Creating Dignified Communities

7/29/2019 Creating Dignified Communities

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CHAPTER FIVE: ISIDIMA: CREATING DIGNIFIED COMMUNITIES 73

1. Introduction

The Western Cape Department of Local Government and Housings Isidima Strategy is intendedto contribute towards the creation of sustainable human settlements in the Western Cape. Thestrategy is a much-needed advance on the previous narrow technocratic focus on building RDPhouses. The six key components of the strategy are discussed below, with a brief overview of thedepartments progress in laying the foundations for the implementation of the strategy. Three keyissues are highlighted: the importance of developing a more nuanced understanding of housingneed, developing new imaginaries of what sustainable human settlements are, and the need tomobilise additional financial resources for an increased level of delivery.

2. The human settlements challenge

The human settlements challenges in the Western Cape are enormous. Official housing backlogfigures (which show the numbers of households that have been unable to access securetenure, adequate access to basic services and/or adequate shelter without state support) areconventionally used to measure the scale of the problem. Although the concept of a housingbacklog is deeply flawed,1 backlog figures can help give an approximate sense of the scaleof the challenge. In 2001, there were an estimated 316 000 households living in inadequatehousing conditions in the Western Cape.2 By 2007 this had increased to an estimated 410 000households, and this figure was estimated to be growing by between 2% and 3% per year.3

The challenges are both considerable and complex. Households (which themselves are fluidand often have complicated linkages with other households) have complex livelihood strategieswhich have enormous implications for their human settlement needs (for example, in the caseof home-based enterprises or circulatory migration patterns between urban and rural areas).4

There have been limited financial resources available to address these challenges. A totalof 226 443 subsidised houses were delivered in the Western Cape during the 14-year periodfrom April 1993 to March 2008, equivalent to only about 55% of the current estimated housingbacklog. The housing subsidy funding allocated to the province for 2008/09 is R1,4 billion,enough to deliver about 19 000 units, and a similar number of units are planned for 2009/10.

Assuming these levels of delivery are maintained (and assuming all low-income houses deliveredare suitably located, affordable, well-built and not overcrowded, and in good quality urbanenvironments), the 2007 housing backlog, excluding any new demand after 2007, will only beaddressed in about 21.5 years time (i.e. by 2029).

ISIDIMA:

CREATING DIGNIFIED COMMUNITIES

Warren Smith

CHAPTER FIVE


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STATE OF THE PROVINCE REPORT 2008: SECTION TWO74

Apart from the fact that housing delivery has not been sufficient to decrease the housingbacklog, there have been serious problems with the nature of much of the housing providedthrough the RDP mode of delivery that prevailed during the first decade of democracy inSouth Africa. For example, the Public Service Commissions evaluation of the Housing Subsidy

Scheme highlighted the problems of poor location, poor quality housing and the unsustainableurban environments that have been created.5 Similarly, a study commissioned by the NationalDepartment of Housing found that many new housing projects seem to be unsustainable inthe long term.6 In particular, the location of many projects is problematic: despite widespreadrecognition of the need to restructure and densify the inefficient and inequitable spatialpatterns of South African cities and towns, many municipalities continue to facilitate newlow-cost housing on the urban periphery.7

The institutional context for human settlements development is also extremelycomplex, involving numerous departments at all levels of government, as well as manygovernment set-up agencies, the private sector and civil society. A Byzantine web ofpolicies, strategies, programmes, subsidy instruments and regulations relates to humansettlements.

3. The Isidima Strategy

The Western Cape Department of Local Government and Housings Isidima Strategy8 (subtitledthe road map to dignified communities) is the sustainable human settlements strategy forthe province. The strategy, which applies the national Breaking New Ground (BNG) policyframework to the province, was formally launched in June 2007, and a detailed implementationplan was subsequently developed. The first (three-year) phase of Isidima involves gearingup the institutional capacity to implement the strategy, and developing a more sophisticatedunderstanding of the instruments and their assemblage through a series of lead and pilotprojects, while the subsequent phases will involve the rolling out of the strategy by a reshaped

institution using reshaped instruments.9The creation of sustainable human settlements is the overarching theme of the Isidima

Strategy. The goal of the strategy is that all citizens and residents live in vibrant, safe, efficientand sustainable human settlements that are able to grow and absorb everyone who choosesto live in the Western Cape, in particular poor households who do not have access to housingopportunities.10 The purpose of the strategy is to ensure that those human settlementinterventions aimed at achieving the goal will indeed create an environment that allows thecitizens and residents of the Western Cape to constructively engage with the state in order toaccess a wide range of services, facilities and benefits that can satisfy their fundamental humanneeds without degrading the eco-systems they depend on.11

The Isidima Strategy consists of a number of components which are collectively intended toachieve the above goal and purpose:

Using a multiplicity of instruments to ensure that everyone is able to live in sustainablehuman settlements

Making housing markets work for the poor

Release of strategic parcels of state-owned land to restructure cities and towns

Environmental sustainability

Community empowerment

Institutional enhancement.

