The City is in the process of establishing a specialist hub to process high impact developments that are strategically significant. Generally speaking, these are high-value applications that are large in scale, complex in nature, and fall outside of what can be described as routine land use and building plan applications. 

The City’s Development Management Department is busy recruiting a team of development and planning specialists to serve in this hub, which will be operational by February next year, if all goes as planned. 

The Strategic Development Applications Hub (SDH) will be located at the Table Bay District Planning Office in the Cape Town central business district and will serve as the central point for all high-value, high-impact development applications that are complex in nature. The intention is to ensure the processing times are streamlined and that there are no unnecessary delays with the investment that comes with new developments and construction.

The SDH is part of a strategic programme that focuses on innovation and capacity-building in the Development Management Department, which also includes strengthening district teams. The programme ensures the department remains fit-for-purpose and responsive to the demands of a growing city. 

‘This new service delivery model differentiates between routine applications and those that require a different skills set and focus. The Strategic Development Hub is the result of a process I initiated during this term of office, originally known as the Development Management Optimisation Process, to improve the efficiency and responsiveness of development application assessments. We are confident that this new hub will ensure a customer-focused service that will reduce turnaround times, support investment, enable sustainable urban growth, and improve customer experience. The City’s eight district planning offices will continue to assess routine applications but will also receive additional resources in coming months to improve operational performance.

‘Earlier today, I visited the building where the Strategic Development Hub will operate from. The offices for the new team are nearly completed, and the recruitment process is also well on track. We are really excited about the impact this team will make going forward,’ said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews.

As part of a broader programme of streamlining the property value-chain, the Department is also undertaking interventions that will see the phased introduction of AI-assisted and automated processing to reduce manual effort and rework, improve workflow visibility, and progressively automate activities where applications are minor, of low value and lower complexity.

• The Development Management Department assesses building plans and land use applications in terms of the Municipal Planning By-law (MPBL); the City’s Development Management Scheme (DMS) or zoning scheme that determines the land use for every site or land parcel that falls within the City’s municipal boundaries; and the National Building Regulations. 
• The department is a key partner in this ecosystem that drives the construction industry, investment, job creation, and inclusive growth and plays a big role in unlocking economic opportunities city-wide.
• The department has a pivotal role in ensuring whatever is built and developed in Cape Town complies with the City’s spatial policies, the Municipal Planning By-Law and Development Management Scheme, and other related policies.

Cape Town’s local economy relies heavily on the construction industry. It is a source of direct and indirect job opportunities, fuels demand for goods and services associated with the industry and draws direct investment.

Caption: Alderman Eddie Andrews, the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, visited the offices where the new hub will be working from. If all goes as planned, the team will be operational by February 2027.