In addition to a survey directed at business owners and residents, MBDA's research also includes formal economic impact assessments in areas in which catalytic and turnkey urban renewal and development projects either have taken place or are under way. These areas include Helenvale, Central, North End, Richmond Hill, Uitenhage CBD, Kings Beach and New Brighton.
On average 48% of all businesses in these areas made improvements to their properties in 2014, up from 37.4% in 2013. In the residential sector, 39,3% of property owners made improvements to their homes.
The total invested by businesses across all areas in 2014 was R23.8m, and by residents a total of R4.3m. The average value of the improvements made to properties by business owners was R155,657, while the amount recorded in the residential market was R14,716.
The three top urban nodes in which business owners made improvements to properties were Kings Beach (83%), Richmond Hill (68,3%) and Helenvale (65%). In the residential category, the highest number of home improvements were recorded in Central (75%), Richmond Hill (33,7%) and King's Beach (33%).
Richmond Hill recorded the highest average value of property improvements in the business category (R288,036), followed by New Brighton (R272,500) and Kings Beach (R260,000). In the residential market, Kings Beach home owners invested the highest average (R137,000), followed by North End (R31,184) and then Central (R21,667).
"Overall, we are extremely pleased with what is happening in Central and Richmond Hill as evinced by our study findings. It is especially rewarding to see how MBDA programmes in Helenvale are leading to investment in the business sector, and the same can be said for New Brighton," said Dr Pierre Voges, chief executive of MBDA.
In 2014, employment creation by businesses in the upgraded urban areas added 385 new jobs to the Nelson Mandela Bay economy, with the largest numbers being recorded in Central (193), North End and Kings Beach (both 48) and then Richmond Hill (43). On average, one out of four businesses (26,5%) in the upgraded urban areas hired new staff in 2014, with the exception being Helenvale.
On average, nearly 8% of businesses in the upgraded urban areas were start-ups, in their first year of operation. Central (15,3%) and Helenvale (15%) are Nelson Mandela Bay's hub for new start-ups, with the Kings Beach area following closely with the most start-up companies in areas upgraded or under development by the MBDA.
The MBDA economic barometer also showed that 45% of business in the areas, and 44% of residential owners, agreed that the organisation's urban development programmes had increased property values relative to other areas in the city.
"There is no doubt that the face of Nelson Mandela Bay has changed dramatically in recent years. The development agenda underlying this visible transformation, and indeed informing all the MBDA's work, is very clear: to deliver catalytic projects that generate a positive economic and social impact, making Nelson Mandela Bay an attractive place to live, work, play and invest," Dr. Voges said.
