STREET WISDOM EMPOWERS  

by Richard Dobson and Patrick Mncube

 “You keep talking about development, but when will we see it?”

This was the challenge a street trader threw out to the project team of the Warwick Junction Urban Renewal Project during a community meeting. For the team, this was a sobering question. The project was already 18 months into the implementation phase and millions had been spent. We realized that only meaningful engagement between all the development participants can align expectations and produce solutions that are “ours” instead of “ theirs”.

Urban renewal

Warwick Junction sits on the edge of what was once an apartheid divided city. It is a major transport interchange for trains, buses and mini-bus taxis. It is also the historic location for fresh produce markets and a vibrant environment for the informal economy. Approximately 5 000-7 000 kerb-side traders operate in the district.

Warwick Junction is the site of a Durban City Council Urban Renewal Project which aims at infrastructural, economic and urban management revitalization. The project team has three district-based leaders who are concentrating on:

* planning (long-term strategy and urban design);

* implementation (execution of projects identified by the planning team); and

* operations (enforcement and service delivery).

A variety of informal trading facilities have been provided in the past three years, including kerb-side tables and shelters, a herb-traders' market, a mielie (corn-on-the-cob) cookers' facility, overnight storage, overnight accommodation, a market-barrow operators' facility, toilets, a waste recycling depot and a roofed market precinct.

Working together

The project team works closely with the local stakeholders and street committees. The team leaders depend on this interaction to ensure that interventions which are made are appropriate and sustainable.

Where resources are limited, it is essential that spending achieves maximum benefits. Local authorities' involvement is often driven by management concerns.

Many informal traders are survivalists. Their knowledge can help prioritize spending and help shape the design of new facilities.   Traders should be able to say what they want in the way of facilities. As long as these fall within local authority guidelines, limited enforcement will be required.

Communicating

Building jargon is very technical. The project team has used a variety of methods to communicate with the traders, including role-playing with small scale objects or full size make-ups of proposed structures.

Consultation is not an end in itself. Both parties are empowered. The project team has increased its knowledge and gained insights. The kerb-side committee's self-esteem has grown because it is respected as a worthy development partner. Costly mistakes have been avoided. For example, the project team put forward suggestions to the traders about realigning the tables under the new roofed market. The traders pointed out that the one row of tables shown on the plan were positioned along a continuous depression in the paving. This would have meant that all these traders would have been flooded when it rained!

Meaningful stakeholder participation and district-based technical expertise are the best way to support the informal economy. This expertise must, however, be accessible and operate in an integrated team structure that can tap the knowledge of every every available source.