Cosmo City emerged out of an urgent need to provide accommodation for the informal settlers of Zevenfontein and Riverbend who had been illegally occupying privately owned land 25km North West of the Johannesburg CBD.
In response, the City of Johannesburg and the Gauteng Provincial Government – whose responsibility it was to arrange alternate accommodation for the settlers – took the bold decision to acquire land and to relocate them into an integrated, mixed use inclusionary housing development that would integrate families from different income groups in the same human settlement and would also comply with the government`s policy in terms of a sustainable development.
It would be a total departure from the tradition of relocating poor people to the fringes of South Africa`s metropolitan areas, far removed from job opportunities and other city amenities.
The only way to achieve this ambitious vision was to embark upon a Public Private Partnership between the Local Authority, the Provincial Government and the private sector with the resources to assist, and put into practice the government`s “Breaking New Ground” strategy – a sustainable human settlement plan.
Basil Read Developments, lead partner of the private sector consortium, - Codevco (Pty) Ltd. Is proud to have been appointed as the developer of Cosmo City.
Development
Cosmo City was a Greenfield development of 1105 ha, 25 km North West of Johannesburg CBD.
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Cosmo City will provide:
5 000 – low income houses
3 000 – financed credit linked houses
1 000 – social housing rental units
3 300 – bonded houses
12 – schools
40 – sites for churches, clinics and crèches
43 – parks and recreational sites
30 – commercial and retail sites
40ha – industrial park
300ha – environmental area
Timeline
Codevco were appointed as the developer of Cosmo City in 2000 & the initial planning started immediately. Final approval was received in October 2004. The first beneficiaries took occupation of their houses in November 2005. Year to date the progress includes a total of 6 500 houses, 6 schools (including a hotel school), a private/public clinic, & various churches. At the end of 2010 this project should be substantially complete with the accumulative housing total standing at 12 500. The Cosmo City population is estimated at 70 000.
Project
The excellent relationship between the parties made it possible for Codevco to manage the development on behalf of the City of Johannesburg and the Gauteng Department of Housing, via a land, service and subsidy agreements. The parties also established a Management Committee to ensure that the terms of the agreements were met.
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E-mail: codevco@cosmo.co.za |
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