Lorentzville, Johannesburg

What was once a cluster of crumbling factory spaces filled with scrap and rubble in the suburb of Lorentzville in Johannesburg was bought back to life as a mixed-use space with a difference.

Bringing retail, creative economies and community projects together to co-exist was a recipe to reimagine commercial trade while not leaving the everyday person behind. This is how Victoria Yards came into being in 2016.

Victoria Yards is also home to the initiative called Makers Valley that joins together many different projects across the valley and spans suburbs including New Doornfontein, Bezuidenhout Valley, Bertrams, Judith’s Paarl, Troyeville and Lorentzville. Joined together, the communities work to support each other and build networks and to give more creatives, entrepreneurs and social change and community activists more room to thrive.

What was the problem?

The Joburg East suburbs close to the inner city are easily overlooked when it comes to development or upliftment. They are also not well taken care of for a range of socio-economic reasons that range from unemployment, high domestic violence, drugs and crime.

There are few activities and facilities for locals leading these already stressed suburbs in danger of becoming slums.

How did they fix it?

Developer Brian Green had a vision to restore the old buildings and recognised a need for spaces for trade and retail but ones that did not push out the locals of Lorentzville. He struck on spaces for studio, galleries and event hosting.

“It’s really a case of what Lorentzville did to us rather than what we’ve done to Lorentzville. Vic Yards is in a very poor neighbourhood and the area commanded that we have a more gentle approach to making money that doesn’t exclude or marginalise more people,” Green said, quoted in NewFrame (republished in Twyg.

Making space available at Victoria Yards for projects that fell under what would be the umbrella of Makers Valley was part of the plan from the beginning. Then it included giving spaces and spots to other community-centred initiatives to ensure people could also recognise the new “kid” on the block as part of the community.

The projects that were started also responded directly to the local community’s needs. Some of these include food gardens as landscaping. These were tended to by residents. There are also art projects to reclaim and beautify spaces throughout the valley. And during Covid-19 lockdown the community worked to address the hunger challenges faced by many households in the valley.

Thobile Chittenden of Makers Vallery told SACities.net at the time, of the success of getting meals and food parcels to the hungry:  “This is what makes us proud of our city, our resilience, our innovativeness but most all, our ability to come together in times of need and find a way.”

What makes it work?

•       People before profit: Victoria Yards came into being with an approach of being able to make business work, but not at the cost of excluding people in the neighbourhood. This meant offering free or subsidised space for offices, building community food gardens and being invested in Victoria Yards as being part of a community.

•      Using the creative economy:– Making the space suitable to support art and craft studios as well as galleries created an interest point in the city, making it a trendy spot to visit among a public that would previously have had little reason to visit this inner-city suburb.

• Responding to the community’s needs: - Makers Valley has homed in on projects that impact people’s daily lives. These include setting up Early Childhood Development and afterschool centres, food programmes, and creating support hubs for entrepreneurs. They also have an Urban Rangers programme for job creation, paying people something to do street cleaning and clearing.

•    Inclusive networks: Makers Valley focuses on creative entrepreneurs and helping them enhance the way they market their skills. They range from clothing designers, metal and woodworkers, carpenters, artisans and shoemakers from the surrounding communities.

•   Building strong partnerships and ecosystems: Makers Valley and Victoria Yards are one part of an ecosystem. They also include the community and other business and support partners. Among them are foreign government development agencies and other not for profit organisations.

Acknowledgements:

Author: FixLocal Reporter

Additional articles/ sources: Makers Valley website

The well-being economy offers seeds of hope at Victoria Yards

Makers Valley Partnership

Photograph: Makers Valley