Business Improvement Districts, or BIDs, were first established in Canada and the US in the 1960s and 70s. Since then, they have become popular mechanisms  in many cities throughout the world to ensure that business areas are safe, clean and well managed, by raising an additional levy from property owners (or, in the case of the UK, retailers) to provide supplementary services. BIDs are also often used to promote the downtown retail offering. In South Africa, we call them City Improvement Districts, or CIDs.

I am not aware of many BIDs/ CIDs that get involved directly in social development issues. The Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID), which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, is fairly unique in the emphasis it places on social development. In addition to security, cleansing, urban management and communications, the CCID also has many projects, usually in partnership with non-government organisations and the public authorities, that focus on job creation, access to shelter and social services, and youth at risk. Every month, for example, over 200 people in the Central City work in urban management projects ranging from maintenance, graffiti removal and drain cleaning to recycling, street sweeping and pest control.

The CCID, along with many social sector NGOs, believes that it is difficult to offer support and assistance to unemployed and homeless people if they are permanently living on the streets. This is why the CCID promotes a Give Responsibly campaign. The message to the public is – give generously, but not in a way that perpetuates life on the streets for the poor. Rather, give directly to organisations that are working to find sustainable solutions to socio-economic problems.

Coming soon to a street corner near you. The CCID social development team will be on the streets for the next three months promoting the Give Responsibly campaign and raising awareness of the needs of homeless and unemployed people in the Central City

I thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the opening of the Spier Contemporary 2010 Exhibition at the Cape Town City Hall last night. The event was well attended and a great success. Well done to Tanner Methvin and the Africa Centre for pulling it off.

Matanaswo-A Bragging and Proud Lady - Phillip Rikhotso

This is what I said at the opening:

“The Spier Contemporary 2010 is South Africa’s largest visual and performing arts exhibition, and we are honoured and delighted to launch it here in Cape Town tonight.

A good friend of mine in the art world gave me some advice about my speech. She said: keep it short, make it humorous, and for goodness sake, don’t talk about art. Whatever you say, you will be wrong. In any case, the audience are there to look at the work, and those who are really interested in contesting assumptions of what constitutes the proper protocol of post-apartheid rainbow nation representation in liminal spaces, with or without the cliché of the white frame, can read the catalogue.

Well, you’ll be pleased to know that it will be short. I don’t know about the humour bit, and I will limit myself to just one comment about art.

Maggots in red earth from Polokwane? Die Bystander - Hanje Whitehead

Our current national discourse is fractured, polarised, intemperate and downright dismal. Populism and opportunism is the order of the day and all manner of insincerities abound – none of which bring us any closer to finding ways to solve the real problems of the day – poverty, hunger, unemployment, our lack of solidarity, community and ethics, the need for better systems of accountability and governance.

Hope and Fear - Frina Galloway

Clive van den Berg, a member of the Curatorial Team, talks of a ‘national distemper, a profound unease in the nation’ that is reflected in many of the works submitted for consideration and many of those chosen for the exhibition. Mwenya Kabwe, another team member, notes the political cynicism that exists amongst many artists at the moment, whose work reflects ‘a deep sense of distrust and disappointment in formal politics and particularly with politicians’.

Representation: A Discourse - Christopher Marsberg and Francois van Tonder (video installation)

Phula Richard Chauke's acerbic view of politicians and their cars

The Spier Contemporary has amongst its aims: audience and artist development, creation of new markets, and training and development of artists and curators. All these aims are exemplary. It seems to me however that its greatest contribution is in giving us art as another language to understand and express ourselves, especially during this time when the conventional political discourse is severely limited. And it’s not all serious, thank goodness. Humour, irony and sly jokes abound in many of the works that cast a jaundiced eye on our contemporary leaders and problems.

The 2010 Football World Cup is not spared either. Ball and Chain - Dawood Petersen

I want to say something about the Africa Centre, the organisation behind the Spier Contemporary. Established in 2005, and located in the Cape Town Central City, the Africa Centre has already distinguished itself through its other programmes – in particular, the Badilisha Poetry X-Change, the Pan African Space Station and the Infecting the City public arts festival which annually stages and exhibits free high-quality, thought-provoking works in the public spaces of Cape Town accessible to everybody.

