Inner cities are important nodes for local economic development and investing in them is necessary for future growth, inner city property financier TUHF CEO Paul Jackson said at the Rode-REIM Property Conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

He noted that urban living was often associated with higher levels of literacy and education, better health and greater access to social services.

“We think the case for inner cities is self evident and have funded 43 000 inner city units across the country to date. There are 128 inner city areas throughout the country and we mainly focus on inner cities [that are] in decline,” he said.

Jackson pointed out that in South Africa there was significant urbanisation and that there were currently no vacant flats available in downtown Johannesburg owing to its multisector economy, densification and existing infrastructure and services.

He stated that it was important for cities to use physical infrastructure that was already available instead of only focusing on new, big projects such as the Gautrain, adding that supporting urban densification was crucial for inner cities to thrive.

Jackson stated that Africa remained mostly rural, with 40% of the population living in urban areas.

He added, however, that the continent, along with Asia, was urbanising faster than other regions and these regions were expected to be 56% and 64% urbanised respectively by 2050.

“The urban growth rate of Africa is almost 11 times more rapid than the growth rate in Europe,” he noted, adding that rural to urban migration is at the peak of its curve, with 40 000 families migrating to Gauteng on a monthly basis.

He said that although the eight South African metropolitan areas accounted for just 2% of the country’s land mass, they were home to around 40% of the population and generated 57% of the country’s gross domestic product.