PORT ELIZABETH - Joburg Metro mayor Herman Mashaba has announced the Inclusionary Housing: Incentives, Regulations and Mechanisms Framework, which ushers in a housing plan that will make 30% of new residential developments available for affordable housing.

The scheme will see 'mixed' housing with lower income earners living side by side with higher income earners, creating residential areas that are equal in terms of public amenities.

"This is an important step as the city seeks to address the spatial inequality associated with apartheid-era development planning," the Mashaba said of the plan that the city’s Spatial Development Framework (SDF) 2040 identified and which council adopted in 2016.

The densification process will be implemented in and around current nodes, as well as the new ‘general urban zone’ in areas like Orlando East in Soweto.

The SDF 2040 highlights the issue of the housing and job mismatch in the city with a large portion of its population concentrated in areas of limited or no employment opportunity.