Page 195 - UGU Dstrct Mun IDP Report '21-22

5.1.3.2 Hierarchy of Development Corridors
Corridors are areas of street or route-oriented uses which incorporate a mix of retail, employment and residential uses, developed at overall greater densities, located along arterial roads serving as major transit routes. Corridors link Nodes and important areas of activity within the district and are intended to be key locations for residential intensification. Corridors may form the boundaries of residential subdivisions or neighbourhoods but should act as a linear focus for activities and uses within the community.
The District’s Corridors provide a significant opportunity for creating vibrant pedestrian and transit-oriented places through in-vestment in hard and soft infrastructure, residential intensification, infill and re-development. The concept of spatial development requires an understanding of the movement networks of people, goods and services which are channelled along specific routes. These routes are described as networks of interaction. The level and intensity of activity that these networks of interaction provide result in the concept of “Development Corridors” which are broad areas of development which are centred on activity and development routes. They are characterised by dynamic, mutually supporting relationships between land uses and the supporting movement system. These development corridors are generally supported by a hierarchy of transport services which function as an integrated system to facilitate and foster ease of movement for private and public transport users. A key element of corridor development is intensification. A large portion of the District’s land use intensification target is directed to Nodes and Corridors. In older Corridors, intensification stabilizes and grows the population, helping to support local businesses, institutions and community facilities such as community centres, parks and schools, and returning vitality to these areas. In new or developing corridors, intensification, supported by transit, provides a diversity of housing types and living environments that reduce the dependency on automobiles, creating liveable environments.
The SDF recognized Corridors as key structural elements which for Municipal, neighbourhood and precinct planning; however, some corridors function as an integral part of a much broader environment with a national, provincial and district wide impact (N2). Therefore, a central element of corridor planning will be to identify the unique role played by each corridor and ensure that proper planning co-ordination and guidance is provided for each of the corridors identified, whilst embracing the general ethos of corridor development planning.
Development corridors in Ugu DM occur at various scales and are dependent on function and categorisation of the transportation route that forms the basis of the corridor. They carry flows of people and trade between two points (origin and destination) and foster nodal development at strategic points. Corridor development forms the basis of spatial structuring, and is a tool for economic growth, seeks to create functional linkages between areas of higher thresholds and economic potential, with those that have insufficient thresholds. This, in turn, enables areas that are poorly serviced, to be linked to areas of opportunity and benefit and with higher thresholds. Based on this, the primary; secondary; tertiary; and tourism corridors have been identified.
5.1.4 Land Use Management Guidelines
Since it is the responsibility of the local municipality to manage and control local development it is its responsibility to establish an appropriate land use management system. The land use management framework at the district level is expected to ensure that local systems are based on a common district-wide approach, that the appropriately address issues of district-wide significance and that they connect to each other across local municipality boundaries.
5.1.5 Spatial Alignment with Neighbouring Municipalities
Spatial planning assists Municipalities and other authorities to guide their development planning processes; it is a continuous process in the physical space that would almost have no end, however for the SDF the Municipal boundary is the indicative point in which the SDF must normally conclude its business. It must be noted however, that Municipal boundaries are mainly for administrative reasons and in the perfect world such boundaries would not really affect the spatial planning process. Communities and the physical environment should not be impacted negatively by administrative boundaries, especially in the case of the delivery of basic services. Communities should not be affected by Municipal boundaries in the manner and type of services they receive from the government, the government ultimately has one face and should present itself as such in its various plans.
Cross boarder Municipal Planning is important in order to co-ordinate service delivery to communities which are affected by cross boarder planning, institutional structures should be put in place to ensure that Municipalities plan together for affected areas, evidence has shown that such areas can be subject to Municipal boundary alignments, making them fall under one Municipal area or dividing them to fall within two Municipal area, hence the importance of tangible spatial plans that go beyond administrative and political boundaries.
IDP REVIEW 193