In little more than a decade the Central Johannesburg Partnership has managed to turn around a number of inner city areas, and has boosted the number of legislated city improvement districts to 14.

CITY improvement districts will only be successful if property owners and local government forge a closer working relationship to deal with ills like crime and grime, and so reverse urban decay.

This is the view of Anne Steffny, a director at the Central Johannesburg Partnership (CJP), an independent section 21 company dedicated to the revitalisation of Joburg's inner city. The CJP works closely with the City of Johannesburg, local businesses and residents.

Sitting in her office at 90 Market Street in central Johannesburg, Steffny speaks passionately about the developments her organisation is implementing in the inner city and elsewhere. It is concerned with regenerating public space, "not for profit or gain", by setting up and managing central improvement districts (CIDs).

"The CJP was established by the prominent city personality and champion of urban renewal, Neil Fraser, in 1992. Together with people like John Spiropoulos and myself, we have managed to turn around the fortunes of numerous urban spaces by providing sound urban management and place-making services."

In 1997 the CJP established a Partnership for Urban Renewal primarily to provide a consulting and urban management service across the Johannesburg metropolitan area outside the CJP's traditional focus in the inner city.

In July 2003 a new organisation within the Kagiso Group, known as Kagiso Urban Management (KUM), was formed and the Partnership for Urban Renewal was absorbed by the new structure. The CJP remained a private, non-profit company, although its administration was provided under contract by the KUM.

Anne Steffny, Central Johannesburg Partnership director

According to Steffny, a central improvement district is a defined geographic area within which property owners agree to pay for certain services "to enhance the physical and social environment of the area". The CJP and the KUM, in partnership with the City of Johannesburg and other concerns, manage 11 legislated central improvement districts, six voluntary improvement districts and three special projects around the city.

"The main focus of the CJP is the inner city. Some priority areas for regeneration were identified by the City of Johannesburg and the private sector and the Inner City Summit to be held in April will try to provide a solution to some of these issues," she says.

With 200 000 residents and over 800 000 commuters passing through the inner city everyday, it is one of the busiest parts of Johannesburg. This has brought problems like over-crowding, crime and grime.

"Bringing back people into the inner city involves decreasing all the negative cues. An area that is messy, dirty and unsafe provides a poor experience. But as soon as a place is kept clean and security is improved we are on the right track to providing a great city experience with all the positive cues."

But getting people to stay in the inner city involves getting "the balance of the social and economic framework right", according to Steffny. She says it is no good bringing a large number of people into the area just for them "to become prisoners in their homes".

"We need schools, churches, theatres, restaurants, banks, retail outlets – everything that a community needs and we need to constantly work together to get that balance right and create an exceptional sense of place. CIDs try to keep that balance."

There are five legislated CIDs in the inner city, namely the Central, South Western, Retail, Braamfontein and Benrose improvement districts. Over and above these, there are voluntary and special projects like Constitution Hill, Main Street, Ellis Park and the Fashion District. All of these have a story to tell, Steffny explains.

"The Braamfontein precinct is well known as an education district, the Ellis Park precinct for its sports story and Newtown for its cultural tale. We have a wonderful African sector where traders are located in areas like Kerk Street and Joubert Street. The noise and the vibe of that area is unique to the inner city and we want to maintain that vibe within our plans to regenerate the area."

All CIDs managed by the CJP are based in commercial, industrial and mixed-use areas. But there are plans to experiment in residential areas like Berea, Steffny adds.

"Setting up a CID costs money and to get good services people have to pay for extra services on top of those provided by the council. That is why most CIDs are set up in areas where property owners can afford to pump out money for these extra services like security and beautifying of public spaces."

The zeal of property owners in the inner city is evidenced by the number of voluntary CIDs that have been set up. The Civic, Legislature, Newtown, Constitutional Court, Main Street and Fashion District are examples of places where property owners have not waited for the formal process of setting up a CID to be completed but are contributing voluntarily to regenerating their areas.

"Setting up a CID is a long process and all parties have to be consulted before an application can be made to the council. An initial application to set up a CID has to be submitted and if approved the applicants should obtain 51 percent support for [it] to be legislated," Steffny explains.

There has been a marked improvement in areas where CIDs have been set up. Crime has gone down, business health has improved and property values have gone up, she adds.

"We started with only five legislated CIDs in the whole of Johannesburg but now we are proud to say we have managed to establish 14 legislated CIDs."

But it has been smooth sailing the entire way. For example, because of the extent to which the suburb had degraded, the Randburg CID will take quite a long time to set things right. There are also challenges regarding communications in some CIDs, but two excellent examples of successful CIDs are in Sandton and Rosebank, where there is "a fantastic partnership between all stakeholders".

"The inner city CIDs are also doing well, having established a wonderful relationship between the City and property owners. The main challenge, however, remains in areas like Joubert Park, where there is still a lot of work to be done," Steffny says.