These components are discussed below.


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3.1 Multiplicity of instruments to create sustainable

human settlements

One of the key thrusts of the Isidima Strategy is to move away from the mindset that equates

pro-poor housing solutions with periphalised greenfield developments to recognisingthat the state needs to have at its disposal a multiplicity of instruments that build assets andachieve width immediately and depth incrementally (capital subsidies, rental housing, socialhousing, landlord support/tenant protection, gap housing, in situ upgrades, urban renewal viainterventions in the land and property markets, land banking, development levies on for-profitdevelopments, etc.) so that it can respond in contextually specific ways rather than assumethat one-size-fits-all.12 Accordingly, Objective 1 of the Isidima Strategy is that Citizens ofthe Western Cape who live in a variety of different situations are aware of and can easilyaccess a wide range of housing services and instruments that can assist them to participate inthe development of a sustainable human settlement of their choice.13

The Isidima Strategy suggests a mix of interventions, using current and proposed subsidymechanisms, with the overall intention of ensuring that the poor are fully integrated into our

towns and cities, that we move away from the dualistic housing market, and that densities donot drop below 25 [dwelling units per hectare].14 The proposed key Isidima interventions(with departmental delivery targets for 2008/09 to 2010/11, where applicable15) are:

Incremental upgrading of informal settlements through the Upgrading of Informal SettlementsProgramme (UISP) and Peoples Housing Process (PHP) programmes; the target for the nextthree years is to assist 10 000 beneficiaries per year through UISP.

Incremental housing in greenfield developments (from low-density freestanding houses tohigher density row housing), ideally in mixed-use and socially mixed developments on well-located land. The target for the next three years is to assist 12 000 beneficiaries per yearthrough the Project Linked Subsidy/Integrated Residential Development Programme (for theIntegrated Residential Programme, serviced sites will be provided in the first phase, andhousing consolidation will follow in a second phase).

Social housing units on well-located land or within renovated premises, located in mixed-use and socially mixed developments (again in a range from low density to high densityrow housing).

Rental units in high- to very high-density developments, located mainly in the inner urbancores and/or in mixed-use and socially mixed developments.

Backyard rental programme (either formalising backyard rental through capital subsidies andloans to landlords for upgrading the rental accommodation, or through providing greatersecurity of tenure to backyard tenants in some other way, e.g. subdivision). The target for thebackyard rental programme, which will commence in 2009, is to provide subsidies to 1 000beneficiaries per year in 2009/10 and 2010/11.

Gap housing, which can be defined as housing for households who fall between themaximum income threshold for conventional housing subsidies and the typical minimum

income threshold for conventional mortgage finance, i.e. households in the R3 501 toapproximately R10 000 per month income bracket. The Finance-Linked Individual SubsidyProgramme (FLISP), intended to supplement affordable mortgage loans from banks, istargeted at the lower end of the gap market (households in the R3 501 to R7 000 per monthincome bracket); there is a target of 250 beneficiaries per year for the next three years.

The Isidima Strategy also makes mention of programmes to meet other categories of need, forexample, agri-villages and special needs housing (handicapped, orphans, elderly, etc).16

Thirteen Lead and Pilot Projects are at the forefront of the implementation of the IsidimaStrategy (although some of these are still in the very early stages). The Lead and Pilot Projectsare potentially important as ways of exploring new approaches to creating sustainable humansettlements. A number of the projects test approaches to mixed-income development. The

Dido Valley project near Simonstown, for example, is intended to consist of 968 units, of which


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588 will be subsidised units, 170 will be gap housing units and 210 will be conventional marketunits. The proposed Somerset West 10-hectare project (390 units) will also consist of a mix ofsubsidised, gap and conventional market units. The Kleinmond project, in partnership with theDepartment of Science and Technology, tests various innovative environmentally sustainable

technologies. The Grabouw Sustainable Development Initiative is particularly noteworthy, asit focuses on a participatory local process for decision-making related to sustainable urbandevelopment. Through this process a holistic development plan for Grabouw has beendeveloped.17

Over and above the Lead and Pilot Projects, the department has developed sustainabilitycriteria for the selection and approval of new projects to ensure that all new human settlementsprojects in the province will comply with the principles of the Isidima Strategy. The criteriainclude: community involvement from the early stages of the planning process; the promotionof economic activity; optimal use of space and existing infrastructure; ecologically sensitivesettlement design; the promotion of social and spatial integration; and location (i.e. the locationof projects within ten kilometres of an economic hub, primary school and primary healthcare clinic).18

