A lush setting underpinned by smart city necessities was unveiled this week as construction started on Westown in Shongweni.
Horse riders, homes, “high street” retail, a 100-bed hospital, plenty of parking and special considerations for pedestrians, commerce and logistics have been integrated into the design of the new town.
The Independent on Saturday visited the Westown development team this week to find out more.
Westown marketing executive Cara Reilly said the approach to Westown was to create a connected, mixed-use “smart city” that integrated with the natural outdoor environment of Shongweni.
“This is the opportunity to do things differently. To build a locally-driven destination that will unlock the development potential of the Outer West,” said Reilly.
“The Outer West presents a significant opportunity for growth given factors like its location along the N3 corridor, the availability of land, other complimentary developments and the appetite for investment by the City,” said Reilly.
Fundamentum Property Group development manager Paul Muir said that after the Covid-19 pandemic, they started thinking of landscaping and architecture in an open and high street look that includes retail not being closed in like in a mall.
“We are working with the same urban designer as Gateway in uMhlanga, taking lessons learned there and applying them to the local context to ensure Westown reflects the character of Shongweni. Our approach is people-first which means wide streetscapes, cycle lanes, wide pavements and traffic and parking lanes that allow for easy movement around the town,” said Muir.
eThekwini spokesperson Musawakhe Mayisela said the Shongweni Urban Development was strategically located at the N3 and Kassier Road interchange forming part of the SIP2 corridor between eThekwini-Free State-Gauteng.
“The 2 000ha project is an integrated mixed-used urban development which comprises retail, residential, commercial, logistics, industrial and business park precincts. The first precinct is 100ha at the heart of Shongweni that includes Westown Square, the high street retail offering, with hospital and residential apartments,” said Mayisela.
Mayisela said the development had been identified as a municipal catalytic project because it had the potential to significantly change the local socio-economic context of the greater Shongweni sub-region with an impact on the broader economy of the eThekwini Municipality.
“A mixed-use precinct of urban and green space, Westown is perfectly positioned on prime real estate of more than 2000ha off the N3 between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, on South Africa’s Primary Logistics Corridor (SIP2) and is 30km from Port of Durban. The Shongweni urban development is a Presidential Project and Provincial and eThekwini Municipality Catalytic Project within the under-developed sub-region of Durban’s Outer West,” said Mayisela.
eThekwini said the project would also create jobs. As Kassier Road is being construction, local labour is sourced from the affected wards ‒ Ward 7 and Ward 103 ‒ which will create 2 000 construction jobs and 1 500 post-construction.
Dr Nomzamo Tutu of OuterWest Investments is one of the BEE partners and shareholders in the Westown Square retail precinct.
“This development started because there was a gap in the market. Fundamentum Property Group saw a need in the market. They wanted to create a space for BEE participation at an equity level. If you were to look at the pyramid you would find black employees at all levels. It is a big development which has been presented to the province and it has been approved because it addresses many inequalities of the past,” said Tutu.
She said there had been extensive conversations with neighbouring community leaders to ensure they knew what they were planning. They had also consulted local indunas and councillors, small business and taxis.
Tutu said being a smart city included intermodal transportation and places for people to meet and greet and not a lot of concrete.
They are embracing smart city living, but Muir said they would not forget the character of the area and its needs. Space for horse or bike riders has been incorporated into the design.
Muir described a work, play, live scenario with connectivity from fibre and energy usage that doesn’t only rely on Eskom by including other renewable sources such as solar, generation and waste energy. It would have waste treatment plants and not rely on a waste treatment from the city council to achieve self-sustainability.
E-hailing services and car charging ports within the parking places will ensure the development moves with the times, said Muir.
“We are not trying to build something that looks like Sandton or competing with uMhlanga. We are building and embracing what this area is: lush green areas and textures from Shongweni to Assegai and would incorporate that into the designs, in bike tracks and horse trails and even horse parking.”
Muir said Kassier Road would be repaired and, in the next five years, upgraded entirely. There are also plans for a pedestrian bridge over the N3 along with a new loop ramp and bridge over Kassier Road providing direct access into Westown and other infrastructure developments.
The Independent on Saturday