North of Durban, an entirely new town is currently under construction. Bridge City is going to be an “all-in-one”, Brian Ive, development executive at Tongaat Hulett Developments said.

The new town is the latest joint project of the eThekwini municipality and Tongaat Hulett Developments. Seventy percent of the mixed use residential, business and commercial site area has already been sold. “The site is very large,” Ive said, “so we only expect all the plots to be sold by 2019”. He added that current state of the economy has also slowed this process.

The Bridge City development aims to boost economic development and create hundreds more job opportunities. Some of the features that will service residents in the new town and surrounding areas will be:

• A government hospital
• A business park
• Small businesses factories and shops
• A petrol station
• NJP Steel distribution centre that is expected to open early next year

Shunnon Tulsiram, head of the municipality’s Economic Development and Investment Production Unit said businesses will be located in areas that will provide business opportunities. Small businesses that plan to open will vary from IT companies to manufacturing businesses and small start-ups.

Transport routes will be easily accessible from all areas of Bridge City. The new integrated system aims to link nine transport corridors across various modes of transport. The intermodal system is also expected to serve approximately 1 000 000 commuters per day once fully developed in 2027.

Currently, a “big pro” for people commuting into the area is the train that feeds into an underground station in the town’s local shopping centre.

The development is expected to uplift the surrounding areas of Kwamashu, Inanda and Ntuzuma that have been earmarked for economic development and job creation initiatives.