Stakeholders with a keen interest in actively transforming the inner city have until Monday, 6 November 2017, to submit their fresh, creative concepts.
The Johannesburg Development Agency recently embarked on an exciting initiative titled, “My City, Our Block”, geared at revitalising the inner city in support of Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba’s key priority.
Starting this financial year (2017/2018), the JDA is engaging with a wide range of sectors and industries in the inner city (including non-government organisations, private developers, investors, residents’ organisations, faith-based organisations, education institutions and social support organisations) to pitch ideas to help the City to help them improve or transform the public realm and reshape the Inner City.
A call was made to stakeholders in September to submit innovative ideas for small-scale interventions (capital projects) that they want to see come to life in the inner city, and to help improve the area’s current state.
The purpose of this call for proposals is to: 1) encourage formal and informal collaborative partnerships at a neighbourhood or precinct level; and 2) identify neighbourhood or precinct-scale capital projects that would return sustainable socio-economic benefits to inner city users.
As cities globally face the challenge of converting large-scale urban plans into meaningful social impact, a new understanding of the real city and its actual needs calls for urban projects that are small-scale, rooted in society and spatial structures, imminently useful, and able to “actually deliver on their promises”.
Public spaces in cities are becoming increasingly important for meeting citizens’ social needs. Rather than experts sitting around a table making the decisions on the design of a street, a block or a whole city by themselves, the JDA’s approach is to work in partnership with local stakeholders to co-produce and co-support the solutions.
By drawing on their knowledge of the development context cultivates a far more sustainable sense of ownership, civic pride and citizenship.
For the last 16 years, the JDA has played a strategic role in investing municipal funds in capital works projects that catalyse development and investment in key precincts across the inner city.
Through the “My City, Our Block”, the JDA will continue to create formal and informal collaborative partnerships to create sustainable benefits in the inner city.
In addition, the project will contribute to capital investment in the inner city to improve public spaces.
The JDA’s contribution to the project within each supported partnership will fall between a minimum amount of R1-million and maximum amount of R5-million.
Submissions will be assessed as a two-stage competition. The winning entries will combine responsiveness, impact and importantly, sustainability.
Application information packs setting out all the requirements for the proposal with supporting documents are currently available and can be downloaded on:
https://www.facebook.com/OurCityOurBlock
Or
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3ka1pf27o1v74e4/AADOcc0RSxf0GSBHs43jtlC8a?dl=0
Or
A CD can be collected from the Reception Desk of the JDA Offices, located in the Bus Factory, 3 Helen Joseph Street (Formerly President Street), Newtown, and Johannesburg.
All submissions must be delivered to the tender box in the JDA Reception (address same as above) before 12:00 on Monday, 6 November 2017.
No late submissions will be accepted.
All technical enquiries related to the call for proposals can be submitted in writing via email to Yasmeen Dinath, JDA, Manager: Planning Strategy, email: ydinath@jda.org.za or Nikki Pingo, JDA, Acting Executive Manager: Development Facilitation, email: npingo@jda.org.za; both can be reached on 011 688 7800.