Say hi to 'Sandton 2.0', as swanky suburb beefs up security with artificial intelligence
News24 – 07 November 2022
- Sandton's property owners and businesses were not idle as the pandemic shuttered stores and offices, and they were contemplating how to revive the suburb.
- High-tech security features to renew Sandton Central precinct have now been introduced, including number plate recognition.
- There are signs that activity is improving in precinct, while new security efforts also helped recently amid warnings of a potential terrorist attack.
While some were writing Sandton's obituary during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when the work-from-home (WFH) phenomenon became the norm, others - like its property owners and businesses - were planning its revival.
From the rollout of 250 state-of-the-art security cameras with artificial intelligence (AI) features to combat crime, to piloting the use of batteries at major traffic light interchanges to keep traffic flowing during load shedding, efforts over the past two years have been under way to improve the value proposition of SA's financial hub, aiming to make it a smart city with world-class security.
The cameras, which were installed at all major intersections in partnership with Vumacam, have AI capabilities including numberplate recognition and the ability to spot suspicious behaviour such as loitering. In this way, cars, which may have been stolen and being used for crime in the area, can be identified, while security teams can be dispersed to investigate any suspicious loitering by would-be criminals.
Now, there are also three tactical response vehicles available at any given moment to attend to any crimes, as well as a dedicated medic available 24/7 to help with accidents or any other life-saving emergencies.
The neighbourhood's pilot project with the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) to install UPS batteries at major intersections is also gaining momentum. Elaine Jack, precinct manager for Sandton Central, says the suburb is currently working on an agreement with JRA and that it hoped to "roll this out and power up all the critical intersections in Sandton".
She says the use of batteries is aimed at making Sandton as accessible as possible to tenants and others visiting or working in the area.
Interventions paying off
Jack believes the interventions are working and delivering the desired results, with activity in the precinct improving, adding there has been a steady increase in traffic in the area in recent months.
"Of course, the buzz is definitely there. On a day-to-day basis you can see it improving."
Elaine Jack, precinct manager for Sandton Central
The interventions, including security changes, also had an important role to play in mounting a response to the alert issued by the US embassy about a possible terrorist threat over the weekend of 29 October, when Sandton was also hosting Joburg Pride.
Jack said the precinct's proactive management and long-standing relationships meant that Sandton Central could respond swiftly with an effective community effort when faced with heightened security situations. For instance, in response to the security alert from the US Embassy, she said the precinct collaborated with the police, various private security companies, and the community policing forum and tapped into the advantage of the 250 CCTVs covering the precinct to monitor it effectively and respond to abnormal or suspicious activities promptly.
Starting in August 2020 when much of the area was a ghost town with large swathes of vacancies, the Sandton Central precinct, consisting of about 60 members across 143 buildings, took advantage of the lull to start looking at ways to significantly improve it, so it was ready for when life returned to some semblance of normality. The boundaries of Sandton Central, which consists of three separate city improvement districts (CIDs), stretch from Grayston up to Sandton Drive and extend to Rivonia Road, Wierda Valley and Katherine Steet.
Among the high-profile members of Sandton Central are JSE-listed property groups Growthpoint Properties and Redefine Properties, as well as the JSE, Africa's largest bourse, and other top financial services groups in the area such as Discovery, Investec, Alexander Forbes, Old Mutual and Nedbank, among others. Law firms Webber Wentzel and Werksmans Attorneys are also members.
Jack explains that Sandton Central, which traces its origins to the year 2000, is managed like a "nonprofit company" with it collecting CID levies from property owners and businesses to provide "supplementary and complementary top-up services in the public space". It was originally started to ensure that the precinct did not deteriorate like much of the Johannesburg central business district did in the 1990s.
In the last financial year for 2021/22, levies collected by Sandton Central amounted to R16 million in total, with generally about 67% of that going to security, 15% to cleaning and maintenance, and 18% to management and administration of the precinct. The rest of the levies go to special project, such as the UPS batteries for traffic signals, marketing and branding of the area.
