Global Cities Development

Programme

Clear City

Eastern Seaboard, South Africa

A planned Free Economic and Innovation Zone and greenfield urban development, designed around a multi-level structure that separates the custodial foundation, the master developer and the sector-level delivery vehicles.

Clear City is under development. Nothing on this page is an offer or solicitation of securities or investment, a representation that any approval, concession or land right has been granted, or a statement that any agreement has been concluded.

Status

In preparation

The programme is in preparation with government and institutional stakeholders. Current workstreams are land rights, the zone's legal framework and the delivery structure.

Current workstreams

  1. 01

    Land rights

    Establishing tenure over the land the zone would occupy, together with the perimeter, the survey basis and the sequence of consents that tenure depends on.

  2. 02

    The zone's legal framework

    The legal status of the zone and the enabling instruments that would define it: which powers are delegated to the zone, which remain with the state, and under which procedures each is exercised. To be drafted with local counsel under the law of the host jurisdiction.

  3. 03

    The delivery structure

    The chain of entities through which the programme would be governed, developed and financed — the custodial foundation, the master developer and the sector-level companies — and the agreements that hold them apart from one another.

A workstream is work in progress. Nothing above states that an approval, a land right or an agreement has been obtained.

The programme

What Clear City would be

Clear City is planned as a special economic zone (SEZ) — in the terminology intended for it, a Free Economic and Innovation Zone — together with a greenfield urban development on the Eastern Seaboard of South Africa. The two are planned together because neither works alone: a zone without a city around it is an industrial estate with a customs line, and a new city without an economic basis is housing waiting for employment.

In a programme of this type, the zone regime would provide the legal status, the customs treatment and the licensing procedures that give tenants procedural certainty. The urban development would provide the districts, housing, utilities and public facilities a working population needs. The infrastructure sectors — energy, water, transport and, where the master plan provided for it, a maritime gateway — would each be delivered through a vehicle of its own, financed and governed on its own terms. How each sector would be held is described on the special economic zones and urban development pages and on the other sector pages; the structure intended for it is the one set out in our approach, applied without exception.

Elements and relations

What a programme of this type brings together

A zone of this kind is not a site with a fence around it. It is a legal perimeter, the areas that would sit inside it, and the infrastructure those areas would depend on. The schematic below sets out how those parts relate to one another in a programme of this type, so that the rest of this page can be read against something.

It is a diagram and not a plan. There is no boundary, no alignment, no area and no location in it, and no part of it states that anything has been decided, granted or agreed. Where the schematic shows a relation, the page text above says what work would have to be done before that relation could exist at all.

Schematic of how the elements of a programme of this type relateA relationship schematic, not a map: it shows no boundary, location, route or area. A, zone status and land rights — enabling instruments; powers delegated and powers retained — defines the notional perimeter drawn below it. Inside that perimeter: B, urban districts (housing, social and civic uses); C, enterprise and industrial area (activity regulated under the zone). Connected to the perimeter from outside, three elements those areas would depend on: D, energy node (supply inside the perimeter); E, maritime gateway (sea access for trade and cargo); F, transport corridor (land link beyond the perimeter). The lines are functional relations between elements, not routes or alignments.defines the perimeterand the powers inside itZONE — NOTIONAL PERIMETERTO SEA ROUTESTO THE REGIONAL NETWORKAZone status and land rightsenabling instruments; powers delegated and powers retainedBUrban districtshousing, social and civic usesCEnterprise and industrial areaactivity regulated under the zoneDEnergy nodesupply inside the perimeterEMaritime gatewaysea access for trade and cargoFTransport corridorland link beyond the perimeterLines show functional relation, not a route or an alignment on the ground.The dashed outline is a notional perimeter, not a boundary and not an area.SCHEMATIC · NOT TO SCALESchematic of how the elements of a programme of this type relateA relationship schematic, not a map: it shows no boundary, location, route or area. A, zone status and land rights — enabling instruments; powers delegated and powers retained — defines the notional perimeter drawn below it. Inside that perimeter: B, urban districts (housing, social and civic uses); C, enterprise and industrial area (activity regulated under the zone). Connected to the perimeter from outside, three elements those areas would depend on: D, energy node (supply inside the perimeter); E, maritime gateway (sea access for trade and cargo); F, transport corridor (land link beyond the perimeter). The lines are functional relations between elements, not routes or alignments.defines the perimeterand the powers inside itNOTIONAL PERIMETERTO SEA ROUTESTO THE REGIONAZone status and land rightsenabling instruments; powers delegated and powers retainedBUrban districtshousing, social and civic usesCEnterprise and industrial areaactivity regulated under the zoneDEnergy nodesupply to the zoneEMaritime gatewaysea accessFTransport corridorland link outwardLines show functional relation, not a route or an alignment on the ground.The dashed outline is a notional perimeter, not a boundary and not an area.SCHEMATIC · NOT TO SCALESchematic of how the elements of a programme of this type relateA relationship schematic, not a map: it shows no boundary, location, route or area. A, zone status and land rights — enabling instruments; powers delegated and powers retained — defines the notional perimeter drawn below it. Inside that perimeter: B, urban districts (housing, social and civic uses); C, enterprise and industrial area (activity regulated under the zone). Connected to the perimeter from outside, three elements those areas would depend on: D, energy node (supply inside the perimeter); E, maritime gateway (sea access for trade and cargo); F, transport corridor (land link beyond the perimeter). The lines are functional relations between elements, not routes or alignments.defines the perimeterand the powers inside itNOTIONAL PERIMETERAZone status and land rightsenabling instruments and powersBUrban districtshousing, social and civic usesCEnterprise and industrial areaactivity regulated under the zoneDEnergy nodesupply inside the perimeterEMaritime gatewaysea access for trade and cargoFTransport corridorland link beyond the perimeterLines are relations, not routes.The dashed outline is notional.NOT TO SCALE
Illustrative. A schematic representation of the programme model — not a plan of territory, not a map and not a survey. Positions, proportions and connections are diagrammatic: they show how elements of a programme of this type relate to one another, not locations, boundaries, routes, alignments or areas on the ground. Nothing in the schematic represents a decision taken, an approval granted or an agreement concluded.

