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News and media releases: 2009
News and media releases: 2009
| Linear markets planned for CBD |
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| 11 February 2009 |
Alfred Sam, chief executive of the MTC, with a smart card designed to provide a record of each trader and trading activity to control unlicensed trading
The setting up of linear markets is part of an urban renewal plan to boost the CBD and encourage business to return to the city centre. Trading in any other area of the city will be prohibited. Their design will reflect an "African market in an African world-class city". The structures will have oval-shaped roofs that depict a typical African hut, allowing the traders a full view of their trading space. "The new linear markets will therefore be distinct in their appearance and aesthetically catchy, but low in maintenance requirements," said the MTC's chief executive, Alfred Sam. Already, two such markets have been built in Johannesburg, in Hoek and Quartz streets. Designated nodesThey will operate from designated business nodes, mostly along streets, and will serve as incubators where traders' developmental needs will be identified and programmes will be set up to focus on those needs. This will ensure that traders grow and are able to move into more formal business.Sam said the establishment of these linear markets would ensure the provision of appropriate, convenient and affordable trading spaces for informal traders in the inner city. They would transform the inner city into a trading and cultural environment that went hand-in-hand with its modern context. "The establishment of linear markets is one of the City's interventions to properly manage street trading and ensure that it does not disrupt pedestrians' mobility or passing road traffic." He explained that the markets would either be erected in the middle of less busy roads or on wider pavements that could accommodate stalls and pedestrians. Depending on the size of the street, linear markets will accommodate between 40 and 628 traders. They will also have sanitation and ablution facilities and secure overnight storage space. "The viability and sustainability of the new linear markets is extremely dependent on the cohesive and integrated management plan," Sam said, adding that the MTC would work closely with the traders to manage the new structures. "We are still trying to develop a model that will inform us on how we can get traders to participate in the management of the linear markets." There about 6 815 traders in the inner city; of these, about 3 930 are in need of stalls. "Those who are not accommodated when all the phases are complete will be absorbed into other initiatives, like cleaning and security co-operatives," Sam said. A smart card system would be rolled out that would be managed through a central database. It would provide a record of each trader and trading activity to control unlicensed trading. The smart card would contain the trader's identity number, photograph, trading area and other related information. The system would aid by-law enforcement and monitoring. "To clamp down on illegal trading in the inner city, the Johannesburg metro police department will move around with handheld computer devices linked to the MTC's database to verify the details of the traders," he said. PhasesBecause of budget limitations, the project has been split into five phases. Streets identified for the plan include Commercial, Noord, Eloff, Plein, Joubert, Kerk, Wanderers and Diagonal. Its total cost is R200-million."However, the reality is that the project cannot be rolled out in a single process [because of the geographic layout and size] of the city ... and the possible impact on other projects currently under way, such as the development of the Bus Rapid Transit system and the Gautrain," Sam said. The MTC has overseen the development of a number of markets in and around the inner city - in Yeoville and Hillbrow, the Metro Mall in Newtown, the Mai Mai Market in Bree Street and the Faraday Market. |
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