Restoring Cape Town’s core has been an important achievement, but Tim Harris makes no mention of the harm caused by gentrification, short-term rentals and the continuing displacement of low-income households to the periphery (“Cape Town CBD — a compelling blueprint for cities in decline”, February 13).
The buoyant state of the residential property market in and around the central city could be used to encourage private investors to support various kinds of mixed-income and inclusionary housing schemes.
The mechanisms to achieve this are well established in other cities around the world. It would help to make central Cape Town a more diverse, inclusive and integrated location.
Prof Ivan Turok
NRF research chair: city-region economies, University of the Free State, and honorary professor: University of Glasgow
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