The Africa Centre is one of the new breed of organisations that are conspiring to make Cape Town a creative and innovative city. Five years ago, we realised the close connection between culture and urban regeneration, and so initiated the Creative Cape Town programme. Amongst other things, this programme attempts to find and create both public and private spaces for creative industries and enterprises to grow and flourish.

Today, there are more than 1000 creative industries in the Cape Town central city alone, which is why Cape Town has decided to bid for the World Design Capital for 2014, a biennial accolade that is given by the International Council of Societies for Industrial Design to cities that best use design for social, cultural and economic development.

One of our current projects is the East City Design Initiative (ECDI). The East City is that curious and quirky part of the city centre that lies between Adderley Street and District Six – an architecturally and historically rich area with amazing potential.

Home to many design and advertising businesses, film producers and photographic studios, the East City is also the location of the Cape Craft and Design Initiative, Fabrication Laboratory and Cape Town Fashion Council in Harrington St, the new Fugard Theatre and the District Six Homecoming Centre in the Sachs-Futeran Building, the District Six Museum itself, the Book Lounge, the Assembly live music venue, the Central Library in the beautifully restored Drill Hall, the rejuvenated Grand Parade (site of the 2010 Fan Fest), the new CT Station, Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s Faculty of Informatics and Design, and the soon to be restored Granary Building.

A building in the East City with the potential to become one of Cape Town’s most important cultural spaces is the City Hall. To date, for a variety of reasons, this project has not managed to get off the ground. (By the way, have a look at Jonathan Garnham’s work – Gold Chain – a 298,5m long comment on the neglect of the City Hall over the years).

(Untitled) Gold Chain - Jonathan Garnham

The Africa Centre, by presenting the Spier Contemporary Exhibition in the City Hall, has done us a huge favour, in that we can now imagine how these spaces could be creatively used in future. This is why, to coincide with the opening of the Spier Contemporary, Creative Cape Town, the Africa Centre and Cape Mic have launched the Imagine City Hall campaign.

The Spier Contemporary 2010 has brought life and colour into a neglected building

Imagine City Hall is a citizen activation programme. Its aim is to draw support for the development of the Cape Town City Hall as a dedicated cultural venue. The space should be accessible to all the people of Cape Town, and should forward the broader arts and heritage of the city and the continent. Please visit the Imagine City Hall Facebook group, which already has 541 members, and read what local artists Tina Schouw, Steve Fataar and Barry Smith have to say in support of the initiative.

More importantly, when you walk around the Exhibition, please take the time to see how spaces that were, until recently, dark, cluttered and neglected, have been ‘opened for art’, and to imagine the City Hall as a permanent cultural space.

Enjoying the new spaces in the City Hall (Picture: Anita van Zyl)

The opening speakers were mercifully located adjacent to the main balcony used by Nelson Mandela on 11 February 1990 (picture: Anita van Zyl)

In conclusion, my thanks and congratulations go to:

• the many South African artists who submitted a total of 2700 works for consideration
• the 101 artists that have been selected for the exhibition
• the Spier Estate for supporting visual and performing arts at a time when funds are hard to come by
• Tanner Methvin, Farzanah Badsha, Robin Jutzen and the hardworking team at the Africa Centre – for the exhibition and for all you do for the city
• The curatorial team and the judges, especially those who are visitors to our city – you are most welcome

Ladies and gentlemen, you are in for a treat! Please enjoy the evening. The Spier Contemporary Exhibition at the Cape Town City Hall is now open for art.”

A Downtown Symphony (detail) - David Koloane. This is my favourite piece on the exhibition (naturally)

Brett Murray at his provocative best with his piece 'Culture'

Voices - Maurice Mbikayi (picture: Anita van Zyl)

Heartbreaker (literally!) - Johann van der Schijff

(By the way, have a look at Gabeba Baderoon’s thoughtful response to Minister Lulu Xingwana’s comments about the Innovative Women Exhibition)

One of the legacies of the 2010 Football World Cup is the upgrade of two of Cape Town’s most congested motorway intersections: Hospital Bend and Koeberg Interchange. For those of you who are wondering just how the new Hospital Bend pre-selection scheme is going to work, here it is (inbound example):

Hospital Bend pre-selection scheme

Download a larger PDF (1,8MB) version Hosp_Bend_INBOUND

Many delegates to the recent Design Indaba conference in Cape Town have told me how impressed they were with the presentation by Alejandro Aravena, a Chilean architect, on the design and financing of affordable housing. I unfortunately missed the presentation, but here are two views worth reading: one by Bruce Nussbaum (who I had the pleasure of hosting at a breakfast during the Design Indaba) and one by Wren. From what they and others are saying, there’s lots we can learn from Aravena about socially useful design as we put together Cape Town’s bid for World Design Capital 2014.

