Transforming Townships

Most people living in cities in South Africa are residents of townships. These urban spaces are characterised by a residential form, pervasive informality, and spatial disconnection from commercial centres. There has been a trend of urbanisation in the past two decades, which is only set to continue adding pressure to the backlog in service provision. The residents of these urban spaces have responded to the demands for housing, consumer items and services in imaginative ways, supporting the emergence of local economies. While peoples’ responses are innovative and vibrant, there is often a disconnection between these activities and municipal capacity to provide basic services and a favourable regulatory environment. Municipal governance needs to be responsive to the speed and complexity of change in townships. 

Taking an Interdisciplinary Approach to Economic Development

The Cities Support Programme’s Township Economic Development Project (TED) has sought to foster new thinking around township economies through its advisory support work, which started in 2020. This innovative project is working with metros to advance an area-based development planning approach. The TED project aims to support the transformation of townships into urban places that are safer and more socially cohesive; that enhance local economic opportunities and enable the growth of SMMEs; that provide decent housing; and foster dignified neighbourhoods.

The TED Project is partnering with five metros to develop a systematic approach to township economic development in pilot sites. The project team aims to promote an interdisciplinary project development approach, applying a socio-spatial lens to economic development. The participating metros are eThekwini Metro, the City of Tshwane, the City of Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and the City of Cape Town.

A significant output of this project has been the formulation of TED Strategies for each of the five pilot townships. The TED Strategies include forty collaboratively developed projects. An important perspective of the interdisciplinary approach is that it advances interdepartmental collaboration. In each pilot, the metros are implementing 8 projects as the first step towards  systematically incorporating this approach as a long-term planning mechanism. The technical support from the TED project complements the priority functions of government, including its roles in planning and co-ordinating development. This development agenda includes spatially targeted development into commercial precincts and urban management as well as strategic policy refinement. 

The CSP recognises that partnerships are crucial for economic development. Hence, the TED project has fostered partnerships to extend the reach of this work. Through these partnerships, the TED project has received support to unlock investment for infrastructure, provided training to township beneficiaries, and enabled local businesses to access new markets. Partners include the Neighbourhood Development Partnership Programme in National Treasury, the World Bank Group (South Africa), the European Union funded Ecosystem Development for Small Enterprise programme within the Department of Small Business Development, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

Looking Forward

Based on the momentum built up in the project from 2020 to 2023, a fourth phase of work has been approved and will run until March 2025. In this current phase, fifteen established projects will be taken forward, and an additional five projects will be on-boarded. A priority in will be strengthening partnerships for investment and implementation.  

Through the TED project, the partner metros are sharing their experience to set a new developmental urban agenda. The TED pilots offer invaluable learning on the challenge of scaling up township transformation. A development agenda that promotes better township economies will result in more vibrant neighbourhoods for all.