Planning for the Expansion of Phuthaditjhaba CBD Through UN Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

AbstractIn the 1980s, the QwaQwa government established the Phuthaditjhaba Central Business District (CBD), locally known as Setsing. Currently, measuring approximately 60 ha, Setsing hosts a mixture of formal businesses in shopping complexes and a large informal sector trading on pavements. Setsing is enclosed by four of 13 township sections of Phuthaditjhaba that have limited vacant land for expansion. The enclosing townships consist of privately-owned residential homes, without any municipal land available to expand the CBD needed to address the business demands of Setsing. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 on making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable is applied to address the issues stated in the study. The study employed exploratory qualitative research methods to determine the land use planning practices to allow the CBD to expand into the enclosing township sections and unlock economic value for property owners in these sections. The study participants included municipal officials, homeowners, business owners and property developers. Content analysis was used to determine land use management practices that will allow Setsing to expand and create possible spin-offs for the local economy. The chapter makes three contributions to Setsing through the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The first contribution is that homeowners felt that zoning interventions could assist with the expansion of Setsing. The second contribution plans for densification through increasing basic infrastructure to support the consideration of multi-storey buildings. The last contribution is the development of a new CBD with careful consideration that will not lead to a negative effect on livelihoods in the existing CBD.