILITIES
Indoor sports hall
Primary school
Matrix of clustering potential
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
DRAFT FOR COMMENT
109
Draft 1
August 2009