According to Cape Town's new mayor, Dan Plato, what his city needs is densification.

Plato told the Cape Town Press Club on Wednesday that he has received a great deal of objection to this point of view, but that it makes sense because of the shortage of land in the city on which to build.

He told his audience that people say that houses must be built with gardens or yards, but that when people are put into such houses they immediately build shacks in the yards to rent out. "That's densifying," he said.

Plato said that he has had two separate tours of China, to observe how the Chinese authorities cope with their urbanisation pressures.

He noted that they build flats in dense estates. But he also pointed out that people in such estates need amenities. He related that he visited Wallacedene in Cape Town, where 4000 dwellings had been erected.

"Where are the parks?" he asked. "There were no parks. Where are the schools? There were no schools. Where are the taxi ranks? There were no taxi ranks. Where are the shops? There were no shops."

But he insisted: "High-density housing is an essential tool for city planning." His solution will require building blocks of flats several storeys high. "Three to four storeys is best," he said.