Project profile — Equal Spaces: Social Housing to End Spatial Apartheid in South Africa

The project aims to revitalize inner city neighbourhoods that provide accessible housing and improved socio-economic conditions for low income and previously disadvantaged South Africans. The project supports the South African Government in the implementation of its ambitious national housing program. Project activities include providing technical assistance and training to develop the knowledge, skills and capacity of the National Department of Human Settlements, the National Association of Social Housing Organizations, and up to 30 other social housing institutions to: (1) apply better planning and implementation mechanisms for affordable well-located housing; (2) establish effective partnerships between social housing institutions and other national stakeholders; and (3) effectively deliver and manage accessible housing.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved delivery by social housing stakeholders of gender sensitive services and resources to disadvantaged South Africans for social housing and urban regeneration; and (2) improved performance of social housing organisations for the delivery and management of affordable and well-located housing for low income and disadvantaged South Africans in targeted inner-city neighbourhoods.

Results achieved as of the end of the project (March 2021) include: (1) Enhanced collaboration and cooperation amongst government and private sector social housing organizations, leading to new cooperative initiatives in the social housing sector; (2) 1,005 social housing employees trained to strengthen social housing partnerships and implement urban regeneration projects; (3) ten new social housing institutions incubated through the assistance of the project; (4) produced and shared 68 best practises, new or revised policies and procedures with all interested municipalities; (5) implemented the Gender Equality Strategy for the Social Housing Sector by key actors to improve the handling of gender-based violence and the safety of women and vulnerable groups within the social housing space; and (6) social housing institutions increased their capacity through Digital Learning Hubs to share innovative ideas and opportunities for mutual support. These results contributed to improved delivery by social housing organizations of gender-sensitive services, urban regeneration projects, and affordable and well-located housing for low-income and disadvantaged South Africans in targeted inner-city neighbourhoods.