The Rosebank CID is bordered by four major roads, including Jan Smuts and Jellicoe Avenues, as well as Bolton and Oxford Roads. There are plans to expand the CID and adopt neighbouring areas such as Parkwood.
A CID is a collaboration between the municipality and the private sector to improve urban management for property owners, tenants, and visitors. Such districts are established within a specific geographic area wherein property owners agree to pay levies for services that improve their physical environment. The CID is overseen by a board of directors comprised of contributors.
CIDs are usually established in areas with significant retail and commercial activity, where decay and degeneration may be affecting its marketability. Most CIDs are in and around the inner city, though some have been established in decentralised business nodes such as Rosebank.
The formation of a CID requires the support of at least 51 per cent of rateable property owners in a designated area, as well as the development of an improvement plan, and is the result of a consultative process between the City and affected stakeholders.
The Rosebank CID supplements municipal utilities with a full basket of services comprising crime prevention and urban monitoring; cleaning and maintenance; placemaking; branding and marketing. There is also social support and community initiatives that ensure the maintenance and upgrading of infrastructure in the node, as well as reinforcing community-based urban management where all patrons are part of the solution.
To promote capital investments in Rosebank, Khiba says the Rosebank CID provides complimentary services to those supplied by the City for the betterment of the neighbourhood and its community, with a primary focus on safety, cleanliness, and accessibility.
"The property owners in Rosebank felt it necessary to contain the spread of safety and security threats and, most of all, deal with the issue of decaying infrastructure. The purpose was and still is to ensure Rosebank continuously evolves into a functional neighbourhood and an attractive destination with the prospect of economic growth," she explains.
Khiba points out that since the promulgation of the CID policy in 1999, there has been significant growth in residential, retail, and corporate developments in Rosebank recently.
"Between 2020 and 2021 we’ve had major corporates move their headquarters into the precinct, an indication that we are on the right trajectory. Rosebank has become safer, cleaner, and more accessible as a CID," she adds.
However, Khiba is quick to point out that Rosebank is not an island, and that the CID believes in partnerships and collaborations to achieve the desired urban development and widespread economic growth in the precinct.
Written by Sascha-Lee Joseph