3.2 Making housing markets work for the poor

One of the most radical shifts in the Isidima Strategy is the shift from a focus on projectsfor the poor to the housing system as a whole.19 One of the four outcomes proposed bythe strategy is making housing markets work for the poor,20 and objective 4 of the strategyis: a functioning property market across both economies and an enabling environment foragents and institutions who want to design and implement sustainable human settlements inaccordance with the [Isidima] approach.21

The intention is to work with the markets to increase total supply of housing productsacross market bands (GASH,22 [gap], rental, subsidized) and spatial forms (inner city, backyard,greenfields, in situ upgrading, etc).23 This will be done through the use of new planning and

development control instruments to restructure the market (for example, density bonuses topromote densification, and an inclusionary housing policy) and targeting public infrastructureinvestment and upgrading to promote densification along public transport nodes and routes.24The strategy also mentions interventions to protect the poor from a range of rent-seeking andmarket dynamics.25

Looking at the housing system as a whole is an important conceptual leap from the previousapproach, and using urban land use regulations to encourage higher density, mixed-use, mixed-income developments is essential (for example, through granting density/height/bulk/coveragebonuses and/or rebates on rates or bulk infrastructure levies for private developers providinga certain percentage of affordable housing units). However, it should be recognised that theconventional housing development market in South Africa is relatively small, and the numberof affordable housing units encouraged through incentives and regulations will thus also be

relatively small (and these units are likely to be for the upper part of the gap market rather thanthe poor).26

The Isidima Strategy recognises the importance of gaining a better understanding of theland and housing market as a precondition for successful interventions. In terms of the Isidimaimplementation plan, the major planned activity in the short term is to conduct research intoland and property markets in the Western Cape. In the long term, ongoing monitoring ofthe land and housing markets in the province is required. The Isidima Strategy proposes thata research programme will be established in partnership with universities to monitor landand property markets, including livelihood networks and the dynamics of informalisation, thedynamics of the informal housing market, the rental sector in backyards as well as in townshipsand shack settlements, and data from home loan disclosures.27

Urban LandMark, an organisation dedicated to working with various stakeholders to makeurban land markets work for the poor, is working with three municipalities in the Western


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Cape to develop and test new approaches to land use management. Urban LandMarks viewis that in order to implement meaningful change, land use management systems need to workeffectively and efficiently for those who arbitrate urban development and for those who wantto access land.28 It is important that the attempts to develop and test new approaches to land

use management are documented and learned from.

3.3 Release of strategic parcels of state-owned land

Although there have been some attempts to use well-located state-owned land for restructuringthe apartheid patterns of South African cities and towns, there are still significant parcels ofwell-located vacant or underused state-owned land, especially in Cape Town. To counter this,the Isidima Strategy has Objective 6: state land and other resources are used for spatialrestructuring, with direct and indirect benefits for the poor.29

A key part of the detailed plan is to:

Identify 25 parcels of well located publicly owned urban land across the Province,which can be designated as [Isidima] lead projects... The projects must

demonstrate social integration and sustainable resource use, and they must becompleted in three years from date of approval by the municipality.30

Thus far the department has completed a list of suitable public and privately owned land (andpublicly owned buildings) in the province and has developed a policy on the release of state-owned land. The proposed 25 parcels of state-owned land have been identified. The target forthe number of housing units to be built through the release of state-owned land is 500 units in2008/09, 1 000 in 2009/10 and 1 500 in 2010/11.31 It is still intended to undertake researchon the private land market and establish a land banking programme for municipalities (to assistmunicipalities to acquire land for the implementation of their human settlements plans).

It is important that the release and development of state-owned land is aligned to municipal

Spatial Development Frameworks, and that the development of such land needs to contributetowards the restructuring and economic development of each specific city or town. The vacantparcels of state-owned land in central Cape Town, such as the Culemborg site, are particularlysignificant in terms of urban restructuring.32

3.4 Environmental sustainability

One of the four intended outcomes of the Isidima Strategy is gradually changing over tosustainable resource-use approaches (energy, waste, water, sanitation, transportation and foodsupplies).33 Objective 8 of the strategy is that:

the Western Capes towns and cities become global leaders in sustainableresource use by making sure that all new buildings, infrastructure and openspaces are planned in accordance with ecological design principles, and thatowners of existing buildings (in particular public sector owners) respond toincentives to retrofit their buildings in accordance with these principles.34

In a context of rapid resource depletion, it is essential that environmental sustainability isincorporated in human settlements planning. One of the biggest failures of the first decade ofhousing delivery in democratic South Africa was the lack of attention paid to environmentalsustainability, energy efficiency and alternative materials a survey of 40 housing subsidyprojects across the country found that environmental concerns had been ignored in virtuallyall of them, mainly because of cost.35 The densification and compaction of cities and towns is

a particularly important aspect of environmental sustainability, both in terms of reducing the


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ecological footprint and in terms of facilitating more sustainable modes of transport such aswalking and cycling. Greater awareness of climate change, and the implications of this for theplanning and design of housing, neighbourhoods and settlements, is also important.

