It is vital that economic growth continues, and that it does so in a way that creates and sustains jobs. But this same vital growth means increased, and ongoing, demand for land, water, transport and energy resources. It also means pressure on Cape Town’s already threatened indigenous plants and animals.

Already the city is experiencing the effects of growth. Roads are congested, landfill sites are filling up, and the coastal water and air is polluted… These changes affect the quality of life of everyone who lives here, and threaten many people’s livelihoods.

Add to this the fact that the Western Cape will probably be more affected by climate change than anywhere else in South Africa, and it’s clear that the City needs to get better at planning for the future.

This is what Planning Cape Town is all about.

In the early 1990s, what was then the Cape Metropolitan Council (CMC) prepared a Metropolitan Spatial Development Framework (MSDF), an Interim MSDF Redraft was adopted as policy by the Council in 2001.

Since then, development trends (and legal requirements) have changed in Cape Town. The City’s Spatial Planning and Urban Design department has therefore prepared an updated Cape Town Spatial Development Framework (using the original MSDF recommendations, and its ongoing reviews, as a starting point) as well as individual integrated spatial development plans (SDPs) and environmental management frameworks for each of the City’s eight planning districts.

The CTSDF contains a vision for the future shape of Cape Town as a whole and includes citywide strategies and policies. The eight district SDP & EMFs apply these strategies and policies in space at a district scale.

What do district spatial development plans do?

These plans identify:

• High-level principles and policy guiding how development (public and private) is promoted and managed in the city
• The desired long-term spatial vision for the district
• Constraints to development
• Environmental protection priorities
• Development opportunities
• Areas to be targeted for urban upgrading, environmental protection priorities, restructuring of the urban environment and public capital investment
• New development areas
• Action areas for further planning intervention
  

What do district environmental frameworks do?

An environmental management framework (EMF) has the primary purpose of guiding decision-making in respect of the environmental regulations but it can also support land use planning and development decision-making. It is a tool that aims to direct appropriate development to appropriate locations. The information in an EMF compliments and provides information for spatial plans

These frameworks identify:

• The environmental attributes (characteristics) of an area, including their sensitivity and inter-relationships
• The environmental management priorities for a district
• Constraints and opportunities for development activities, as influenced by the characteristics of the natural and socio-economic environments as well as development pressures or trends
• The kinds of activities that may or may not have a significant environmental impact in each district