Abstract
The provision of adequate and regenerative sustainable housing remains a key priority for
the South Africa government. The South African Government has since 1994 initiated and
implemented several housing delivery programmes and subsidy mechanisms to eliminate
the incidence of ‘slum housing’, its associated poverty and destructive effect to the
ecological environment. This include the mixed housing programmes which has been allude
to have positive social impact and the potential for interaction between different social
spheres and income groups, reduction of negative area effects (for example, low
aspirations and low-level crime), a mix of different people from various backgrounds in the
local community, attracting and supporting a higher level of services, provision for a
change in household composition in one neighbourhood and the creation of additional
employment opportunities through higher disposal income in the area. All this attributes
steams from the fact that sustainable housing and environmental development requires a
new understanding to effectively and synergistically address the pressing issues of
sustainability which include climate change. In South Africa, housing development is no
longer regarded as simply ‘a roof over one’s head’, but housing development is seen as a
crucial role player in achieving regenerative sustainable development – as envisaged by
the idea of sustainable housing. Hence this article aims to reveal the effectiveness of the
mixed-income integrated development programme, and to access how the programme
create sustainable regenerative environment for the occupants of the mixed-income
housing. The data used in this article were derived from both primary and secondary
sources. The primary data was obtained through the survey method, while the secondary data was derived from the review of literature. The primary data for the study was collected
through a structured questionnaire survey distributed to a sample of 80 mixed-income
households in Fleurhoff in Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in the Gauteng
Province of South Africa. Findings from the questionnaire survey revealed that the
programme makes better environment and has been effective through the creation better
neighbourhood, urban revitalization and improvement of the occupants’ quality of life. The
article closes with recommendations on how mixed-income housing can be better adapted
to support the regenerative sustainability process and the improvement of the human
environment.