"We need the CBD to be accessible, safe, attractive, and inclusive. The LSDF must guide development decisions to accommodate the growth in the property market, facilitate mixed-use and residential intensification, while leveraging the character and traditional urban fabric opportunities."

Once approved, it will also inform public investment in infrastructure to ensure that the CBD transitions into a more sustainable, equitable, inclusive, liveable and resilient space to the benefit of current and future generations of Capetonians.

A statement by the City of Cape Town said it was estimated that the CBD will have to provide residential opportunities to an additional 50 000 people by 2040. This projected demand translates into a specific urban form that needs to be managed through spatial and land use policy and regulation.

The LSDF intends to assist in land use regulatory improvements to facilitate development while providing guidelines to protect heritage resources. This includes height benefits in exchange for residential units and public realm improvements and investments.

Additionally, access to and from the CBD from the rest of Cape Town is also poor. Restoring passenger rail as the backbone of public transport is key. The CBD is also still dominated by vehicles, and interventions were needed to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment, as well as public spaces with greening to give workers and residents relief and escape from the urban environment.

The draft LSDF elaborates on the spatial constraints and opportunities, upgrade of public open spaces and the creation of new green areas in the vicinity of the Foreshore, for example.

As for the public realm, the LSDF proposes a pedestrian-friendly CBD that links Table Mountain with the Atlantic ocean through key public spaces, each with their own identity, and more green recreation spaces; the upgrade of squares such as the Grand Parade, Civic Square, Riebeeck Square, Greenmarket Square, and Harrington Square, which is currently the focus of a feasibility study.

The LSDF also looks into nodal character areas, or places which contribute to the unique sense of place and in some instances, include important heritage assets. To rationalise the heritage protection overlay zone, the LSDF identifies enclaves of existing historic building fabric to be retained and enhanced, and where detailed heritage management provisions are to be developed for inclusion in the Development Management Scheme.

According to the City of Cape Town, the first draft LSDF was made available for public comment in September and October last year. The comments received during this period have been used to further refine the LSDF, including the implementation plan, which consists of programmes, projects, and actions to be implemented by various City departments with support from the private sector and other inter-governmental stakeholders in various priority precincts within the CBD.

A Mobility and Access Plan specifically designed for the CBD is in its formative stage and will be shared as an annexure to the draft LSDF for a first round of public comment.

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