Stratum Mixed Use · Kliptown, Soweto · Gauteng
From hostel and informal settlement to a historic city reborn.
The vision
Kliptown is where the Freedom Charter was adopted in 1955. It deserves a future that matches its history.
Kliptown Vertical City imagines the Kliptown Hostel and the surrounding informal settlements becoming a planned urban district. People would get dignified homes, safe streets, green spaces and real economic opportunities, without having to leave the community they know.
The development
01
A mix of apartment towers, mid-rise buildings and family units. Households now living in informal structures and the hostel would have a path to secure, modern housing close to work, schools and transport.
02
Active streets with supermarkets, cafés, local traders and services. They would connect to the Walter Sisulu Square and celebrate Kliptown's story through public art and design.
03
Building upwards frees up land for landscaped parks, play areas, sports courts and walking routes. These become places where neighbours meet.
04
Training centres and the businesses inside the development would create jobs, with priority given to young people from Kliptown and greater Soweto.
05
Walkways, taxi ranks and the nearby railway line would link residents to the rest of Soweto and Johannesburg.
06
Approved SAMBO members could share in apartment rent, the rent paid by trading businesses and the profits of those businesses.
Get involved
These are proposed projects shown in concept images. They depend on land rights, community engagement, feasibility studies, funding, municipal and provincial approvals and final agreements. Plans, timing and outcomes may change and are not guaranteed.
