South Africa aims to help townships become sustainable neighbourhoods. As part of those plans, an overview course to train municipal officials working on township renewal was held in June 2009.
South Africa aims to help townships become sustainable neighbourhoods. As part of those plans, an overview course to train municipal officials working on township renewal was held in June 2009. The course was offered under the Training for Township Renewal Initiative (TTRI) and was offered to over 60 municipal officials working on township renewal projects.
The TTRI is a joint venture between the South African National Treasury’s Neighbourhood Development Programme Unit, the Urban Renewal Programme Unit of the Department of Provincial and Local Government, and the Knowledge Unit of the South African Cities Network. The partners are also supported by FinMark Trust, Urban Landmark, and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).
The initiative will complement a recent national movement aimed at gaining a better understanding of townships’ needs and transforming them into functional and sustainable neighborhoods.
The purpose of the TTRI is to assist in the building of local expertise to conceptualise, design, initiate, and implement township development projects throughout South Africa. The City of eThekwini (Durban) is partnering the initiative this year as the event host.
The overview course combined conceptual and theoretical inputs with practical case studies highlighting the township challenge. It also presented modules on four key dimensions of township renewal: making markets work, physical interventions, packaging of projects, and urban management.
Subsequent learning events on township renewal will build on material used for this course. Future modules are expected to focus in detail on the application of specific interventions in township renewal.
In South Africa, the term “township” usually refers to an urban living area created during apartheid, and reserved for black residents. Townships were typically built on the periphery of existing towns and cities.
