Rebirth in the nineties

By the early nineties, following the changes in the country's political landscape, the face of the national transport network had undergone dramatic restructuring. South African Rail Transport Services (SATS) was commercialised in 1990, with Transnet and the South African Rail Commuter Corporation Ltd (SARCC) emerging from this process. In 1992, Intersite Property Management Services (Pty) Ltd was established out of the property division of the SARCC to utilise commercially and develop the land in the Corporation's property portfolio.

One of the major projects to be undertaken by Intersite was planning for the redevelopment of Park Station. It was recognised that Park Station was one of the busiest hubs in contemporary Johannesburg, with close to 300 000 people passing through it each day.

The intention was that in the process of enhancing the daily lives of thousands of commuters and rekindling a sense of pride in the city among its inhabitants, the ambitious Park Station project would be a catalyst for the rejuvenation of the Johannesburg Central Business District.

Mobility is vital to the integration of our society at every level and transport is the hub around which the nation thrives, with its people, goods and products constantly on the move. Increasingly we are seeing the importance of different kinds of transport being recognised in the development of inter-modal transport facilities - that is, places where various forms of transport come together. And Johannesburg Park Station is a prime example of such inter-modalism.

What has materialised at Park Station from a disjointed, run down, racially segregated, under-utilised public facility is a sophisticated inter-modal transport interchange on a par with comparable facilities anywhere in the world.

It is:

• A gateway to Johannesburg, South Africa and beyond;
• An intersection for travellers from all over the city, the country and the continent;
• A convenient and safe meeting place for people from all over the city.

The redevelopment of Johannesburg Park Station has a project value of R173-million and comprises a number of aspects, each of which contributes to the overall success of the scheme. In line with the need for participative planning and transparency in South African today, each step of the process was extensively negotiated and discussed with the user communities and other stake-holders. The development, on 22 city blocks, comprises a number of major components, an outline of which follows.

During the late eighties and early nineties, Park Station became increasingly dilapidated and under-utilised. A large number of homeless people who had nowhere else to sought refuge on the station. Prior to the start of the redevelopment process, the relocation of these homeless people was negotiated. This poem by Johannes Mahlangu, who is homeless, give some insight into the importance of Park Station in their lives. It appeared in Homeless Talk, a magazine written and sold by the homeless on the streets of Johannesburg.

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