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Reflections<br />

While the development of the Sleeper Site is still underway, and only in recent years has the land been<br />

acquired, the case study provides some useful reflections:<br />

• The concept of best-use planning has allowed the municipality to identify where development should be<br />

focused in the site and to clarify proposed initiatives, and thereby benefit from the site’s key strategic<br />

location.<br />

• A key challenge relates to the length of time it has taken to purchase the land. It took over 12 years to<br />

finalise, despite the site being recognised as crucial for the development of the city centre (SACN and<br />

HDA, 2014).<br />

Buffalo City<br />

This problem, of acquiring state land needed for development that will transform <strong>cities</strong>, is found across<br />

municipalities. Individual municipalities are often unable to speed up the release of land and to hold other<br />

organs of state accountable for contributing<br />

to the transformation of urban areas.<br />

Therefore, the South African Local<br />

Government Association (SALGA), as well as<br />

the SACN and HDA, should assist<br />

municipalities in clearly communicating their<br />

transformation agenda to other spheres of<br />

government and in dealing with SOEs and the<br />

transfer of key land: “Until there is better<br />

planning and utilisation of well-located land<br />

and buildings belonging to the State, SoEs and<br />

municipalities, the ad hoc transformation of<br />

our urban areas will continue along with the<br />

Aerial photo: Buffalo City sleeper site<br />

challenges that this presents” (BCMM, 2015a). Source: A Fish, BCMM<br />

Looking forward<br />

The City’s BEPP 2015/16 includes for a few Sleeper Site development scenarios to be tested using an agreed<br />

set of evaluation criteria and a multi-criteria decision-making tool. Scenarios will include the following<br />

components (BCMM, 2015a):<br />

• Different road infrastructure options<br />

• Different tenure arrangements (sale of land, long-term leases, lease to purchase, development lease,<br />

development lease to purchase)<br />

• Public private partnership option for municipal offices<br />

• Different public transport system options<br />

• UDZ incentive (availability or non-availability)<br />

• Different approaches to the bulk infrastructure development contribution policy<br />

• Options for the availability or not of financial and non-financial municipal incentives<br />

References<br />

BCMM (Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality). 2015a. 2015/16 Built Environment Performance Plan. Buffalo City: BCMM.<br />

BCMM. 2014. 2015b. 2015/16 Integrated Development Plan<br />

SACN (South African Cities Network) and HDA (Housing Development Agency). 2014. Case Studies on the Acquisition of Urban Land by Municipalities<br />

from State Owned Companies and Other Organs of State. Johannesburg: SACN and HDA.<br />

ULI (Urban Land Institute). 2014. Highest and best use concept for the Sleeper Site in East London. Report from the Advisory Panel, 7–10 December.<br />

 Buffalo City: Sleeper Site development 317

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