Private-sector participation is the “single most crucial component” in rejuvenating decaying urban areas, a new World Bank report, which includes Johannesburg as a case study, shows.

Published in conjunction with the Public– Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility during the World Cities Summit, in Singapore, last week, the report includes an ssessment of an 18 km2 inner-city section of Johannesburg, which has been the subject of several regeneration initiatives since the early 2000s.

The other case studies contained in the report, titled ‘Regenerating Urban Land: A Practical Guide to Leveraging Private Investment’ cover programmes in Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Seoul, in the Republic of Korea; Ahmedabad, India; Shanghai, China; Washington DC, in the US; and Singapore.

The authors say the interventions by both public and private actors, as well as community stakeholders, achieved a decline in property vacancy rates from 40% in 2003 to 17% in 2008, as well as a similar rise in property transactions.

They also highlight the importance of having established an autonomous agency, the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), to bring the various strategies, plans and projects under one umbrella.

“The unique characteristic of the regeneration of Johannesburg was the multiplicity of actors and stakeholders, such as an active private-sector community, migrant workers, utility companies, and provincial, national, and local governments. “Johannesburg inner-city regeneration proved that it is possible for such a broad range of stakeholders to collaborate and engage through various loosely connected processes and frameworks.”

Since 2001, the report adds, private participants have invested R18-million in the inner city for every R1-million invested by the JDA, creating property assets valued at R600-million and infrastructure assets valued at R3.1-billion.

However, the Johannesburg regeneration effort is also criticised for failing to provide sufficient affordable housing for displaced residents of refurbished tenement housing complexes. “The Johannesburg inner city must focus on providing more entry-level housing for the poor, who choose to live in the inner city to be closer to jobs and economic opportunities,” the reports states.

It also calls for greater efforts in aligning inner-city regeneration priorities with those of the metropolitan region to improve integration of the inner city into the existing city region.

The authors stress that there is no “one size fits all” approach when seeking solutions to cities’ declining areas, but that, with strong political leadership, “any city can start an urban regeneration process”. However, the successful use of land planning and finance tools depends on sound and well-enforced zoning and property tax systems.

As part of the report’s release, the World Bank also launched an online decision tool, at http://urban-regeneration.worldbank.org/, to assist cities pursuing regeneration programmes.