Industrial Parks
Industrial Parks Programme:
As yet, there is no modern day unified view in South Africa, to guide us as to what constitutes an Industrial Park, and although there are multiple models that have been used historically, the preference has focused primarily on public, or private ownership of demarcated industrial land.
The concept and idea of transforming ageing traditional industrial areas into enabling structures in the format of Eco-Industrial Parks is attractive to us, and we wanted to be part of this process. Recognising that the importance of efficient, stable, and reliable services, access supplied to the places where manufacturing takes place; good communal resource management; the needs to maintain the natural environment; and the need for collaborative action to change the outlook for industrial growth, we thought it important for industry (through the cluster) to become better informed, and to get involved. Our decision resulted in a loose collaboration with local and national government, and governmental agencies focused on Wadeville Industrial Area, in Ekurhuleni as a pilot. Our role was to mobilise and organise industry to provide industrial insights, to learn more about future plans for industrial parks, and to accumulate knowledge that would inform industry decisions and involvement going forward. This experience has served to better inform us, and to confirm our interest in the revitalisation of industrial areas. On the strength of this experience, we launched our RSA Clusters Industrial Parks Programme for industry, based on UNIDO best practices, and examples of what successful industrial parks are doing globally.
Our view of the future: South Africa has emerging natural advantages that will be difficult for competitors in niche markets to compete with. Well positioned, managed, and resourced industrial parks that work well will become a local competitive advantage for manufacturers.
They will be:
- Relevant for industrial needs.
- Run as a business.
- Efficient enablers of local industrial economic growth.
- Sought after locations for lead companies and their suppliers.
- Easily accessible to logistics providers and have efficient logistics routing in the area
- Providing uninterrupted supply of quality energy and water.
- Influential in increasing concentrations and density of firms and institutions in the same field
- Promoters of cleaner production.
- Attractors of investment and industrialisation.
- Home to highly competitive businesses.
They will have:
- Efficient management structures suited to collaborative management partnerships.
- Access to a wide variety of additional support services relevant to local businesses.
- Circular economic focus, encouraging local recycling and other forms of reuse of resources.
- Well maintained infrastructure, clean and green public places, mechanisms for effective precinct management on matters of safety and security, and granular information to help them make better decisions.
Our agenda: To help industry to form collaborative partnerships with local municipalities.
Our twofold mission is: To mobilise industry into action, and to provide structures, mechanisms, and tools to enable a unified industry engagement.
Our objectives:
- To provide central leadership for our Programme rollout;
- To standardise our approach to municipalities
- Focus our initial engagements on local municipalities in the City of Ekurhuleni, in Gauteng, and in the District of Nkangala, in Mpumalanga;
- Develop local industrial strategies for growth including; revitalisation of local industrial parks, stable supply of services, business retention and expansion, strengthening the local value chain, and cleaner production processes and principles.
- Coordinate the industry participation in planning and implementation of priority projects.