Construction crews have broken ground in the first phase of a ZAR30 billion mixed-use urban development in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal.

Business Tech reports that work has started on the 50 000 m² Westown Square shopping mall, which forms part of the retail precinct of the 100 ha Westown project, between eThekwini and Pietermaritzburg.

The retail hub, which also features the market-syle Barn, an amphitheatre, maze and playgrounds, is scheduled to be opened by Easter 2025.

The retail complex has been designed by MDS Architecture in a joint venture with Boogertman and Partners.

The Westown project is itself ‘a town within a town’ and is part of the much larger ZAR30 billion Shongweni Urban Development project

Referring to the ZAR30 billion Shongweni Development as the province’s ‘own Midrand’, eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said the nine-phase urban mixed-use project would “further catalyse investment in the city and stimulate job creation and investment”.

8 August 2023
Image: Freepik