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November 8 is World Town Planning Day, also known as World Urbanism Day. On this day, planners celebrate by hosting and engaging the role of planning in creating liveable communities.

The Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) operates within the context of spatial transformation with a social, economic, and environmental mandate to develop resilient, sustainable, and liveable urban areas in identified transit nodes and corridors. Its Development Planning & Facilitation Unit has a team of urban planning, development and facilitation professionals.

An ongoing initiative within this unit is the “Indlela Yabafazi - Women’s Way” project, which embodies all the principles of World Town Planning Day and creating interest in town planning and creating liveable communities.

The project currently being undertaken in Diepsloot, Region A, is based on the HerCity Toolkit, a joint urban development initiative by UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, and the independent Swedish think tank Global Utmaning (Global Challenge).

Together with the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ), JDA “Indlela Yabafazi - Women’s Way” project aims at creating safe routes connecting safe public spaces in the Diepsloot informal settlement.

Through different tools and digital technologies for participatory planning and community engagement, JDA, JCPZ and multi-stakeholders have been working alongside Diepsloot young women and girls to redesign the area with a focus on accessibility, safety, and inclusivity of public spaces for all.

About 38 girls from Diepsloot participated in the Her City toolbox intervention programme to assess the site and the city, collect data, analyse the challenges, and suggest solutions.

The digital toolbox guides urban actors to implement projects through a step-by-step methodology that facilitates the ongoing dialogue between professionals and citizens. The toolbox follows a process containing nine building blocks as a digital guideline on co-plan and optimising cities from a girl’s perspective.

The nine blocks align with the three phases of the urban development process and will guide cities through the assessment, design, and implementation phases.

The assessment and analysis of Diepsloot followed by recommendations to make the area a safe and inclusive public space for all. The recommendations for action are:

Introduction of fencing to protect the neighbouring wetlands and provide a platform for sports activities,

Designing a bus stop, a treehouse, and a pedestrian bridge,

Introduction of resources of leisure. The recreational activities like a library, tuck shop, swimming pool, community park, and public art and sports facilities.

After the project, all participants received a certificate and a letter of recognition for having participated in the project.

Xolisile Sithole, Development Planning and Facilitation Specialist at the JDA, has worked on the project since its inception.

“It is recorded that the most common place for violence incidences against women and children is in public spaces. It makes the voices and role of women and children in shaping their communities very necessary,” she said.

“The planning, development and management of environments need to place the safety and well-being of children, women, and the most vulnerable at the forefront of decision-making,” Xolisile added.

Issued by the City of Johannesburg