The model applied

The layer model applied to Clear City

Clear City is designed to follow the same six layers and the same crosscutting digital layer described in our approach. The labels below show what each layer would contain in this programme. They are examples of the work, not commitments.

Six layers of city formation, crossed by a digital layerSix horizontal layers, from the top down: 1, mandate & legal framework (Zone status, land rights); 2, stewardship & governance (Custodial foundation); 3, master development & city management (One master developer); 4, sector delivery vehicles (A company per sector); 5, capital (DFIs and institutions); 6, operations & services (Utilities and services). A vertical digital layer crosses all six (Connectivity and data): connectivity, data and digital public services.01MandateZone status, land rights02StewardshipCustodial foundation03Master developmentOne master developer04Sector deliveryA company per sector05CapitalDFIs and institutions06OperationsUtilities and servicesDIGITAL LAYERConnectivity and dataSix layers of city formation, crossed by a digital layerSix horizontal layers, from the top down: 1, mandate & legal framework (Zone status, land rights); 2, stewardship & governance (Custodial foundation); 3, master development & city management (One master developer); 4, sector delivery vehicles (A company per sector); 5, capital (DFIs and institutions); 6, operations & services (Utilities and services). A vertical digital layer crosses all six (Connectivity and data): connectivity, data and digital public services.01MandateZone status, land rights02StewardshipCustodial foundation03Master developmentOne master developer04Sector deliveryA company per sector05CapitalDFIs and institutions06OperationsUtilities and servicesDIGITAL LAYERConnectivity and dataSix layers of city formation, crossed by a digital layerSix horizontal layers, from the top down: 1, mandate & legal framework (Zone status, land rights); 2, stewardship & governance (Custodial foundation); 3, master development & city management (One master developer); 4, sector delivery vehicles (A company per sector); 5, capital (DFIs and institutions); 6, operations & services (Utilities and services). A vertical digital layer crosses all six (Connectivity and data): connectivity, data and digital public services.01MandateZone status, land rights02StewardshipCustodial foundation03Master developmentOne master developer04Sector deliveryA company per sector05CapitalDFIs and institutions06OperationsUtilities and servicesDIGITAL LAYERConnectivity and data
Illustrative. The diagram shows how the layer model is applied to Clear City; it is not a plan of record and does not represent any concluded arrangement.

Sequence

How the programme would be sequenced

The order is the order of the layer model. Work at a later layer would begin only when the layer beneath it held, and the programme is at present at the first.

  1. 01

    Mandate and legal framework

    The three current workstreams: land rights, the legal framework of the zone and the delivery structure. Until these are settled there is no perimeter, no status and no programme counterparty, and the programme remains in preparation.

  2. 02

    Stewardship and master development

    A custodial foundation would hold long-term control, and a single master developer would carry the plan, the development standards and the interface with government. This page does not represent that either has been established.

  3. 03

    Sector vehicles

    A company per sector would be formed inside the master plan — zone estate, energy, water, transport and the others — each with its own licence or concession, its own contracts and its own financing. This page does not represent that any has been formed.

  4. 04

    Capital

    Development finance institutions and institutional investors would be approached at the level of individual vehicles, against documentation prepared for that purpose and under the law of the host jurisdiction. Nothing on this page invites any such participation.

Status in plain terms

What has not been decided

Because this page is read by governments and institutions, it is worth stating plainly what it does not say. Nothing on this page states or implies that:

Where any of this changes, the change would be stated on this page and dated. Until then, the correct reading of Clear City is a programme in preparation, structured on the model described across this site.

Why this structure

Separation is what makes the programme financeable

A new city needs more capital than any single investor will commit to a single undertaking, and it needs to outlive every party that builds it. Holding governance, delivery and capital in separate entities is what allows each layer to be financed and examined on its own terms: an investor in one sector takes the risk of that sector and acquires no leverage over the city, and the host government deals with one accountable counterparty rather than a field of contractors.

Read the full model · See the sectors ·Governance and integrity

Enquiries

Following the programme's preparation

Governments and public bodies, development finance institutions and prospective counterparties who wish to understand how the programme is structured, or who need corporate and compliance information for their own purposes, may write to the addresses on the contact page. We do not discuss the commercial terms of a programme under preparation, and nothing on this page is an offer or solicitation of securities or investment.