Past spatial planning practices have left Johannesburg with sprawling, low-density areas of settlement, lacking viable public transport systems. The “Corridors of Freedom” approach to urban renewal is one of the ways in which the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) wishes to transform entrenched unsustainable settlement patterns that have kept many marginalised communities at the outskirts of the city, away from economic opportunities and access to jobs and growth. The CoJ envisages a compact city which is energy efficient, provides residents with greater access to the inner city and economic opportunities, promotes social cohesion and creates a vibrant urban environment. This urban strategy is focused around a Transit Orientated Development agenda but it tends to overlook the importance of landscape as a fundamental basis for sustainable urban form generation. The paper considers the importance of landscape as a primary ordering device in the strategic planning of Johannesburg and suggests that it will continue to develop as a driver for economic, ecological and social regeneration. The discussion draws on landscape urbanism theory and the Wemmer Pan Precinct case study to support the argument and illustrate how the precinct’s landscape, under threat due to pollution, when understood within the context of other CoJ urban design strategies, becomes a fundamental structuring element and catalyst for the sustainable urban development
of the area.