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15 October 2018 | Story UFS | Photo Leonie Bolleurs
Town planning- How McDonalds did it
Celdri de Wet, centre, gave students and staff examples of how town planners can join local insights with their professional techniques in a collective attempt to improve the quality of places. She is pictured with Peter Mokonyama and Refilwe Khabe both master’s students in the Department Urban and Regional Planning at UFS.
I’m lovin’ it. Bright red with two yellow arches. What comes to mind? 

Yes, it’s McDonald’s, one of the top brands in the world with 35 000 restaurants internationally, serving 17 million people in 121 countries. 

In South Africa, there are 264 McDonald’s outlets with more than eight million customers a month. 

Hands-on experience shared

These successes come with hard work and smart thinking. The type of thinking students in the Department of Urban and Rural Planning are equipped with at university. Celdri de Wet, an alumna of the University of the Free State (UFS) and National Manager: Real Estate and Assets at McDonald’s South Africa, addressed the Planning students and staff about what it takes – and what to look for – when establishing a McDonald’s outlet.

Since town planning has to enhance people’s opportunities, it strives towards justice regarding space, and addresses economic resilience. Maléne Campbell, Head of the Department Urban and Regional Planning at the UFS invited De Wet to share her hands-on experiences with the students and staff in the department.

About retrofitting

According to De Wet a fast-changing environment needs to find new spaces, referred to as retrofitting. A number of factors must be kept in mind when applying retrofitting in a space. One of these is culture. What is the culture of the community where you are planning to open a McDonald’s outlet? Is there an eating-out culture or do people in the neighbourhood rather enjoy home-cooked meals? 

Culture eats strategy for breakfast said De Wet. “Town planners need to understand the buying patterns of consumers,” she said.

Property giant makes a difference

Another important criterion town planners need to look at is mobility patterns. Is the outlet accessible and is it near spaces where people already meet up?

McDonald’s, which came to South Africa in 1994, is a property business owner, said De Wet. It is one of the largest property owners in the world. In South Africa, it owns 100 of the properties of its 264 outlets. 

The property giant does however give back to the community. Besides providing employment for 12 000 people, training to 1500 (formal training) and 3000 (informal training) and increasing property values, it has also created a space for people to connect and to make memories. And that is why you need to love them.

News Archive

DiMTEC hosts second conference on disaster risk reduction
2009-06-02

 
Dr Anthony Turton, the Director: TouchStone Resources (Pty) Ltd. delivered the opening address at this year’s two-day annual international conference on disaster risk reduction that was presented by the Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC) at the University of the Free State (UFS).

In his presentation: Sitting on the horns of a dilemma: South Africa and its strategic water supply, he said: “We have simply reached the limit of the water resources in South Africa. On the one hand, we deal with the quantity dilemma in terms of strategic water storage. South Africa and Zimbabwe counts under the top 20 countries in the world in terms of dams built. We can only build about ten more dams.”

“On the other hand, we must deal with quantity. Previous solutions are not future solutions. When water is recycled, hormones such as oestrogen do not disappear. We must become creative and do something else,” he said.

“Science can make a difference. The UFS is well placed in terms of its groundwater research. Universities must invest in the necessary technology because the testing of toxins is essential. We must work in ways to prevent toxins from re-entering the water cycle,” he said.

A number of international speakers such as Dr Fabrice Renaud, Associate Director at the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) in Bonn, Germany, Dr Eugene Poolman, Chief Forecaster: Disaster Risk Reduction, South African Weather Service, and Prof. Rob Bragg from the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology at the UFS, attended the conference, as well as attendees from 11 different countries.

At the conference were, from the left: Mr Andries Jordaan, Director: DiMTEC at the UFS; Dr Ing Jörn Birkmann, Head of Section: Vulnerability Assessment at the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS); Dr Anthony Turton, Director: TouchStone Resources (Pty) Ltd.; and Dr Fabrice Renaud, Associate Director: UNU-EHS.
Photo: Supplied

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