MAGINE Chatsworth was inspired by therecent campaigns of Imagine Durban to

create a better, safer and accessible city,”said co-ordinator Clive Pillay. He wastalking to a gathering of hundreds of youngpeople and other community stakeholdersat the recent launch at the ChatsworthYouth Centre.

Imagine Chatsworth aims to harnessyouth support, talent and skills in thismajor residential and business belt whichis plagued by unemployment, crime,domestic violence, teenage pregnancy andthe widespread abuse of alcohol and drugs,especially among young people.

The initiative’s goal is to lift the socialstigma that has blighted Chatsworth, oneof the early Group Areas Act townshipsdesigned for the Indian community.

Today, this growing, cosmopolitansuburb is home to more than 300 000people and boasts some remarkable socialand economic success stories.

It encompasses more than a dozenareas, reflecting the old and newarchitecture, including the transcendentbeauty of the Hare Krishna Temple. Andthe unique East-meets-West-meets-Africashopping experience it offers means there’shuge untapped tourism potential.

Backers of the initiative believe that itcan, if sustained, become an extension ofthe city’s tourism experience with visitorsshopping at the Chatsworth Centre,Bangladesh Market or having a bunnychowat the Victory Lounge.

Imagine Chatsworth will beginencouraging residents and people living

in the city’s southern suburbs to shoplocally to boost the local economy andcreate more local jobs. This is especiallyimportant for previously disadvantagedpeople living on the suburban fringes ofChatsworth in squalid informalsettlements.

A website and forum are planned tohelp organisations and interestedindividuls to network and debate issues.

“We have invited every club,organisation, school and other structurein Chatsworth to submit information to beput onto a website, which will act as adirectory,” Pillay said.

“Pages will be created for everyorganisation to showcase their calendar ofevents, activities, photographs and newsupdates. Organisations with their ownwebsites will be linked to the ImagineChatsworth website.”

The Imagine Chatsworth Forum,comprising representatives of different keygroups, will formulate a short and long-term vision for the area.“As a community, we will start imagininghow we want Chatsworth to be in 10 or 20years and beyond. It is also about realisingthat the choices we make today will affectour children and grandchildren tomorrow,”said Pillay.

An Imagine Chatsworth Volunteer Basewill also be created. This database ofpotential volunteers with differing skillswill help sister organisations to identifypeople who can contribute to makingChatsworth a better place in which to live.

Jacquie Subban, the Head of the City’s

Geographic and Information Policy Unit,urged communities to “think beyond thefive-year period” term of City councillorsto help Imagine Durban to plan andunderstand long-term and sustainableprojects.

“Schoolchildren and the youth areexcellent ambassadors to raise publicawareness on issues because they arepositive and they will talk about progress,while adults complain only about crime.Schools are the best platforms,” Subbansaid. “We want the youth to producedocuments to give us ideas, goals andobjectives and to discuss as well ascommunicate information, education andawareness, especially about the energycrisis, electricity saving and theenvironment. This responsibility does notbelong to the state or city government only,but every individual and community-basedsocial, sports and religious organisations,and particularly schools, should play a bigrole in our awareness campaign.

“Imagine Durban is a process that ismobilising government to non-government, civil society organisations,faith based groups, tertiary institutions,business organisations and ordinarycitizens to imagine what we want our cityto be like in the future and to create a pathto begin taking us there today,” saidSubban. Imagine Chatsworth is alsosupported by the KZN Department ofEconomic Development, Satyagraha, andGovernment Communications andInformation Systems (GCIS).

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Imagine Chatsworthwords Marlan Padayachee

THE sustainable living initiative, Imagine Durban, has spread its wings to one ofthe city’s largest suburbs, Chatsworth.

The bangladesh Market The Hare Krishna Temple