Philippi Village, a new mixed-use development in the business heart of Philippi offers first-time business people and others the chance to get a foothold in the business world.
The village aims to accelerate local businesses, create spaces and incubator hubs, and offer support for entrepreneurs and fledgling companies.
On Monday October 17, Vukani took a tour to the village and spoke to its chief executive officer Bushra Razack who in a release said the mission of the village was to co-create a safe and vibrant space that connects the Philippi community to services, employment, educational opportunities and activities.
But the story of the village will not be complete if it does not include business people around it and the community of Philippi, she said.
She said the key to the success of the development is ongoing engagement with the local community to better understand their needs, challenges and where the opportunities lie.
Ms Razack explained that for an initiative like Philippi Village to be successful requires successfully navigating a number of complex dynamics. “We have invested a great deal of time and energy into mapping out exactly what our tenants, the local community and other stakeholders require from Philippi Village and then finding a way to meet those needs. We have used the results to work with our partners to design programmes and spaces that are relevant,” she said.
However, she said, the process was an ongoing one with every initiative and idea tested to ensure it was fit for purpose and achieved the necessary objectives of meeting the needs of all stakeholders, tenants, the surrounding community and investors.
She said the result is the creation of an exciting multi-dimensional, inclusive space which would not look out of place in any of Cape Town’s more trendy spots.
Philippi Village is currently home to about 80 tenants providing products, services and training opportunities as well as job opportunities to the local community.
The sports facilities and other amenities on offer ensure that there is constant activity and a buzz within the development with local community members feeling a proprietary sense of ownership of this innovative development.
She also revealed that the Philippi Village model could potentially be rolled out in other townships, particularly the formula that has been developed for how to identify stakeholders, communicate with them, mapping out stakeholder relationships and engagements as well as how to test concepts both prior to implementation and post implementation.
Noxolo Mteto who assists Ms Razack, took Vukani around the village. She was excited that the community of Philippi was starting to understand the aim and the vision of the village, noting that when they started the village, there had been a lot of misunderstanding with the community.
“We had to engage them. Build toilets for them because they wanted to use ours. But I must say after the road map, we get along perfectly. They now know us and understand what is happening here,” she said.
But she believes that that is not enough, they need more of the community involvement. She said their input is still valuable and needed.
