ECID plans to restore jewel of the east

The Edenvale City Improvement District (ECID) presented its plans to revitalise the town with a proposed transport and housing hub.

ECID chairman Dr Paolo Agostinetto said the ECID initiative dates back about seven years, to when a few business people in the CBD realised that the town was heading for severe degradation.

“We are the first CID in Ekurhuleni and we are the blueprint and the flagship in Ekurhuleni. We operate under the Gauteng City Improvement District Act and we promulgated three years ago,” said Dr Agostinetto.

He said ECID is a public/private partnership between Ekurhuleni, property owners and business owners.

“We seek to improve the environment and create a trendy CBD where people can walk, play, study and generate a healthy trading area.”

Member of the ECID board, Mr Selwyn Sundelowitz, said in 2014 the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) presented the ECID with an exciting challenge.

“The EMM invited us to put forward a proposal on how to unleash the enormous potential inherent in the town centre. After great thought and planning, we returned to three key elements which are public transportation, housing and education. Upon that we decided to make this a world class project,” he said.

“It is a fact that our cities are outdated, the infrastructures are not capable of dealing with all the newcomers who move to the CBD in the hopes of finding opportunities for themselves and their families,” said Mr Alessio Lacovig, the architect from Architects of Justice (AOJ)

He said a great public place is needed and that revitalising under-utilised city infrastructure can bring people and activities back.

“Developing and pushing this idea along requires a tremendous amount of work, which entails the collaboration of the government and the private sector. It also requires time and the correct knowledge but the impact is undoubtedly significant,” he said.

“I am really excited that the future is not somewhere we go to but something we can create and we are extremely excited about the amount of work the ECID has put into this presentation,” said the EMM city manager, Khaya Ngema.

The ward 18 councillor, Clr Heather Hart, also applauded the presentation.

The ECID plans to create a high density community where people can live, work and play in a clean, green and safe environment.

Further to the proposed project, the ECID also reminded the community of the upcoming Mardi Gra on November 7, when Edenvale will display festival lights for the first time in almost 15 years.