City officials, business officials, industry experts and media recently joined forces in exploring Rosebank’s transport infrastructure at the recent Rosebank Transport Indaba, which incorporated a walk through the area and presentations.
The event was hosted by Rosebank Management District (RMD).
“Walking through any area is the best way to understand it,” said Laurice Taitz, Johannesburg In Your Pocket publisher, who collaborated with RMD in the hosting of the event.
She explained the decision to incorporate the walk through the area for delegates at the event was based on this thinking: ‘On the streets you are all equal. Other issues seem to disappear and you become focused on the issues that are at hand.’
Taitz is no stranger to organising walks. A lover of all things South African, and jacarandas, she recently helped to organise a series of free jacaranda-themed walks through the area. “I was a lifestyle editor and politics writer before starting my In Your Pocket initiative,” she said.
“I went to Moscow in 2010 and fell in love with the Moscow In Your Pocket guide. I decided to bring this concept home and the Johannesburg In Your Pocket initiative was birthed.”
She said Rosebank was a unique area in terms of its walkability and that during the recent Rosebank Walkabout, it had come to the organisers’ attention that emphasis needed to be given to transport issues in the area. “The Rosebank Transport Indaba was a natural progression of the Rosebank Walkabout.
“Walking through the area and assessing walkability, we became aware that not all facilities accommodated, for example, moms with prams or people with wheelchairs. We became aware of different problems related to infrastructure, for example, and we realised that there needed to be a special session dedicated to just transport in the area. We have since identified at least four different themes for upcoming events, which will bring officials, business owners, media and key stakeholders for Rosebank together.”
She said she believed the RMD’s events, first the Rosebank Walkabout, and then the Rosebank Transport Indaba, had been unique and were a fine example, ‘a blueprint’, of how officials, businesses and community could work together, not just to educate or present on issues, but also to discuss and debate towards real solutions to problems.
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