Early this year the Sandton Central precinct also launched a campaign called #WFH Sandton, which stands for "work from here," and playing on the phrase "work from home," which entered the lexicon during the height of the pandemic. Landlords and businesses are now using it to showcase all of the new features introduced over the past two years to encourage people to return.
Given rotational WFH and office schedules, Jack says that offices in the Sandton Central precinct are about 40% to 50% full on any given day, with the aim to get it to north of 70% over the short to medium term, taking into account the new hybrid working environment.
At the same time, a lot of companies are looking for quality office space, which Jack says is in abundance in Sandton, and means no one is going to be "running away" from the area any time soon.
Also providing support are the numerous amenities on offer, with Jack saying that the planned launch of the Rea Vaya bus service in the precinct will also go a long way to supporting the growth of the node. She says the construction of the last of the Rea Vaya stations in Rivonia Road is starting in November this year, adding that the affordable bus service adds to the "many existing public transport offerings for Sandton".
Jack says the precinct is also aware of new realities such as hybrid working environments, adding the plan is "not necessary about trying to get everyone back".
"It's more like showcasing there is this place that you can come to which is full of amenities and remind people what has changed because they have been away so long. You can come to work and engage with your teams, and you can also come here and do your 40-minute shopping, your 15-minute banking. We also need youth to be in the workplace to engage with more experienced staff [to learn company culture]. You can't do everything at home."
Security paramount
Property economist and University of Cape Town professor Francois Viruly says interventions such as the Sandton Central precinct's are in line with the movement the world is seeing towards "cities which have technologies embedded in the urban environment".
"We've talked about prop tech, which is the technology in the buildings, but the question is what happens when you leave the building, does everything stop? What evolution have we seen in [traffic lights] in the last few decades?
"Their timing has improved, but if you think about it our cars have started getting smarter, which means the urban environment needs to start reflecting that as well."
Another phrase that he believes is increasingly growing in importance is the "the move to quality".
"To be successful in the property sector in the years to come you have to create an environment that competes against the online world. You have got to make it attractive for someone to leave their chair and leave their online world and come to you. There is a move towards quality and there is increasing pressure to create quality urban environments and quality buildings and workspaces. That is what is being done here, that is to look at ways to get you to leave your chair and come to them [urban environments]."
He emphasised that while properties must remain competitive in this market, this competitiveness relied on the quality of the urban environment.
Viruly says it is not "surprising" that interventions from Sandton Central precinct are taking place, in that the average economic life of an office building in South Africa is 30 to 40 years, adding that this is "roughly how long ago Sandton was built".
'Sandton 2.0'
"I think we are getting into a phase which we could call [it] 'Sandton 2.0', which is the reinvention of Sandton. In that sense it is not surprising what is happening. I think what has happened is that as I have often said Covid-19 has shown us the trailer of what life could look in the years to come. Maybe we won't be there immediately, but it has opened up new possibilities and I think that the urban environments are going to start reflecting that."
For property economist Erwin Rode, who heads up Rode & Associates, the large-scale moves to improve security in Sandton are to be welcomed, saying that security in SA is one of the biggest issues.
"We will be like London soon where you move and a camera takes a photo of you and I think it is necessary in SA. I think all cities must go that route," says Rode.
He says security measures like the ones being introduced by Sandton Central prevented "degeneration, which is an absolute necessity".
Property developer Chris Renecle, who heads up Renprop, said technology interventions especially on the security front are "definitely needed in all work CBD areas" in the broader Johannesburg area and these moves in Sandton are positive.
He said any landlord who wanted to keep their tenants had to investigate using this kind of technology and security and also get more involved in their precincts.
Renecle says similar interventions are also taking place in other prime office and residential nodes such as Rosebank and Rivonia.
He said the technology has improved dramatically in recent years, adding that in the group's own residential developments in Rosebank, for instance, it is making use of biometrics that employ facial recognition for owners. This makes it impossible for people to slip past reception.