The lush green sugar-cane fields that dot the landscape between Umhlanga and King Shaka International Airport will be almost gone within the next 12 months as South Africa's biggest housing development to date starts to take shape. The Cornubia project - which will take at least two decades to complete - will feature a mix of low- and middle-income housing in the same vicinity as large-scale commercial and industrial properties, schools, clinics and sports fields.Already 482 low-cost homes have been built and occupied, and five factories catering for the warehousing and manufacturing sectors are in operation. Five more factories are under construction and the eThekwini municipality is already well into the second phase of its social housing development of more than 2100 homes.Cornubia, according to Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, is "a new city". At 1200ha, it is twice the size of the Durban central business district."Our poor people will stay close to the industries and malls. This is our way to the future," Sisulu said at an event to announce the new mall two weeks ago.On the outskirts of the development, work on a R280-million intersection linking Cornubia to Umhlanga is expected to start next month. Groundwork has already started on a 85000m² shopping centre. The mall is about a third the size of Johannesburg's Sandton City and is expected to open in 2017.By the time it is finished, Cornubia will have at least a dozen schools, more than two dozen sports fields, clinics, police stations and three libraries.Some of the housing development is being fast-tracked in light of Durban winning the rights to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games. At least 1000 housing units will be built and used as the games' athletes village.full_story_image_hleft1In total, Cornubia is set to cost R25-billion.The land on which Cornubia will be built is owned by Tongaat Hulett Development.The company's project director, Karen Petersen, said the "mixed-use" model was what made the project so special."We believe that it should form the cornerstone of all other human settlements initiatives. No longer can, and should, large-scale, sprawling, low-density residential townships, with limited socioeconomic opportunities, be encouraged."The mixed-use approach "promotes the concept of work, live and play, where people work in close proximity to their homes, and live in environments where there are recreational and leisure opportunities", said Petersen.The largest portion of the 1200ha piece of land - a 659ha chunk of what is now sugar-cane fields - will be used by the municipality for its housing programme. Tongaat Hulett Development has retained 384ha, with about 185ha going to other developers. More than 400ha is deemed "undevelopable", and will be designated as public open space.By the end of the project, more than 120000 people will be housed at Cornubia. It will include free-issue social housing, units designated for people earning between R15000 and R25000 a month, and a portion will go on the open market, with the most expensive units expected to cost more than R1-million.For Cornubia to work, Sisulu acknowledged last week, it would require the government to work hand-in-hand with the private section. "It demonstrates what we as a nation can achieve when we partner with business and investors."..