In terms of the Isidima implementation plan, research relating to construction and energy

alternatives is planned, and it is proposed to develop provincial green building regulations.It is also important for guidelines for sustainable neighbourhood and settlement planning to bedeveloped. There is a wealth of relevant skills and experience in the Western Cape, and theseorganisations and individuals need to be drawn on.

3.5 Community empowerment

One of the cornerstones of the Isidima Strategy is community empowerment, to create anenvironment that allows the citizens and residents of the Western Cape to constructivelyengage with the state in order to access a wide range of services, facilities and benefits that cansatisfy their fundamental human needs.36 Linked to this, Objective 7 of the Isidima Strategystates: a new pact is consolidated between Government and organised civil society to buildup over time the trust, reciprocity and development practices required to imagine, design andimplement vibrant sustainable neighbourhoods.37

The most important proposals in this regard are that all subsidised human settlementdevelopments utilise participatory planning (spatial, land use, design) and constructionmethodologies and that a protocol with a supporting manual that defines the minimumstandard required for community participation in all subsidised housing projects will bedeveloped.38 Participation is an essential precondition in creating sustainable human settlements as noted in the overview of case studies conducted as part of the process of formulating theIsidima Strategy.

It is noticeable that the projects that best met the needs of beneficiaries all had ahigh level of participation by beneficiaries from the very inception of the project

and in all phases of the project, including the planning and design processes.39

Increasing evidence in the natural sciences, public health, and urban planning show thatexpert assessments can miss important contextual information, and it is important thatlay knowledge be considered alongside expert judgments, and that the incomplete modelsof the technically literate not be mistaken for the sum total of reality. 40 Although thereis experience with participatory construction methodologies in South Africa, participatoryplanning processes have been relatively rare. Different approaches to participatory planningin different types of projects and contexts therefore need to be tested in practice and, if theyare successful, adopted.

The department intends to form a pact to partner with those CBOs and social movementsthat have the will and capacity to collaboratively design and implement human settlement

projects and which can demonstrate that they can mobilize and manage savings and loans,negotiate agreements, gather information required for community action planning, managefinances, facilitate housing subsidy applications and disbursements, and manage and storebuilding materials.41 In this regard, the Isidima Human Settlement Summit in February 2008was attended by many civil society organisations in the province. Other important suggestionsare that the department should make available a fund that can be used by the civil formationsthat are part of the above mentioned pact to train and sustain grassroots community organiserswho will be accountable for making happen the various community action planning andsavings strategies that will be required and that the department should establish mechanismsfor fast-tracking the transfer of subsidies to accredited CBO- and NGO-based developmentfinance institutions.42

While increasing partnerships with civil society organisations for delivery is a very positivemove, and extending access to micro-finance is essential, there is perhaps too narrow a focus


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on a particular type of civil society organisation that uses a specific methodology (savings-basedmobilisation). While the Shack/Slum Dwellers International-type savings-based mobilisationapproach can be a very successful way of helping create sustainable human settlements, itremains a model that emerged in very particular cultural-historical circumstances, and when

a grassroots methodology is elevated to a generic mode of social intervention, it potentially runsinto problems.43 There should preferably be recognition of, and support for, a range of differenttypes of civil society organisations with different methodologies to be involved in the creationof sustainable human settlements. This should include space for civil society organisations thatare not narrowly focused on implementation. Although the Isidima Strategy implies that it isnecessary for CBOs and NGOs to make the transition from a rights-based protest mode to apost-apartheid developmental mode that requires a different mind-set and strategy,44 it hasbeen argued elsewhere that these two modes are not mutually exclusive, as human settlementsdevelopment is not a smooth, consensual, largely technocratic process.45

Implementing participatory approaches to human settlements development in practice islikely to be a challenge. Numerous policy documents have highlighted the importance ofparticipation, but considerable capacity-building of practitioners will be necessary to turn

this into routine practice. The Isidima Strategy document suggests that there should be anorientation and education programme for [departmental] and municipal staff to build upan understanding of community-based development practice, and it is important that thisbe followed up.46 Although some communities may already be well capacitated, capacitybuilding of communities may also sometimes be necessary the Isidima implementationstates the intention to train community organisations in community action planning andsavings strategies, and it is important that this is also followed up (in partnership withsuitable organisations).47

3.6 Institutional enhancement

Three of the objectives relate to government and the way that government works: ensuring that all

intergovernmental policies, plans and budgets that are related to human settlement developmentare aligned horizontally and vertically, ensuring that the institutional arrangements andcapabilities of relevant provincial departments are built to effectively design and implementthe strategy, and undertaking sustained municipal capacity building for delivery.48

Two key aspects are intergovernmental cooperation and capacity development.

