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INSIGHT: Action needed to ease the burden on South Africa’s water systems

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The combination of rapid urbanization, climate change and droughts, high water demand and aging infrastructure has severely strained local water systems. This strain has resulted in water shortages, water-shedding, and the growing threat of water-shedding. According to Olebogeng Manhe, Chairman of the Gap Infrastructure Corporation (GIC) to tackle the growing pressure on water systems, both short-term and long-term measures are required. While short-term steps may not prevent water-shedding completely, they can provide immediate relief and buy time for long-term solutions to be implemented. Improving existing water infrastructure is a crucial part of the long-term solution. Significant investments are needed to upgrade or replace aging infrastructure, especially in rapidly growing towns and cities. However, the public sector alone may not have the resources to meet these financial demands, which is where public-private partnerships (PPPs) come into play. PPPs play a vital role in mana
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How is Covid 19 going to affect inner city rejuvenation plans?

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A new report from Moody's Analytics finds that the corornavirus crisis could result in more people in the US moving away from big cities.

How is Covid 19 going to affect inner city rejuvenation plans for South Africa's big cities?

Coronavirus fallout could increase multifamily construction demand in suburbs

The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified a demographic shift that could affect the top markets for multifamily construction for years to come. 



A new report from Moody's Analytics finds that the crisis could result in more people moving away from big cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago to smaller towns like Madison, Wisconsin, and Durham, North Carolina.



"The generation growing up today may remember the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and be more likely to opt to live in less densely packed places," Moody's Analytics report author Adam Kamins wrote. 

This trend is poised to affect multifamily construction activity, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The group’s latest Home Building Geography Index found that residential construction activity is expanding at a more rapid rate in lower density markets such as smaller cities and rural areas.

“An unavoidable lesson of the public health crisis associated with COVID-19 is that major metropolitan areas faced greater challenges,” according to NAHB economist Litic Murlali. “High-density lifestyles, championed by some planners over the last decade as a rival to suburban living, proved to be vulnerable to a virus due to crowded living conditions, dependency on mass transit, and insufficient health and public sector infrastructure.”

This will lead to more construction in low- and medium-density markets, as households seek out homes further from urban cores, particularly as telecommuting continues in elevated numbers, Murali writes.

In addition, an analysis of new U.S. Census Bureau data by the Brookings Institution shows that many U.S. cities have seen a decline in population growth in recent years. In the last year only two of 10 U.S. cities with populations greater than 1 million — Phoenix and San Antonio, Texas — have experienced growth rates higher than 1%, with New York, Chicago and San Jose, California experiencing negative growth.

The demographic shift is affecting apartment rentals and luxury condo purchases in cities like New York. The number of real estate contracts signed for Manhattan apartments declined 84% last month compared with 2019, according to CNBC, and the number of new listings has fallen 71% as sellers decide to keep their properties off the market until the city starts to reopen.


Whether the move away from cities is temporary or long term, condo developers are taking note. National builder Toll Brothers has said it will pause its development of its luxury condo properties in city centers. The company will sit on land earmarked for future projects for Toll Brothers City Living, its urban development division, including parcels in New York City,Seattle and Philadelphia.


Source: ConstructionDrive

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