Housing

Alexandra's K206 Housing Project

Released: Jan./Feb. 2007 | Source: ARP

	Artist's view of a K206 cluster
	From Marlboro past London Rd
	MEC Mokonyane speaks at the K206 launch in November
	Long tract of rezoned land

The K206 is the largest housing project in Alexandra to date.

This strip of land on the Far East Bank Ext. 9 of Alexandra was originally intended for road usage. It stretches from Marlboro in the north to beyond London Road in the south, and has now been rezoned for residential development. The intention now is to house as many of the families living in the Setjwetla informal settlement along the banks of the Jukskei River as possible.

The K206 housing project consists of 1760 erven. There will be a free-standing, double-storey RDP house on each erf as the primary unit. In addition, 1078 of those erven will also have secondary structures consisting of 2 rooms with shared ablution facilities. This will provide 2156 affordable rental opportunities within the development.

This exciting new concept in urban design, providing mixed-usage affordable housing in "cluster-style" developments, is being pioneered by the Alexandra Renewal Project. In this radical approach, traditional community interaction can be preserved using high density accommodation thereby allowing for more shared, open community space.

ARP Director, Julian Baskin, says that despite the chronic shortage of available land in Alexandra, developments such as the K206, the Marlboro social housing and the 520 rental project, will go a long way to accommodating people in permanent structures within the area, rather than relocating them at a distance.

At the K206 sod-turning ceremony on 22 November 2006, the MEC for Housing, Ms Nomvula Mokonyane, explained the importance of providing rental accommodation as a housing alternative for the many families living in shack settlements, such as Setjwetla, who do not qualify for RDP housing in terms of the government guidelines.

In addition to standard infrastructure such as water, sanitation and stormwater drainage, the K206 project goes beyond housing to provide a safe and secure living environment. This will include tarred roads, street lighting, landscaping, paving and boundary walls.

Four hectare have been set aside to accommodate the Zionist Christian Church which is relocating to allow for other ARP development at its original site.