A broad bus rapid transit system in the works in Johannesburg, South Africa, is sparking a wildfire of dense, mixed use development plans for the city.
"Built around a new bus commuter transport network and integrated with the R27bn Gautrain project, Jo'burg is planning a city dominated by wide boulevards lined with landscaped pavements, multi storey flats, offices, shopping and entertainment."
"These mixed-use boulevards will connect a series of high-rise business districts, like Sandton's CBD where skyscrapers of 40 floors and higher will be common, and 20 floors or higher in Rosebank and Randburg."
"This dense new urban fabric is the meat on the bones of a bus rapid transit (BRT) system, which Jo'burg wants to introduce in April 2009. About 330 km of BRT routes will be built throughout the city - a project to which the bulk of its R3bn-R4bn yearly infrastructure budget will be dedicated."
"By 2020 this system will be within 500 m of most people's front doors and a large proportion of those front doors will be in rental or sectional title flats. By then Johannesburg will be as dense as London with estimates of about 4 500 people for every km²."
Read the full story: New light
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