Overview | Profile | Projects

The City of Johannesburg's R61-million, four-year regeneration initiative for Yeoville aims to attract new investment into the area and to restore the Rockey/Raleigh High Street to its former glory and even better as "the symbolic heart and soul of Yeoville".

Historically, Yeoville has always been an important civic, economic, social and entertainment node for the local community and the city. However, it has attracted activities associated with high crime and grime and land use is often inappropriate. Security is poor and the area is neglected and decaying. All this has fed into negative perceptions about the area, exposing it to serious disinvestments.

But the area is now the focus of a regeneration plan by the City of Johannesburg, which will be implemented by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA). The focus of the development will be Rockey/Raleigh streets, with the idea to turn this so-called High Street into an "attractive, well-maintained, safe, secured and convenient urban environment sustained by a vibrant local mixed-use economy, providing opportunities for convenient shopping, accessible retail, entertainment, recreation and social services facilities predominantly to the neighbourhood community and attractive to the sub-regional community".

A lot of groundwork has been put into this initiative, including a feasibility study, which identified four strategies for development intervention: intensive urban management; economic redevelopment; public environment upgrade; and marketing. Read more about the development strategies.

The community of the area is closely involved with the development and an interim stakeholder liaison forum has been established to organise and provide a voice for stakeholders and the communities of Yeoville, Bellevue and Bellevue East. The forum comprises community organisations, the ward committee, business operators, property owners, taxi industry, informal traders, community policing forum and the religious and education sectors.

The regeneration initiative will aim to:

• restore the High Street as the symbolic heart and soul of Yeoville and its adjacent communities;
• enhance the civic and commercial vitality of the High Street in the Yeoville community;
• create a safe and secured environment which is attractive to new investment; and
• create a place for new economic activities.

Read about the development's projects