NEW: Build affordable housing closer to business districts, says expert

South African housing policy makers should consider buying land and building affordable homes closer to central business districts (CBDs)‚ where job opportunities exist‚ to boost employment‚ said World Bank Africa region chief economist Francisco Ferreira on Wednesday.



He spoke in an interview after a presentation at the University of the Witwatersrand. Dr Ferreira echoed comments by Cape Town Partnership, which promotes development in the city centre, that more of the property owned by the Western Cape government needed to be used for the provision of affordable housing units in the city’s CBD.

"I think it will probably help reduce unemployment if we think of policies and ways that permit people to live closer to their jobs‚" he said.

The government has built millions of low-cost houses for the poor since the advent of democracy. However‚ beneficiaries often raise concerns that these houses are too far from business districts.

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