Urban Management
Urban MGT is the management company for the Riverhorse Valley Business Estate City Management Association (RHVBEMA). Using the learning and experiences from its’ management work in key nodes in KZN, Urban MGT looks to optimize the value of the RHVBEMA for members and the area as a whole. To see how other UrbanMGT precincts are managed, refer to the list on the left.
It is estimated that there are close to 100 Managed Precincts operating in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Tshwane and Nelspruit, be they in the form of Urban Improvement Precincts (UIP’s) City Improvement Districts (CID’s) Business Improvement Districts (BID) or Management Associations (MA’s) but excluding gated residential estates. Over 60% of these established in terms of enabling legislation with the balance being voluntary management initiatives.
Below are links to some of these precincts:
Central City Improvement District (CCID) Cape Town www.capetowncid.co.za
Riverside Park CID- Nelspruit www.riversidepark.co.za
Johannesburg CID Forum www.cidforum.co.za
Urban Management Concept
In any environment, urban decay threatens property values and business prosperity, it negatively impacts on investor confidence and undermines the quality of life for the users of that area.
Crime grime and social dysfunction; inadequate services to public areas; the degrading of the built and natural environment; poorly maintained infrastructure, and property owner apathy towards public areas surrounding their properties are indicators of urban decay, with one quickly leading to another. The aim of urban management therefore is to stem the rate of urban decay as quickly as possible before the need for a slow and often costly turnaround takes hold.
To do this, it is important to understand how interlinked these symptoms are and that improved safety for example, cannot be viewed in isolation, but rather as an outcome of a holistically managed urban environment that is: improved social cohesion, cleaning, greening, maintenance, social responsibility, communication and importantly safety and security.
Important to note is that there is no correlation between the rand value of municipal rates paid and service levels delivered to particular area. In other words, service levels are governed by municipal policy, which provides for a set service level throughout the municipality. This means that despite some areas contributing more to the rates base, they will not receive a greater level of service.
For this reason, management structures, which take on different forms based on the legal structure and policy of a city, province or country, have been established to fill the gap in service delivery to public areas thus ensuring the expected level of quality in public areas.
International and South African statistics reflect that the organised approach to managing public areas, in partnership with the municipality, results is in property values and business vitality out-performing those areas outside of managed areas.
Urban Management principles are most often effected via structures such as Management Districts (MD) and Management Associations (MA); Urban Improvement Precinct (UIP); City Improvement Districts (CID’s), and Business Improvement Districts (BID’s).
