CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
6.3. The Economic Benefits/Costs of PPPs for Durban Beachfront
This section discusses the themes relating to the economic benefits and costs of the development of public spaces by PPP for the Durban Beachfront. Three themes had emerged from the results. The first theme, discussed in Section 6.3.1., relates to the private investment in public infrastructure as a result of the PPP being formed. Section 6.3.2. discusses the tourism impacts as a result of these beachfront developments. Finally, Section 6.3.3.
discusses the interest that has been regenerated on Durban Beachfront as a result of the PPP developments.
6.3.1. Boosting Public Infrastructure
Both developments have led to an improvement in the infrastructural value of the beachfront.
Due to the fact that the Beach Café is a small development, this improvement is not as great as the improvements made by the Suncoast Casino. A number of factors had strengthened the bargaining position of the eThekwini Municipality regarding investments that the Suncoast Casino has had to make in public infrastructure.
The Wiehahn Commission recommended that any casino development must also invest in tourism related infrastructure. The Suncoast Casino was thus obliged to create a development that would contribute to the tourism infrastructure on the Durban Beachfront. Because the developer had been granted rights to use part of the beachfront, it had to compensate by investing in the public space infrastructure it had privatised, i.e. the creation of a secure and well managed boulevard and beach area.
Historically, casino developments have proven very profitable, and therefore the developer was in a financial position to fulfil a number of obligations required by the Municipality in order to secure the rights to development. The role of eThekwini Municipality, with regards to the partnership with the Suncoast Casino, may be described as entrepreneurial. The city sought to gain the maximum benefit to its stock of tourism capital by ensuring that the private developer agrees to a list of conditions. This is typical of the attributes of the entrepreneurial city spoken of by Harvey (1989), where the city seeks to find ways (such as increasing their tourism potential) to boost their local economies. In reviewing the „entrepreneurial city‟
literature as described by Harvey (1989) the researcher found it possible to contextualise the
107 development process in the case studies. The city acted with economic foresight and sought to receive as much economic benefit from both developments particularly the Suncoast Casino.
As a result, apart from the R100 million that was received from the free-hold sale of the site, the city had also received money that was invested into public infrastructure such as extending the boulevard beyond the cadastral boundaries of the development (Andrews, pers.
comm., 15/07/2008). In addition to this, the Suncoast Casino has also contributed a large sum of money towards the people mover buses which makes an hourly stop at the Suncoast Casino amongst other important destinations along the beachfront (Andrews, pers. comm., 15/07/2008). It is noted that the area of the Suncoast Casino‟s influence extends beyond its cadastral boundary and this is due to the investment that was made by the private developer into the public areas such as the boulevard and the beach area. The Suncoast Casino is obliged to provide security, the dune rehabilitation programme and life guard services on the beach. These characteristics suggest that the area under the Suncoast Casino‟s influence functions as a BID where a private institution takes on the role of the state by maintaining state functions such as security, cleanliness and order (Zukin, 1995).
The city has thus gained in terms of infrastructure over and beyond the premises of the casino. A negative impact relating to infrastructure as a result of a mega development like the Suncoast Casino is the need for copious amounts of parking space. Plate 3.2. (page 45) shows that the size of the parking lot is almost equal to the size of the rest of the complex. Given its location, this amount of parking space occupies valuable real estate of the area given its close proximity to the CBD, the harbour and the beachfront.
However, it has been observed that the Suncoast Casino parking lot has added value and is utilised by rugby spectators as it is located within walking distance from the rugby stadium as well as the site of the new soccer stadium. Given the city‟s development plans to create a world class sporting precinct, the parking lot at the Suncoast Casino will prove to become an infrastructural asset to the city.
6.3.2. Economic Impacts - Tourism
Section 5.3 showed that the exact economic impacts of both these developments were difficult to ascertain. The results showed that the Suncoast Casino has become one of the most profitable casinos in the country. The Beach Café has also been well supported by the
108 local population as well as by tourists from abroad and nationally. The Suncoast Casino employs 1300 people on a permanent basis and the company has experienced double digit growth in the most recent year (Dowsley, pers. comm., 25/07/2008). The development has also contributed to the successful hosting of international events like the A1 Grand Prix from 2005-2008 which took place on the streets surrounding the casino.
The casino complex has added one more tourist destination on the Golden Mile and has strengthened the tourism repertoire of the city. However, the casino, although unique among casinos in that it has created a prominent link with the ocean, has little else to offer in the way of highlighting the culture of the city. In its appearance it has drawn on the city‟s architectural heritage by adopting an art deco style of building design but in terms of its function it contains the same mix of restaurants, gambling and cinemas found in casino complexes throughout the country. This type of development which draws on the cultural history of a city has been described in the literature as the symbolic economy and has helped to contextualise the development of the Suncoast Casino, particularly its architectural design (Zukin, 1995).
The Beach Café merges more readily into the Durban „beachfront vibe‟ and offers the only place in the country where one can place their feet in the sand whilst sipping a cocktail (Roux, pers. comm., 06/02/2009). It is comparable to Allen‟s (2006) „seductive logic‟ of the Berlin‟s Sony Centre which entices the user to engage with it. It is also located in the heart of one of the busiest beach areas in the country and presents the tourist with the opportunity to observe a range of activities that takes place along the Durban beachfront. It is because of this unique access to the mix of people, sand, surf and sunshine that the Beach Café has increased the tourism value of Durban beachfront. One respondent noted that she always gave good feedback about the Beach Café whenever she went back home to Pretoria. As a result her friends always visit this destination whenever they are in Durban (Respondent L, 21/12/2008).
6.3.3. Reviving Interest in the Central Beachfront
Apart from the economic gains made through tourism, the Beach Café and the Suncoast Casino have both revived the interest of local beach users to make use of the Golden Mile.
Many respondents in the survey indicated that they visited these developments as often as once or twice a month. Some respondents indicated that they would not have visited the
109 Durban Beachfront were it not for the presence of these developments. This revived interest in the beachfront has positive effects from both a social and an economic point of view.
Since the majority of the customers and beach users of the Suncoast Casino and the Beach Café are of a higher socio-economic class and that the beachfront is open to all members of the public then the presence of these PPP developments have important implications for integration. This is particularly true for the Beach Café which is located on one of the busiest and most diversely populated beaches in Durban. It presents an opportunity for interaction where the city‟s wealthy population comes into contact with the city‟s poor. The Suncoast Casino has also created a great diversity of activities within their beach area which also has the ability to bring different types of people onto the beachfront. This promotes one of the salient features of public spaces which is to allow all citizens to „rub shoulders‟ (Brill, 1989;
Madanipour, 1996)
This revitalised interest has raised the profile of the Durban Beachfront. The variety of events and festivals that the Suncoast Casino plays host to enhances Durban‟s reputation and puts it in a position to compete with other coastal cities around the world. The Suncoast Casino, specialises in beach sport tournaments hosting events such as the World Kiteboarding Tournament as well as Roxy Wahine Cup16, Venus Queen of Surf, KZN Jet Ski Championship.
This section has reviewed the economic benefits and costs of the development of the Durban beachfront by PPPs. The main economic benefits received are the gain in tourism infrastructure for the beachfront; the positive impact these developments have had on tourism into the city and finally; the increased local interest that has been revived in the beachfront by the Durban populace.