The promise for development on the sugar land known as Cornubia will go down as one of those huge decisions when the history of our city is written.  The land measures some 1200 hectares and provides us with a great opportunity to undo what characterised the apartheid city  -- places where black and poor people were marginalised, where settlements and land uses were fragmented and where economic, social and environmental opportunities worked at cross-purposes with each other.

We don’t really understand how big 1200 hectares really is.  eThekwini’s main CBD is around half that size, some 600 hectares.  All other major suburbs/townships are smaller:  Phoenix (excl. Industrial Park) is 2870 ha; KwaMashu is 1760 ha; Durban North is 2040 ha; Westville is 3070 ha; Chatsworth is 4010 ha and Umlazi is 4480 ha.  So the area is roughly two-thirds of all these major areas put together.  We must therefore plan it very carefully and that is why it has taken some time to develop the conceptual framework to guide future development.  It will include over 70000 homes, including many for the truly poor.  It will include a range of other land uses, from light industry to retail and commercial.  It will ensure that environmentally sensitive land is protected and properly planned.  And it will ensure we become a more caring city, integrating people all across it.

It is premature as this stage to outline the exact type of industries in the project as more research on demand will be required as well as their impact on the receiving environment. Notwithstanding the definition of "light industry", the final decision will be based on the merits of the area and will be subject to a full assessment.  

We have estimated that there will be over 70000 houses.  This ‘yield’ is a gross estimate utilising the best case density scenario and aiming to be innovative on housing typologies to make the area work as a sustainable high use development. The yield has been calculated by professional town planners. They have had to estimate how much land is developable, although it will be through an EIA process that the final figure of developable land is determined.

We have reached a high level of consensus with Tongaat-Hulett on the principles surrounding this integrated development.  Some details needed to be ironed out. In order to make a project of this magnitude a sustainable and an affordable venture, the details of achieving this vision such as the costings and responsibilities require more unpacking to reach conclusion. A lot of this will be unpacked as the project proceeds. 

We are not driven as much by political imperative as we are by how we can make the development most sustainable to the City and the land owner. The City remains convinced that with the right levels of co-operation, various interests can be met in this project. So it is not a simple issue of the number of low income housing units, but our first prize is to achieve an integrated housing project in discussion with the land owner. Where land can be released without compromise, it will be done in phases and given the work done to date it is possible for the EIA decision to be expedited.  

I am very excited that if we get it right, Cornubia will provide us with the first real opportunity to build a city based on the principles underpinning our constitution and not those which defined our apartheid past.  It will have a CBD geared up for mixed and high density use and has a spatial locational advantage which will allow the northern corridor of the city to continue to expand rapidly.