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President Ramaphosa delivered his State of the Nation Address last week, and apart from the usual updates on the economy, the focus was largely on defeating the pandemic and accelerating economic recovery.

But, he also mentioned the Lanseria Smart City, again.

He brought it up at SONA 2020 which alerted the general public to the project after it had been kept largely under wraps since 2007.

At the time, he spoke about bringing South Africa a city founded on the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution.

Judging by the most recent updates, the plans to make “the first new city to be built in a democratic South Africa” a reality are ticking along.

According to the Gauteng Spatial Masterplan, released in November for public comment, the Lanseria Airport City is designed to be a high-density mixed-use residential area, with its infrastructure and economy centred on the airport.

The idea is to promote a “new city form of cross-cultural living” by providing accommodation that is affordable across different socio-economic brackets.

The new smart city is going to come about in a joint venture by the Presidency, the Office of the Gauteng Premier, the City of Tshwane, the City of Johannesburg, and Mogale City.

According to MyBroadband, since we first heard about the project, further details have been made available, like the fact that Crosspoint, in cooperation with the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements, will implement the project.

It will also be partnering with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) to develop a multi-use commercial precinct.

The city will surround the airport and will take around 25 years to be fully realised, but in the interim, it will become home to between 350 000 to 500 000 people within the next decade.

Lanseria Airport City will be designed in such a way as to have a minimal environmental impact, making it South Africa’s first ‘green smart city’, comprising two parts: the Three Town Precinct and the Lanseria Business Gateway.

It will feature rainwater harvesting and solar energy to ensure that it has a very small carbon footprint.

Although, as an alternative, should we not look at how to make existing cities smart, rather than build new smart cities?

Tijs van den Brink, advisory group director for digital services and smart asset management at Royal HaskoningDHV expanded on that idea, via ITWeb:

“Smart cities put people and the environment at the heart of high-tech developments that use data and technology (digital transformation) to drive service delivery and quality-of-life improvements for residents.

“But to support these efficiencies, flagship smart cities often put the technology at the centre and want to implement all innovations at once, which comes with high upfront capital investments that are recovered through higher property values and rentals. This immediately excludes the majority of the population from ever being able to afford to live in a smart city.”

That seems to be what they’re trying to avoid when it comes to city planning, but we’ll see how it plays out when the plan is put into action.

Ramaphosa says that Lanseria Smart City won’t be the only one of its kind to take shape in South Africa, with plans for other smart cities underway in other provinces.

In other words, watch this space.

[source:gautengmp&mybroadband&itweb]