I’ve got quite a few city development stories from my recent visit to Sydney. However, they are going to have to wait for the New Year because I’m going on holiday, and no-one wants to read serious stuff at this time of the year anyway. So, let me close the year with a two great lighting projects that I came across.

Recycled Christmas Tree

This 8m tall Christmas tree, located in the restored area of Sydney known as The Rocks, is made from more than 7 000 recycled soft drink bottles that were rejected by the packaging company. The tree is lit each night by GreenPower renewable energy. After Christmas, the tree will be recycled back into bottles.

Christmas tree made from recycled bottles, The Rocks, Sydney

Close-up of plastic bottles

A daytime view

Macquarie Night Lights

The New South Wales Government sponsors the impressive Macquarie Street Night Lights, which use computer-aided design to light up historic buildings on Macquarie Street in Sydney city during the month before Christmas.

Computer-generated lighting design

Same building, different design

Design 1

Design 2

St Mary's Cathedral, design 1

St Mary's Cathedral, design 2

The City of Sydney similarly projects Christmas images on the facade of the iconic Sydney Town Hall

Sydney CBD map

I’m heading off for Sydney on Friday to take part in an International Roundtable on Metropolitan Governance. It will be hosted by the Forum of Federations (based in Ottawa), the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government and their new Major Cities Unit, in preparation for 5th World Urban Forum to be held in Rio de Janeiro in March 2010. Case studies from Canada, USA, South Africa, India, New Zealand and Australia will be presented.

I hope to also meet up with some old mates, including Peter Cranko, a colleague from Planact days, and to have a look at some of the City of Sydney’s urban regeneration and public space projects. I won’t be blogging en route as my trusty Sony Vaio is going in for a few repairs, but you’ll get my impressions of Sydney and the conference shortly after I return next Friday.

There was a good article by David Lepeska in the Guardian two months ago on why cities offer the way forward on global warming and climate change. For more detailed information, see work by OECD, Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) and C40 Cities on the role of cities in sustainable development. You can also read the UN-Habitat’s comprehensive Global Report on Human Settlements 2009 – Planning Sustainable Cities

Planning Sustainable Cities

Gulp! Do I have to go down there?

I’ve just got back from an amazing walk underneath the city through an old water tunnel that runs from Oranjezicht to the Castle. The walk was part of the Reclaim Camissa project, which is currently managed by Caron von Zeil at the Cape Town Partnership (021 – 419 1881 for more information). The walk was conducted by Dwain Esterhuizen and his colleagues from Figure of 8, a Cape Town event and teambuilding company.

See Ella Smook’s article in the Cape Argus

CTP staff also seem a bit apprehensive... (picture: Shaen Adey)

Do I have to do this? (Picture: Shaen Adey)

Its perfectly safe, he grinned nervously (Picture: Shaen Adey)

The first part of the tunnel is 1,5m in diameter - great for someone 1,82m tall

Millions of litres of fresh water pour off Table Mountain every day into Table Bay

Deep under Buitenkant Street!

After about 20 mins, the tunnel expands to 2m in diameter, relief for aching calves! (Picture: Shaen Adey)

Yuk! (Picture: Shaen Adey)

Amazing brickwork in the tunnel (Picture: Shaen Adey)

Light at the end of the tunnel! Rhonda makes her exit

Emerging near the Nassau Bastion of the Castle of Good Hope

Safe and sound! The Cape Town Partnership team soak up some well deserved sunshine

Here’s a great experiment on how to make climbing stairs instead of taking the escalators in a public space (a subway in Sweden), more fun. Its a useful example of incentivising change in public behaviour in public spaces. Now how about somethiing similar in Cape Town’s Strand Street Concourse?

Escada Piano