3.6.1 Intergovernmental cooperation

Intergovernmental cooperation is essential; there needs to be synergy between what nationalgovernment, provincial government and local government are doing. Addressing the housingchallenge requires changes in the national housing policy framework, allocation of sufficientresources by the national government and the formulation and implementation of effective

human settlements strategies at the local level by municipalities.How different departments and different spheres of government work together is crucial. An

inter-departmental task team has been set up, and it is important that all parties are committedto making this work. Cooperation between the Western Cape Department of Local Governmentand Housing and the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Planning isparticularly important, as they are the two provincial departments largely responsible for issuesrelated to human settlements development. In addition, it will be necessary for the departmentto cooperate with the new Housing Development Agency (HDA), which is a national agencyintended to identify, acquire, hold, develop and release land for the creation of sustainablehuman settlements. Cooperation with municipalities is also essential, especially with the Cityof Cape Town, which accounts for 66% of the population of the province.49 This cooperationneeds to take place through the formal processes and structures of the intergovernmentalrelations framework, but needs to focus on finding practical solutions to problems.


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Creating an enabling environment at national level is an essential precondition for the successof the Isidima Strategy. The two key aspects of this are revising the Housing Subsidy Schemeso there is a greater range of subsidy instruments (for example, options for single people andextended families) and reforming the land registration and transfer system to make it more

appropriate to the needs of the poor (for example, by providing cheaper, more flexible tenureoptions and by ensuring greater intra-household security of tenure).

3.6.2 Capacity development

The Built Environment Support Programme, a joint initiative with the Department ofEnvironmental Affairs and Development Planning, assists under-capacitated municipalitiesto develop and implement integrated human settlement strategies that help ensure efficientproperty markets which provide for a range of housing needs and affordability levels, particularlybetter access by the poor to affordable and well-located land and housing. In the first phase,six municipalities in the Western Cape are being assisted with developing Spatial DevelopmentFrameworks and five-year Human Settlements Plans (as part of their Integrated Development

Plans). Currently the focus of the Built Environment Support Programme is on assistingmunicipalities produce plans, but the next stage will concentrate on the implementation ofplans, and the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation process.

The Isidima Strategy is based on three major mindset changes. As part of the capacity-building process for provincial and municipal staff, it will be necessary to internalise thesemindset changes. The mindset change required for facilitating community empowermentwill be a particular challenge; the Isidima Strategy suggests that there be a programme forstaff aimed at building an understanding of community-based development, and that this isextremely important. Another challenge is to be able to incorporate long-term incrementalapproaches to informal settlement upgrading and greenfield developments within a rapidlychanging institutional context with planning and budget cycles that are usually not longer thanthree to five years.

4. Key issues

The Isidima Strategy is a comprehensive strategy that highlights many key issues that arecrucial for the development of sustainable human settlements, such as capacity developmentof municipalities and provincial departments, intergovernmental cooperation, communityparticipation and environmental sustainability. Learning from the Lead and Pilot Projects, andthe adoption of the sustainability criteria, will also help to make the shift from the previousmodel of RDP housing projects on the urban periphery towards the new focus on sustainablehuman settlements. In addition to the issues already highlighted in the Isidima Strategy, thereare three key issues which ideally also need to be prioritised:

Understanding the nature of housing need in a more nuanced way

Developing new imaginaries to replace previous models of human settlements development

Mobilising additional financial resources.

4.1 Better understanding of housing need

A shift is needed away from a monolithic housing backlog figure towards a more nuancedunderstanding of the different types of housing need, of the diverse nature of households andof urban-rural and intra-urban movement. A better understanding of the diversity of need willfacilitate allocation processes that recognise different types of housing needs and are able torespond more effectively to the diversity of household needs. This has already started happening


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there are plans to reconceptualise the way in which housing demand data is collected andupdated, and to submit it to more intensive analysis. The department is also in the processof developing guidelines to ensure that municipalities have beneficiary selection policies thatensure an adequate balance between different types of housing needs; for example, people

living in backyards and/or overcrowded conditions and those living in informal settlements.

4.2 Developing new imaginaries

One of the key thrusts of the Isidima Strategy is to develop new imaginaries, or practical visions,of what sustainable human settlements are, in order to replace the stereotype of the sterileRDP housing settlement on the urban periphery. The Lead and Pilot Projects are good placesto start in attempting to do this, as the new imaginaries need to be based on real experience inlocal contexts. It is therefore essential that these projects are evaluated and learned from, andresources need to be set aside for this. (The World Bank experience is that the average cost ofa comprehensive project evaluation, including a household survey, is about 0.6% of the totalproject cost).50

The Isidima strategy highlights the importance of incorporating environmental sustainabilityand participatory planning and design into the new approach, but there are also other issuesthat need to grappled with in developing new imaginaries. These include incrementalism,implementing mixed-income developments, achieving higher residential densities, the linkageof human settlements and health, and understanding the complexities of location.

