Tag Archive for: urban management

Our Facade Improvement Programme- Building a Better Future

Bestselling entrepreneurial author Jim Rohn once said, “The good things we build – end up building us”. In the Somerset West City Improvement District (SWCID), our streets are no utopia, but at SWCID we are committed to collaboratively improving our community. We believe that improvement is contagious – which is why we have initiated our Facade Improvement Programme (FIP). The FIP is specifically designed to encourage businesses, like yours, to invest in the curb appeal of your premises. Knowing that we at the Somerset West City Improvement District are working to protect your property from vandalism and malicious degradation.

The FIP is part of an investment journey that we as business owners, community members, municipal bodies and the SWCID walk. Ultimately, we work to repair urban decay and improve the socio-economic environment of the Somerset West City Improvement District.

Our Facade Improvement Programme is a tool for inner-city revitalisation based on the formal processes successfully used in American cities. The protocol is well documented to restore citizens local pride, create a unique urban character, and repair the functionality of an urban area. Studies by the University of Wisconsin found that even small outlays have a positive impact on landlords, business owners and employees.

Somerset West City Improvement District – Removing all graffiti tags which aids in keeping your area safer

For Property Landlords Facade Improvement can:

  • Generate more revenue due to new occupancy in previously unoccupied commercial spaces.
  • Increase the economic return with existing renters due to facility and facade improvements.
  • Improve the resale value for landlords looking to sell their property.
  • Make interior improvements more cost-effective and efficient due to running the construction in conjunction.
  • Grow the number of first-time customers by up to 80%.
  • Improve sales by up to 90% for people with businesses in mixed-use areas.
  • Provide publicity and recognition to pique the interest of new, diverse customers thereby stabilizing businesses’ income stream in times of economic instability.
  • Create healthy competition by making other local businesses feel an urgency to improve their facades and facilities to maintain a competitive edge.

It’s clear that facade improvements are a catalyst for many positive changes. By attracting new customers and tenants they help inject more capital into our community thereby improving the financial microclimate of Somerset West City Improvement District. Not to mention, increasing the overall employee engagement and morale by creating a positive working environment.

Somerset West City Improvement District – Keeping the area free from posters on streetlights, road signs and boundaries.

At the Somerset West City Improvement District, we are working alongside you to make a positive impact by:

  • Keeping the streets clean of litter to make sure that your facade improvement remains clean and attractive to your new visitors.
  • Removing all graffiti tags which aids in keeping your area safer by hindering criminal syndicates from targeting your business.
  • Keeping the area free from posters on streetlights, road signs and boundaries such as fences.

As part of our urban community, you can help us by:

  • Adding appropriate, well-designed custom signage to help employees and customers know where you are, where they should park and where they enter to stop them from passing your business by.
  • Improving the aesthetic of your facade by adding lighting, resurfacing with cladding and paint, and adapting details such as decorative awnings, trims, and cornices.
  • Rejuvenating architectural features on larger investments such as windows, entrances, and doorways.
  • Improve the accessibility of your property with ramps, rails, wider doors, and sanitation stations that do not obstruct the flow of foot traffic.

Through the Facade Improvement Programme, we work tirelessly to protect your investment from being damaged and pride ourselves on providing swift and efficient intervention should a challenge arise. Ultimately, we want to help our community become a clean, healthy and safe place to work, live and thrive.

We would love to see what you are working on so please share your #goodnews!

You can contact us and share your story about how you are improving our area via comms@swcid.co.za

If you have any concerns to report, please contact one of the following numbers:

  • SAPS (South African Police Services) 10111
  • City of Cape Town Disaster Management- 107
  • 0860 103 099 – Secure Rite Control Room
/by

Shelter Plays a Role in SWCID

Homeless persons who find refuge at the Somerset West Night Shelter, are given the opportunity to earn their board and lodgings by being employed to assist the SWCID teams, especially with cleaning tasks. The prerequisite is that they should be clean in terms of drug and alcohol consumption. 

enabling the vulnerable to earn helping with beautification 2

 

The services of the shelter, its staff and inhabitants are utilised on a partnership basis in these ways: 

  • For labour when necessary 
  • The resident social worker occasionally meets with the SWCID to determine needs, and sometimes walks through the CID to engage with people on the street in need of help or advice. 
  • The residents of the shelter are willing to engage in conversation with the PSO of Secure Rite to explain how homeless persons with their variety of problems and challenges should best be approached. 

Some of the accompanying photos show Law Enforcement officials being involved with staff from Secure Rite and with Public Safety. 

According to the SWCID manager, Ernst van Zyl, the metro’s Law Enforcement officials regularly contact them for operations to be executed in the CID. 

tidying and beautifying meeting with shelter staff helping with beautification 1 engaging with people on the street collaborating with security staff cleaning tasks cleaning and de-weeding cleaning and beautifying cleaning and beautifying 2 briefing of shelter clients beautification beautification and cleaning beautification (2)

/0 Comments/by

Cleaning operations in full swing

The cleaning team of the SWCID has a host of tasks and challenges to contend with daily. 

Accompanying photos show the various activities that they engage in, which include the following: 

  • mowing of grass; 
  • maintenance work on poles; 
  • removal of stones that are lying around – in order to prevent criminally minded people  from using them to break windows of cars and businesses; 
  • cutting or pruning of branches and carting of the garden refuse to the dumping site; 
  • removal of graffiti and posters

 mowing 1

 

mowing 2

mowing 3

mowing 4

mowing 5

pole maintenance 2

pole maintenance 3

pole maintenance 4

pole maintenance 5

/0 Comments/by

Urban Management Trolley Introduced

The Geocentric Urban Management Trolley Project was initiated in 2017. 

