CoW adapting, planning for sustainable future

Yolanda Nel
Windhoek • [email protected]
With the amount of challenges the City of Windhoek faces, Council has the responsibility to adapt
and plan for a more sustainable future.
According to mayor Job Amupanda, “We need to ensure a better quality of life for our residents,” he
said while speaking at the launch of the Windhoek urban structure plan (also called the Spatial
Development Framework or SDF).
Amupanda said that population pressure in the capital is mounting, with rapid informal settlement
expansion that is creating a lag in land delivery and serviced land. “The high unemployment rate
coupled with a need for long-term financial and environmental sustainability, are indicators that
Council should address the needs of our residents and transform towards a more developmental
state that presents opportunities in all sectors for economic development, growth, employment
creation and investment.”
The SDF aims to guide the city’s expansion by defining future developments and land use patterns
and dictating policies and frameworks to achieve a better future for all residents.
Amupanda said that in terms of the law, Council can accelerate planning processes towards
development and land delivery once the status of an Authorised Planning Authority is achieved.
“This plan will review the current status of development in the capital, consult on where council
wants to be, and plan on how they want to achieve it. [In light of this] it is imperative to embark on
public consultation and active participation to successfully define a future for Windhoek,” he said.
The project is now at a phase of consolidating the aims and objectives of the plan to be formulated.
This involves extensive public consultations where residents, individually and as stakeholder groups,
are consulted and afforded the opportunity to share issues, ideas and visions for Windhoek’s future.
This process is on-going.
He said that the experiences of other countries like China, Japan, Mauritius and Botswana be
considered as models.