Incrementalism is important. It is a way of achieving width in delivery in the short termwhile still facilitating depth of delivery in the long term; it is amenable to participatoryprocesses; and it can result in more organic living environments than one-off projects. Variousincremental approaches to informal settlement upgrading and greenfield development needto be developed and tested. For example, the essentials that need to be provided upfront bythe state; the things that can be provided later; the essentials that communities/householdsneed support for immediately; and the things communities/households will need support for

in the longer term. The upfront essentials are likely to include some form of security of tenure,some form of access to water supply and sanitation, and access to essential services such aseducation and primary health care. However, the ways in which these essentials are provided,and the ways in which they are upgraded, extended and added to in different types of projectsneed to be explored.

The intention of the Isidima Strategy is to promote the kind of social mix that is socrucial for long-term social stability.51 In effect what this means is implementing mixed-income developments. In practice, however, mixed-income housing has proven to beextremely difficult to implement in South Africa, as pioneering attempts like Westlake Villagedemonstrate.52 Even where integration of different socioeconomic groups has occurred,research suggests that residential desegregation does not necessarily mean social integrationautomatically follows.53 Nonetheless, it is essential that different approaches to creating

mixed-income developments continue to be tested in practice (as has already startedhappening with some of the Isidima Lead and Pilot Projects). The layout and design ofmixed-income developments are particularly important to ensure that the low-income unitsare not segregated and stigmatised within a project.54

The need to achieve higher residential densities is explicitly acknowledged in the IsidimaStrategy, and it is proposed that all projects will have a gross residential density of more than25 dwelling units per hectare, and that developers will be encouraged to include buildingswith higher densities, such as row housing and blocks of flats. The importance of achievingappropriate densities cannot be overemphasised viable public transportation and the provisionof facilities within walking distance of all residents are only possible if planned residentialdensities are high enough. In Chile, for example, which has a similar housing policy to South

Africa, all subsidised housing is provided in the form of semi-detached units, row housingor blocks of flats, with gross residential densities of between 50 and 200 dwelling units per


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hectare.55 It has also been suggested that a minimum gross residential density of 50 dwellingunits per hectare is appropriate in the South African context. 56 It is important that successfulhigh-density projects, such as the public sector hostels redevelopment project in Langa, beused to demonstrate that higher density housing can result in high quality living environments.

It should also be noted that achieving higher densities is not just an objective for subsidisedhousing densification needs to be implemented across cities and towns through various landuse management tools.

It has increasingly been recognised that there is a strong relationship between public healthand the urban environment, and that the planning and design of human settlements need topromote good health among residents. This operates at various scales, from building level tostreet/urban design level to community level.57 It is important to develop greater understandingof these links at various scales, and to ensure that the promotion of good health becomes anintegral part of human settlements development.

Another complex issue that needs to be grappled with in the development of new imaginariesis the issue of location. South African cities and towns are highly segregated with unevendistribution of job opportunities and with ineffective public transportation systems. In a small

monocentric town, the issue of location is fairly simple, but in a large polycentric metropolitanarea such as Cape Town, location is a complex issue that depends on a wide range of factors(geophysical, proximity to social and economic opportunities, transport etc). In the contextof Cape Town, it could be argued that any project not in the poorly resourced south-easternsector of the city can be regarded as relatively well-located. For example, settlements suchas Westlake Village and Imizamo Yethu, although on the urban periphery, are located closeto job opportunities (although the Westlake case, in particular, highlights that proximity to asingle concentration of job opportunities does not necessarily mean that residents will getany of those jobs). Projects in or adjacent to old established townships, such as the Langaand Gugulethu components of the N2 Gateway Project and the hostels upgrading projects inLanga, Gugulethu and Nyanga, can also be regarded as relatively well-located, as there areestablished social and economic networks and reasonably adequate public transport linkages.

A more sophisticated understanding of housing location and analytical tools for holistically

assessing the suitability of location need to be developed.

4.3 Mobilising financial resources

The Isidima Strategy is an ambitious strategy to enable everyone to live in sustainable humansettlements. Although the Isidima Strategy rightly points out that a quantitative, numbers-drivenprocess is undesirable, it is important that the scale of delivery is sufficient to have a significantimpact. In the 2001 Provincial Housing Plan it was estimated that 40 000 subsidised housingunits need to be provided every year to eliminate the housing backlog within 15 years.58 Thecurrent, and currently projected, level of delivery is less than half of that.

