RANDBURG businesses and property owners are launching a management district to complement other initiatives to give the suburb a make-over.

BUSINESSES and property owners in Randburg have followed the example of their counterparts in the inner city, Braamfontein, Sandton, Rosebank and other areas, by announcing the launch of the Randburg Management District on Thursday, 7 April 2005.

This development is one of many initiatives taken by the City of Johannesburg to revitalise the area. Kagiso Urban Management, which administers improvement districts like Sandton Central and Rosebank, will run the latest management district.

Charles Davis, the precinct manager at Kagiso Urban Management, says the Randburg Management District was legislated by the City in October 2004 while services to the area began in February 2005.

In January 2005 the council approved a R5-million, three-year plan for upgrading infrastructure in the suburb's central business district, economic development and empowerment, social development, environmental intervention, urban management and marketing.

Over the past few years Randburg has gone into decline, with companies and businesses preferring the newer developments in prestigious, upmarket suburbs like Sandton and Rosebank.

A city improvement district (CID) or management district is a geographic area where property owners have agreed to pay a levy to fund specific services in that area. The City still provides normal services in these districts and the levy is used to fund extra services, like safety and security patrol officers, pavement cleaning, litter collection, maintenance of public spaces and removal of illegal posters.

Neil Fraser, in his column Citichat , says the aim behind the CIDs is to maintain and manage the public environment at a superior level to that usually provided by a local authority.

Davis adds, "The establishment of the Randburg Management District is a joint effort by the City and the local business community and is set to ensure more effective management of public areas, address issues of crime and grime, promote business confidence and play an overarching role in the promotion of the area, particularly the mall."

The Johannesburg Property Company, the company that manages City-owned properties, has commissioned a plan to develop a civic precinct on the council-owned site bound by Jan Smuts Avenue, Hendrik Verwoerd Drive and Selkirk Road, giving a boost to the creation of the management district.

The district's geographic boundaries are on either side of Sentrum and Dover Streets in the north; Hendrik Verwoerd Drive in the east; Retail Avenue in the south; and Kent Street in the west.

Based on surveys undertaken by the Randburg Management District, clear goals have been set. These include making the suburb safe, clean, attractive and user-friendly; revitalising the area as a desirable commercial node; facilitating public and private sector investment; promoting and marketing businesses and opportunities in the area; dealing with the negative perceptions of the area; and increasing the positive factors to encourage investment.

Ursula Ntsubane, the development manager at the Johannesburg Development Agency, is confident that creating a management district will pay dividends. "The revitalisation is an incentive for business to stay."

The rejuvenation of the Randburg central business district is expected to reduce vacancy rates at offices, retail and civic buildings and property values are expected to increase. It also could create about 5 000 jobs.

For more information on the project, contact the Randburg Management District on 011 537 0650.