The Urban Renewal Programme (URP) is part of a national urban renewal strategy announced by former President Thabo Mbeki in his State of the Nation address in February 2001. The URP, which focuses on areas of greatest deprivation, includes investment in economic and social infrastructure, human resource development, enterprise development, the enhancement of the development capacity of local government, poverty alleviation and the strengthening of the criminal justice system. The national Urban Renewal Strategy is co-ordinated and monitored by the National Department of Provincial and Local Government.

In the Western Cape, Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain have been identified as urban renewal focus areas. Because both are located within the municipal boundaries of the City of Cape Town, the Urban Renewal Strategy is implemented and monitored by the City’s Urban Renewal Programme Department. National Ministers are deployed as URP national political champions. Premier Helen Zille is the provincial political champion, and the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Dan Plato, is the local political champion.

The overall objectives of the URP are to enable systematic and sustained interventions to alleviate poverty and significantly address under-development and socio-economic exclusion in Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain.

The URP’s specific objectives are to:

• Promote local economic development to relieve poverty and unemployment
• Provide a safe and secure environment by fighting crime
• Support education, training and skills development
• Create a quality urban environment where people can live with dignity and pride
• Develop efficient, integrated and user-friendly transport systems
• Create job opportunities through the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP)

For more detailed information about the URP, such as the Business Plan, the URP Spatial Development Framework or the Environmental Management Framework, please visit the section on this site called Strategic Documents and Reports.