The challenge is how to deliver on a sufficient scale to address a large housing backlog

(estimated at 410 000 households) within more or less the same resource constraints that wereonly able to deliver a total of 226 443 subsidised houses in the 14-year period from April 1993to March 2008. The Isidima Strategy proposes an increased number of housing programmesand an increased overall level of delivery, but assumes that the current level of funding bythe national government is fixed (i.e. approximately R1 billion a year in 2006/07 values). Thestrategy proposes that these funds will be supplemented by:

Community savings normally 10% of the benefit, which is approximately R50 million perannum59

Loans from banks and micro-lenders

Inclusionary housing ensuring the provision of affordable housing by private sectordevelopers through incentives or regulations

Greater coordination of funding between departments.


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While these sources will undoubtedly help supplement housing subsidy funding, the totaladditional amount of resources will probably be fairly small. Community savings are importantfor a variety of reasons, but will only increase the total amount of financial resources by arelatively small percentage. Access to housing credit, especially the savings-based credit of

micro-finance organisations like the Kuyasa Fund,60 is also important, and could potentiallyresult in a more significant increase in available finance. But increasing access to credit isa long-term process that will require substantial support for the growth and replication ofsavings-based micro-finance organisations like the Kuyasa Fund. Currently, there is very littleaccess to credit among households with incomes below the typical threshold for conventionalmortgage finance it has been estimated that only 5% of households in the R1 500 to R7 500per month income group are able to access housing finance.61 There is great optimism aboutinclusionary housing, but the formal housing development market in South Africa is relativelysmall between 2000 and 2004 an average of 40 000 housing units per year were deliveredby the private sector in South Africa.62 Even if every private sector development in South Africawas required to ensure that 20% of units provided were affordable housing, this would onlyresult in an extra 8 000 affordable housing units per year this is 2% of the annual target

required to meet the National Department of Housings goal of eliminating slums by 2014.Ultimately, it could be argued that current levels of expenditure on housing in South Africa aretoo low and should be increased. The latest figures on South African housing expenditure showthat government expenditure on housing is about 1.5% of total government expenditure, 63whereas the international average for developing countries is about 2%.64

5. Conclusion

The Isidima Strategy is an ambitious long-term strategy to create sustainable humansettlements in the Western Cape. The strategy is based on a good analysis of the currentcontext. The shift away from RDP housing projects on the periphery to a more holistic

focus on sustainable human settlements and on the overall land and housing market islong overdue. Since its launch in June 2007, the department has made good progress withimplementing the Isidima Strategy.

Many challenges still remain, though. First, intergovernmental and inter-departmentalrelations are a challenge. The success of Isidima will largely depend on the creation of a moreenabling environment at a national level (for example, new types of subsidy programmes),implementation at a local level, and cooperation between departments such as theDepartment of Local Government and Housing and the Department of Environmental Affairsand Development Planning. Second, mobilising additional resources will be a challenge. Newsubsidy programmes can only be implemented on a sufficient scale to have a significant impactif there is a significant increase in the availability of financial resources. Third, there is a needfor ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the Isidima Strategy and its

impact. Changes in the context also need to be monitored to ensure that the implementationof the strategy is able to respond to these changes if necessary. Fourth, the Isidima Strategyneeds to be squarely located within the context of a democratic developmental state, wherethere is the opportunity for citizens and civil society to engage with decisions and challengethem if necessary. Finally, the paradigm shift proposed in the Isidima Strategy needs to beinculcated into the institutions and staff responsible for implementing the strategy, so thatpolicy can be turned into practice that will have a tangible effect on the creation of sustainablehuman settlements in the Western Cape.


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Endnotes

1 R Tomlinson The changing nature of South African housing demand Element Three of the NationalDepartment of Housings programme to develop a new Policy and Research Agenda Pretoria,National Department of Housing 2003.

2 Provincial Housing Plan Cape Town, Western Cape Department of Planning, Local Governmentand Housing 2001.

3 The road map to dignified communities: Western Capesustainable human settlement strategy[Isidima Strategy] Cape Town, Western Cape Department of Local Government and Housing 2007.

Available at http://www.capegateway.gov.za/Text/2007/10/wcshss.pdf [accessed 2 February 2009].

4 For example, W Smit, Understanding the complexities of informal settlements: Insights fromCape Town in M Huchzermeyer and A Karam (eds) Informal settlements: A perpetual challenge?Cape Town, Juta 2006.

5 Report of the evaluation of the national housing subsidy scheme Pretoria, Public ServiceCommission 2003.

6 T Zack and S CharltonA somewhat better life: Beneficiaries perceptions of the governmentshousing subsidy scheme Johannesburg, Housing Finance Resource Programme 2003.

7 State of the cities report 2006 Johannesburg, South African Cities Network 2006, 4.13.8 Not to be confused with the National Department of Social Developments Operation Isidima,

implemented during 20042006.

