Monday, November 03, 2008, China, Nanjing. The World Urban Forum (WUF4) has officially opened, under the theme Harmonious Urbanisation - "A challenge of balanced territorial developments". The WUF4 is hosted by the United Nation agency, UN Habitat in partnership with the Government of China. The Director General of Housing, Itumeleng Kotsoane is leading a South African delegation to the Forum consisting of officials from provinces, municipalities, private sector and non governmental organisations.

Speaking at the Forum, the Director General said South Africa as a leader in building integrated human settlement has a lot to share and also to learn from experiences of different countries in building integrated human settlements.

"Since 1994 we have build more than 2.6 Million houses, providing decent shelter to more than 10 Million poor people. Through the Government housing programme poor people who earn less than R3500.00 per month receive land and a house of 40 sqm for free. We also offer start up subsidy to those who earn between R3500 and R7500.00. We also have a lot to learn on how other countries and cities are responding to the growing challenge of urbanization, many cities are facing the same challenges we have in Johannesburg and Cape Town. He said.

He added that in South Africa and in many African cities the number of people moving to cities looking for better opportunities is growing everyday, and cities in Africa needed to find a proactive and planned solution to the challenge.

"The reality is that we will never stop poor people from moving from rural areas to the inner cities looking for better opportunities, as Governments, planners and cities we need to plan better, we need to plan our cities in an integrated manner in which the poor and the rich can live in harmony and close to places of work. We also need to cater for the environment and social amenities ' he added.

The WUF which started on November 1 to 3, 2008 with the Youth Seminar and continue to the 6th of November 2008 provides a platform for dialogue and discussions among different players in housing, construction and urbanisation to find solutions to create integrated human settlements.

Other issues being discussed is the use of integrated human settlements to eradicate informal settlements, The South African integrated human settlement housing project ' Cosmo City' in Johannesburg is presented as a case study of how to use integrated human settlements when eradicating informal settlements.

Lessons learnt through implementing the Breaking New Ground policy and the implementation of projects like the N2 Gateway Project in Cape Town, Zanemvula in Port Elizabeth and Bendor in Polokwane are being shared with delegates from across the world under different topics.

The Forum will also cover areas like alternatives to forced evictions, innovation to fast track delivery, integrated development to eradicate informal settlements, financing land and housing development for women, territorial balance in urban development, energy efficiency, integrated rural development and other human settlements and urbanisation topics in which various members of the delegation are participating.

South African delegates are also participating under the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development and the G77.

Issued by the Department of Housing

For more information: Ndivhuwo Mabaya on 083 645 7838 or

Teboho Montse on 082 8866721.

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