Kubayi: Steep rise in urban population makes it difficult to plan
Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has acknowledged that the government is finding it difficult to plan for the next 25 years because of the steep rise in urban populations.
Kubayi made the remarks during the 9th Planning Africa Conference at Elangeni Hotel in Durban on Monday.
The number of people who live in urban areas is expected to grow by 6.5 billion by 2050.
Kubayi says there's a need for the government's three spheres to work together to create sustainable residential areas.
"Small and medium-sized settlements are growing fastest. This growth places demands on existing infrastructure, and infrastructure augmentation needed is expensive to retrofit. Despite the economic, social, and environmental importance of urban development, it has often happened without effective planning.
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"Where planning legislation has existed, the process of making plans for land use and physical development has not kept pace with the rate of urban growth. Once prepared, plans can be instantly out of date, and the task of enforcing regulation of development is time-consuming and costly.
"Out-of-date plans also can criminalise the poor who did not wait for the plan before accessing land to build informal housing because we take long to finalise plans and formalise areas where people can settle.”
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