9 Isidima Strategy68.

10 Ibid 8.

11 Ibid 89.

12 Ibid 15.

13 Ibid 9.

14 Ibid 46.

15 Annual Performance Plan 2008/09 2010/11 Western Cape Department of Local Government andHousing, Cape Town 2008.


17 R Hamman et al A national model for innovation and sustainable development: The Grabouwsustainable development initiative a vital learning experience Sustainable cities 2008 SouthAfrican Cities Network, Johannesburg 2008.

18 Sustainability criteria for assessment of all human settlement projects Western Cape Department ofLocal Government and Housing circular sent to municipalities 2008.


20 Ibid 12.

21 Ibid 9.

22 Good Address, Small House, a term applied to the lower end of the conventional privateresidential development sector (properties in about the R400 000 to R800 000 price range).


24 Ibid 55.

25 Ibid 18.

26 D Smit and J PurchaseA review of the international experience with inclusionary housingprogrammes: Implications for South Africa Pretoria, Department of Housing 2006.


28 Urban LandMark, From land rights to property rights: Conference report Pretoria, Urban LandMark,2008. Available at www.urbanlandmark.org.za/docs/2008ULMConf/2008_Annual_conference_report.pdf [accessed 4 February 2009].


30 Ibid 59.

31 Annual Performance Plan 2008/09 2010/11 Cape Town, Western Cape Provincial Department ofLocal Government and Housing.

32 Cape Town Central City: Into the future Cape Town, Cape Town Partnership 2008.


34 Ibid 10.


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35 Report of the evaluation of the national housing subsidy scheme Pretoria, Public ServiceCommission 2003.


37 Ibid 10.

38 Ibid 63.39 Draft Western Cape Strategy for the Development of Sustainable Human Settlements Cape Town,

Western Cape Department of Local Government and Housing 2006, 129.

40 J Corburn Confronting the challenges in reconnecting urban planning and public health (2004)94(4)American Journal of Public Health 541546 at 543.


42 Ibid 63.

43 E Pieterse City futures: Confronting the crisis of urban development London/Cape Town, ZedBooks/UCT Press 2008, 56.


45 P Bond Cities of gold, townships of coal: Essays on South Africas new urban crisis Trenton, NJ,Africa World Press 2000, 273.


47 Implementation Plan Western Cape Department of Local Government and Housing.


49 Community Survey 2007 Statistical releases P0301 & P0301.1 Pretoria, Statistics South Africa 2007.

50 J Baker Evaluating the impact of development projects on poverty: A handbook for practitionersWashington D.C., The World Bank 2000, 79.


52 C Lemanski Spaces of exclusivity or connection? Linkages between a gated community and itspoorer neighbour in a Cape Town master plan development (2006) 43(2) Urban Studies 397420.

53 C Lemanski Desegregation and integration as linked or distinct? Evidence from a previouslywhite suburb in post-apartheid Cape Town (2006) 30(3) International Journal of Urban andRegional Research 564586.

54 California Coalition for Rural Housing/Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California

Inclusionary housing in California: 30 years of innovation Sacramento, San Francisco, CA, CCRH/NPHANC 2003; A Berube Mixed communities in England: A US perspective on evidence and policyprospects York, Joseph Rowntree Foundation 2005; A Ray Inclusionary housing: A discussion ofpolicy issues Gainesville, Florida, Alachua County Department of Planning and Development 2001.

55 A Sugranyes The public housing programme in Santiago, Chile: Quantity versus quality, a 20 yearlong dilemma Delft, Netherlands, Technical University Delft 2002.

56 R Behrens and V Watson Making urban places: Principles and guidelines for layout planning CapeTown, UCT Press 1996; Guidelines for human settlement planning and design [The Red Book]Pretoria, CSIR 2000.

57 For example: T Hancock and L Duhl Healthy cities: Promoting health in the urban context HealthyCities Paper #1 Copenhagen, WHO Europe 1986; R Ranson Healthy housing: A practical guideSpon 1991; D Vlahov and S Galea Urbanization, urbanicity, and health (2002) 79(4) Journalof Urban Health Suppl. 1 S1S12; L Jackson The relationship of urban design to human healthand condition (2003) 64 Landscape and Urban Planning 191200; H Frumkin Healthy places:Exploring the evidence (2003) 93(9)Journal of Urban Health 14511456.

58 Provincial Housing Plan Cape Town, Western Cape Department of Planning, Local Governmentand Housing 2001.


60 S Mills The Kuyasa Fund: Housing microcredit in South Africa (2007) 19 Environment andUrbanization 457469.

61 K RustAnalysis of South Africas housing sector performance Midrand, FinMark Trust 2006.

62 D Smit and J PurchaseA review of the international experience with inclusionary housingprogrammes: Implications for South Africa Johannesburg, Pretoria, Department of Housing 2006.

63 2008 Estimates of national expenditure Pretoria, National Treasury 2008.

64 UN-HabitatThe challenge of slums: Global report on human settlements 2003 London, Earthscan2003.

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Creating Dignified Communities