Rosebank Management District is committed to improving the node and precinct

Rosebank Management District (RMD), Gautrain, and its hospitality partners on July 5 organised a walkabout to identify the district’s challenges.

Key aspects of the tour were to look at ways of connecting the retail precinct with Keyes Art Mile and Oxford Parks and improving the visitor experience and safety in Rosebank with a focus on signage, lighting, and security placements.

RMD precinct manager Mikhaela Donaldson said the walkabout was the first step to show that the management district was committed to improving the accessibility of the node.

“We have initiated a project called: Go Rosebank, which looks at how people are accessing, experiencing, and moving through the space of Rosebank. What the walk was able to do was reinforce the thinking we have started to apply in terms of our strategy around how we make the space easier to use and how we start putting in either public infrastructure or design elements that will make the space more user friendly and encourage workability and different forms of accessibility to the space.”
Donaldson added that RMD recognised that Rosebank was a busy area made up of different public transport networks. She added that stakeholders needed to look at how the networks integrated into the environment and what was required to be put in place to make it sustainable.

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Executive marketing manager for Gautrain Sandy Roth said, “We started the walk at the station but there were concerns that when one came out of the station, there was no signage directing one to the mall. People are unsure which direction to go in when wanting to go to places like The Zone.”
Roth added that walking to Keys Art Mile also made her think about the necessity of a ‘Gaubus’ for people who frequented that art space, especially at night.

Oxford Parks management chairwoman Carollyn Mitchell said as a resident of Rosebank, she had seen the area go from being quiet to dynamic and vibrant.
“Rosebank was a bit exclusionary in terms of its public environment so I would like to see the design of the public environment spaces get more attention and I think the Rosebank Management District labelled this as a priority project during the walkabout.”

Mitchell added the node should be designed for vulnerable members of the community such as women, children, and the elderly.
“More people need to be walking, cycling, and using the space because when the public owns the space, the space becomes safer, cleaner, and more accessible,” Mitchell concluded.

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