The City of Johannesburg, through its implementing agent the Johannesburg Development Agency, is upgrading the public environment in Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville as part of the regeneration of the Inner City. The project is part of the City's 2007 / 2008 budget cycle and will be completed by the end of June 2008.

Public meetings to present details of the project will be held in the four wards where the work will take place. Details of these meetings are as follows:

• Ward 63 - 18h00 Monday 14 January (Hillbrow Recreation Centre)
• Ward 67 (Yeoville / Bellevue area) – 18h30 Tuesday 15 January (Yeoville Recreation Centre)
• Ward 62 – 18h00 Wednesday 16 January (Hillbrow Recreation Centre)
• Ward 64 – 18h00 Thursday 17 January (The Palace, Region F Social Services Building, Cnr Soper and Tudhope, Berea)

In July last year the City approved the Inner City Regeneration Charter, a strategic document outlining how the City will address issues of urban regeneration and economic development in the Inner City. One of the ways identified for achieving this strategy is to create high quality public spaces. An amount of R300 million was therefore allocated by the Mayor for Inner City regeneration in the current financial year and this includes an amount of R171million for the Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville public environment upgrade.

The public environment upgrade will cover 200 city blocks and will be carried out in accordance with the classification of roads into high streets (such as Pretoria / Kotze and Rockey / Raleigh), activity streets with high vehicular and pedestrian volumes, and residential streets. The level of intervention will be determined by the street classification. The scope of work will include paving, landscaping, street lighting, street furniture, stormwater inlets, litter bins and public toilets.

The project will also include upgrades to five parks which were chosen based on their size and location. A key focus of this work will be safety and security.

There will also be a number of public art works reflecting the diversity and identity of Hillbrow, Berea and Yeoville and this process will be undertaken in conjunction with the Department of Arts, Culture and Heritage.

The Governor's House and Hillbrow Recreation Centre will also be upgraded as part the project. The Governor's House will be restored as a heritage building and transformed into a community facility which will be managed by the Department of Community Development. The Hillbrow Recreation Centre will be renovated and the space between the two buildings will be developed into a sports and recreation area.

Work on all components of the project will commence in January 2008 with the exception of the five parks where the contractor is due on site in February 2008. The project should be substantially complete by end of July 2008.

For further information, please contact the JDA on the details beneath:
Mr. Sammy Thamsanqa Mafu
Executive Manager
Marketing & Communications
Johannesburg Development Agency
Tel: 011 688 7856
Cell: 084 777 5052
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it