| There is great
environmental conservation potential in terms of the ridges that run in an east-west band
and which forms the watershed in Greater Johannesburg. Other responses include:
- The Environmental Conservation Act 73 of 1989
- Development proposals
- Better management of open spaces.
STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS OF
OPEN SPACES IN GREATER JOHANNESBURG (Walmsley, 1997).
| STRENGTHS |
WEAKNESSES |
- There is a large amount of open space and recreational areas
in GJ
- Open spaces function as urban lungs
- Open spaces function as carbon sinks
- There is a large demand for recreational facilities in GJ
- The climate of the GJ area promotes outdoor activities and
the use of open spaces
- There is a move towards community involvement in the
development and maintenance of open spacein the city
- GJ can boast of many natural areas such as ridges, rivers,
nature reserves and sanctuaries
|
- Many planned parks are situated in the middle and high
income areas of the city
- Many open spaces in the lower income areas are merely land
that has been left over after development has taken place
- Many open spaces are used for illegal dumping purposes
- Most planned parks have been landscaped with exotic species
of plants - the use of exotic plants leads to increased maintenance and storm water drain
blockages due to abundant leaf falls. Exotic plants also require more water than
indigenous species
- The maintenance and management of open spaces is negligible
in many areas, especially the low income areas
- Lack of budgets for maintenance and management is a problem
- Many open spaces are private and are thus not accessible to
most of the population
- Many open spaces are inaccessible to most of the population
in the transport sense
|
| OPPORTUNITIES |
THREATS |
- Well planned densification within the Metropolitan boundary
may lead to more intensive use of existing open spaces and prevent the need for the
development of additional open spaces to a large extent
- Upgrading and the ecological "Africanisation" of
existing open spaces will decrease the demand for intensive maintenance programmes and
thus demand on Metropolitan budgets
- The fauna and flora of Greater Johannesburg's open spaces
provide a unique opportunity to use them as outdoor classrooms
- Although community involvement is already used for the
development and maintenance of certain open spaces, it is a relatively new procedure. The
scope for such involvement is large
- Public transport will provide more people with the
opportunity to make use of existing open spaces in GJ by providing access to these
facilities.
|
- Open spaces are becoming increasingly dangerous due to the
fact that they are havens for crime. Public safety is thus a serious issue in many of GJ's
open space
- The ongoing lack of maintenance may lead to a total
degeneration of many open spaces and could possibly lead to the use of certain areas for
alternative development
- Air and water pollution will eventually lead to the
destruction of biodiversity of many open spaces, especially those that are considered
ecologically sensitive.
|
The following guidelines for open space planning for the
province and Greater Johannesburg have been compiled by Gauteng Nature Conservation
(Grobler, 1996):
- larger open spaces are better than smaller open spaces, as
bigger areas will maintain a higher diversity of species. Such areas tend to withstand
disturbances for longer periods of time, as natural processes function more effectively
- the principle of concentric zoning should be applied where a
core open space exists with minimal human activity (passive recreation), surrounded by a
buffer area where more human activities are allowed (active recreation). It is therefore
not advisable that high density development takes place on land directly neighboring a
core nature area
- no development should take place in the 1 in 50 year
floodline, plus an additional 40 meters outside this line (to accommodate higher floods
due to densification in the catchment). This 40m distance will also keep indigenous
vegetation intact and allow for rehabilitation of the area;
- all waste land and disturbed land should be investigated to
evaluate if such an area could form part of an open space system;
- when developing and managing open spaces, the safety aspect
should be recognised and addressed;
- consolidated open spaces are better than fragmented spaces;
- where land needs to be conserved as open space, but
ownership vests in a private person, development restrictions should be applied to that
area;
- any new vegetation planted should be indigenous;
- disturbed open spaces should be rehabilitated and managed
with the emphasis on removing aggressive invasive plants and replacing them with
indigenous species;
- open spaces should not only have a recreational function but
should simultaneously have a conservation function;
- an ecological approach should be adopted when assessing the
amount of open space to be provided;and
- a policy should be formulated for areas where red data
species occur.
A proposal for the provision of parks, involving a variety
of initiatives, ranging from arboriculture, nursery management, landscape construction,
parks, open spaces and playground development and maintenance has been produced by the
EMLC (Nel, 1996). Their mission is to ensure the provision of a customer focused,
community driven Parks service that strives towards the attainment of best practice.
An action plan for environmental management in the Greater
Johanesburg area has been derived through the Local Agenda 21 Process (GJMC, 1997):
ISSUE |
SUSTAINABLE
SERVICE DELIVERY : LA21 |
SYSTEM |
COMPONENTS
OF THE SYSTEM |
ASPECTS TO
BE INVESTIGATED |
PUBLIC
OPEN SPACES AND PARKS |
Develop an integrated land use
and open space management system |
Conservation, maintenance,
promotion and sustainable use of public open spaces and parks |
Database of public open spaces
and parks |
Scope, extent and effectiveness
of databases relating to public open spaces and parks |
| Develop open space ratios in
relation to density ratios, thus ensuring environmental and social sustainability |
Investigate the systems that are
in place to protect the open space network from being encroached on by businesses |
Identification and management of
public open spaces and parks |
Integration of management of
public open spaces, parks, urban planning and conservation |
| The promotion of economically
sustainable environments that promote mixed land use and easy access to recreation, open
space and economic opportunities |
Systems to facilitate the
greening of the Johannesburg Inner City |
Development and enforcement of
by-laws, policies and other control mechanisms |
Mechanisms and programmes for the
conservation, maintenance and sustainable use of public open spaces and parks |
| |
|
|
Education and awareness in
relation to public open spaces and parks |
Programmes for education and
awareness |
| |
|
|
Financial aspects relating to
management of public open spaces and parks |
Financial mechanisms for the
conservation, maintenance and sustainable use of public open spaces and parks |
The extent of the loss of all open spaces needs to be
determined, and an effective Metropolitan Open Space Plan developed. Projects for the
integrated management of this open space sysem needs to be planned, implemented, and
monitored.
Open space needs to be used better, green areas must be
connected and better managed and degraded land need to be rehabilitated.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
According to the Local Agenda 21 Process the following
issues still need attention:
- Encroachment onto and use of public open spaces for business
purposes
- Stringent measures to control use of open space
- Design of public open space and parks
- Assessment of whether there are sufficient open spaces and
parks in the Inner City
- Pathways and paving throughout parks
- Greening of the Inner City
- Control of use of parks.
According to the Metropolitan Open Space study (Mark Wood
Consultants, 1994) the main problems associated with open space are:
-implementation and funding
-spatial planning
-status of, or attitude towards open space
-environmental conservation
-social needs and
-public participation.
REFERENCES
GJMC 1997: Information gathering
exercise on the Local Agenda 21 Process in the GJMC area. GJMC: Johannesburg.
Grobler, C.H. 1996: Guidelines for the
conservation of natural open spaces in the Gauteng Province. Gauteng Nature
Conservation: Pretoria.
Mark Wood Consultants 1994: An
investigation into metropolitan open space. Volume 1 & 2. CWRSC:
Johannesburg.
Nel, W.A.J. 1996: Proposal for the
delivery of parks, recreation, environmental conservation and sports facilities. EMLC:
Sandton.
Walmsley Environmental Consultants 1997: GJTMC
Integrated Metropolitan Development Plan - Report No. W262. WEC: Rivonia. |
