City Parks gives Corridors of Freedom ‘green lungs’
The Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo – the City of Johannesburg’s municipal entity (ME) at the centre of the implementation of the city’s green culture and the management of its cemeteries – is to spend a total of R15,1 million to upgrade parks and green spaces along the three existing Corridors of Freedom.
The Corridors of Freedom are transport-orientated developments that will see Johannesburg transcend apartheid-era town planning by bringing schools, services, work opportunities and other benefits closer to people’s homes, especially of those who live on the outskirts of the city.
The City of Joburg is implementing the new spatial planning in line with its Growth and Development Strategy 2040 (GDS 2040). The shape of the new-look Johannesburg will comprise well-planned transport arteries linked to interchanges, with focus on mixed-use development.
Parks and green spaces form an integral part of these developments.
As a result, two parks along the Perth-Empire Roads Corridor – one in Noordgesig and the other in Westbury – are under construction at a cost of R2 million each.
Along the Louis Botha Avenue Corridor, a R2 million upgrade to Yeoville Park has already started. However, the upgrade to Patterson Park at a cost of R5 million, along the same corridor, is currently on hold.
The upgrade of Rotunda Park, which is located along the Turffontein Corridor, has been allocated a budget of R4.1 million. This upgrade is currently at the planning phase.
In addition, green outdoor gyms will be built in all these parks. These are over and above green outdoor gyms that City Parks has already built in all existing parks across the city, delivering a world-class outdoor recreational experience at no cost to residents.
“These open spaces are essentially the city’s green lungs,” said Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo’s Technical Manager, Gugulethu Reginald Mokalapa.
“Parks positively contribute to communities in which they exist by serving as hubs of cohesion and inclusion. They foster social and cultural cohesion. Open spaces are true cosmopolitan meeting spaces that integrate all – disabled, disadvantaged and socially alienated. They are spaces that create lively community atmospheres of integration; they are spaces that nurture a positive future for all,” Mokalapa said.
He said the social impact of improving and upgrading existing parks was endless.
“Through the building of green gyms and making gym equipment and space available to all, the City is encouraging residents to adopt a healthy lifestyle,” Mokalapa said.
He added that the upgrading of parks along the Corridors of Freedom would have a positive effect on surrounding neighbourhoods, making them safer in that they would attract an increased number of visitors, while undeveloped and underdeveloped spaces tended to attract criminal elements.
Mokalapa said the creation and improvement of parks and green spaces always had important environmental benefits, including improved storm water management and soil erosion control. He added that they were also ideal buffers between built-up areas and natural environments.
Planning Manager Busi Madikizela said by preserving our parks and upgrading them, the City would create several short- and long-term employment opportunities.
“The upgrades will also make these facilities appealing to visitors, effectively turning them into tourism attractions,” she said.