The aim of the project is to provide urban cleaning and maintenance teams with a platform to improve their daily tasks, assist with moving of equipment and tools and enable recycling while performing their tasks. 

A few design considerations were introduced into the design of the trolley including 

  • The ability to move heavy loads of litter or recycling from one point to another without effort or potential injury 
  • Create high visibility for the cleaning and maintenance teams 
  • Have quick and easy access to tools and equipment 
  • The ability, even when fully loaded, to easy ascend and descend kerbs and sidewalks 
  • Be able to separate waste as they work to support the recycling initiative 

To achieve some of these design principles, Geocentric looked at simple solutions from other designs, for example, the stair-climbing suitcases used by so many travellers.  By scaling up the design for the urban management trolleys, we could produce a sidewalk and pavement climbing trolley where the urban management worker needs minimum effort to get onto and off pavements to perform their duties.  

(See photos of step 1, 2 and 3 illustrating this concept.) 

step1

step2

step3

The trolleys were also designed to be pushed from any side with key tools located in the middle so that it is in fact easy to use it for a two-man team operation.  On each side of the trolley a plastic tool box allows storage for small tools. 

Recyclables like tin cans, glass and plastic bottles are collected by the urban management workers throughout the day as they clean the streets and public spaces and at the end of each day they separate the items into baskets whereafter Geocentric recycles the items. 

trolley 4

trolley 5

This is another way in which we make CID operations more sustainable and environmentally friendly as we prevent a vast amount of waste from simply going to landfills. 

trolley 6

Geocentric have rolled out these trollies in the Elsies River and Beaconvale City Improvement Districts and plan to roll them out to all the other CIDs under Geocentric management through the course of 2018. 

 

/0 Comments/by

Safety and Security enjoy Priority in SWCID

In collaboration with the CCT

’

In collaboration with the CCT’s Law Enforcement Officer assigned to the SWCID, Secure Rite as service provider to the SWCID conducts a variety of operations aimed at preventing contraventions and addressing a variety of safety and security issues in the area. 

Some of the activities include the following: 

  • Safeguarding the area and ensuring that homeless persons do not sleep in the CID or beg for money from the public; 
  • Patrolling and surveillance of businesses and in the case of burglaries or robberies, the support of clients by the Public Safety Officer. 
  • Addressing the problem of alcohol abuse in public (within the CID). 
  • Joint operations launched by the CCT’s Law Enforcement department. 

See visuals depicting amongst other things, the joint SAPS, Law Enforcement and SWCID operation in the vicinity of the bridge over the river in Somerset west. 

  • SWCID CCTV project: accompanying pictures show the installation of cameras by Secure Rite and the view of the streets from the control room. 

security camera 1 security camera 3 security camera James Street

  • Voluntarily lending a helping hand to the public – for example when car trouble is experienced. 

bridge operation 1 bridge operation 2 bridge operation 5 Confiscate trollies Confiscate wheely bins operation with law enforcement officer 1 PSO assists with shoplifting 1 PSO assists with shoplifting 2 public safety officers 2 Public Safety officers removal of stones 1 removal of stones 2 removal of stones 3 sharp object confiscated

 

A newspaper article reported everything but to mention that this operation was initiated by the SWCID and that most of the manpower and resources came from the SWCID.  Pictures also show officers assisting the SAPS in the operation and of where they are helping to remove structures (with the assistance of the SWCID cleaning team) as well as patrol officers show dangerous weapons found during the operation. 

Article on bridge operation 1

s Public Safety Officer assigned to the SWCID, Secure Rite conduct

/0 Comments/by

Geocentric Launches New App

“As Geocentric we are very proud to launch our new mobile phone reporting application,” said Gene Lohrentz of the urban management company recently. “This is another way in which we are enabling our CID business and property owners to interact with their City Improvement District Management. 

 

“We want our CID contributors to become part of our family by interacting with us about issues they might encounter.  The mobile application makes that possible on the devices most people have with them every day.” 

Geocentric Reporting App 2

 

The Geocentric app allows users to easily report issues in the City Improvement Districts managed by Geocentric Urban Management based in South Africa.  Currently the areas covered by this Application include Beaconvale Industrial Area, Elsies River Industrial, Glosderry, Maitland, Salt River, Somerset West CBD, Stikland Industrial, Strand CBD and the Tygervalley CBD.  

 

With this application users can report urban defects, crime incidents, public safety issues and general comments.  “We will acknowledge your report and provide you with feedback throughout the process.  We will also send you ‘Alerts’ of problems in your CID area, such as water leaks or power outages and we can even send crime alerts and safety tips to your mobile phone. 

 Geocentric Reporting App 1

The Geocentric Reporting Application is Free of Charge! 

 

Simply install it and register as a user when using it for the first time.  If you need any help, please contact support@geocentric.co.za 

 

Let’s get started! 

 

  • Simply download and install the App from the Google Play or Apple App Store  
  • Register as a user, using the app when you open it for the first time 
  • We will send you a confirmation email and you will have to activate your app by clicking on the activation link in the email – this is to ensure we are dealing with people and not spammers. 
  • Go to your email and verify your email address 
  • Log in and you are ready to go! 
/0 Comments/by