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Public talk on viable alternative solution for the future spatial development of Windhoek set for November

Public talk on viable alternative solution for the future spatial development of Windhoek set for November

The Namibia Scientific Society will be hosting a public talk by Winfried Holze from WH Urban Design Architecture, on 1 November at 19:00. Holze will be talking about the new City of Windhoek Spatial Development Framework, an alternative proposal.

Holze said he has taken it upon himself to develop and present for discussion a viable alternative solution for the future spatial development of Windhoek.

Explaining why, Holze said as per the latest town planning legislation, local authorities are now required to provide and implement future spatial development frameworks for their urban settlements.

“The City of Windhoek initiated this process in 2019, but apart from a preliminary findings report, no meaningful public participatory processes have taken place or anything in terms of the proposal presented yet,” he added.

He said the development of a spatial development framework, or structure plan in short, for Windhoek is of such high importance and complexity that it cannot be left to the city council politicians, the heads of departments, and a single town planning firm with its team of consultants alone to develop a proposal.

“Then to present a conclusive foregone plan to the public expecting it just to nod its head in acceptance, and we know what we can expect,” said Holze.

Holze was born in Windhoek in 1963 and is a qualified Urban Designer and Architect and is currently the principal architect at Winfried Holze Urban Design Architecture. After his studies at the University of Port Elizabeth, now Nelson Mandela Bay, and the University of Cape Town he spends several years in Germany to gain some intentional experience before returning to Namibia to open his practice here.

He has been an urban design consultant on the Swakopmund Spatial Development Framework together with Gunther Stubenrauch Town Planners and a presenter of various urban design master classes at the Namibia University of Science and Technology.

Among a few architectural projects in Windhoek, Swakopmund, and elsewhere, he has also done Urban design projects in Namibia, Angola, and in Congo. His passion lies in promoting the ‘shop house’ development concept as an alternative to the business and housing zoning categories.


 

About The Author

Mandisa Rasmeni

Mandisa Rasmeni has worked as reporter at the Economist for the past five years, first on the entertainment beat but now focussing more on community, social and health reporting. She is a born writer and she believes education is the greatest equalizer. She received her degree in Journalism at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in June 2021. . She is the epitome of perseverance, having started as the newspaper's receptionist in 2013.