“I love it when a plan comes together” was one of the catchphrases of John ‘Hannibal’ Smith, a character in the popular 1980s TV-series, The A-Team. I felt like repeating it on Friday evening when I saw 20 000 people (the City of Cape Town’s official figure) using the Cape Town Fan Walk to get to and from the CT Stadium to watch France play Uruguay.
We first proposed the development of a Fan Walk connecting the CT Central City to the new CT Stadium in 2007. We had seen the impact of Fan Walks in German cities during the 2006 World Cup, and were keen to find ways to leverage the 2010 World Cup to strengthen and extend pedestrian routes and encourage the use of public spaces in Cape Town.
The Fan Walk is not just about how fans get to the stadium on match days. It’s not just about taking the pressure off the match-day public transport system and reducing congestion on the roads. It’s part of an urban development philosophy that is predicated on finding ways in which the dominance of car-based planning can be challenged, and how a broad range of citizens can interact with each other in public spaces, how walking can be celebrated, how visitors to our city can meet locals in public settings, and how public spaces and places can be made attractive, inviting and safe in a civic milieu generally characterized by a withdrawal into separate and private spaces.
Long after this World Cup has come and gone, I hope that Capetonians will continue to get out of their cars and buildings and enjoy the public domain together. This is one of the hallmarks of a cohesive city.
See you on the Fan Walk on Monday evening when Italy take on Paraguay, and again the following Friday when we help English fans get over the shock of drawing with the USA!
Fans arriving at the Cape Town Station, redeveloped at a cost of R440m (picture: Anita Van Zyl)
Crossing the new Station Square to get to the Fan Walk
Public art, in this case, a collection of decorated zebras placed in different locations in town, provides an opportunity to pause for a photograph
Station Square has places to sit and relax and watch fellow fans go by
For many years, daily commuters arriving at the CT Station have had to brave the eight-lane expressway that is Adderley Street which bisects the Central City. Now, a new pedestrian crossing offers safe passage to the start of the Fan Walk. (In the background, the former Edgars building, owned by Old Mutual, continues to resemble a Cold War-era bomb shelter. This needs to be addressed after 2010)
A giant 6m vuvuzela, located in Exchange Place at the start of the Fan Walk, welcomed fans with flaming fireballs
A fan in the Blou-bulle (Blue Bulls) tradition in St George's Mall. The Fan Walk crosses St George's Mall, the traditional north-south pedestrian route through the city, at Exchange Place. Look out for Brett Murray's 'Bart in Africa' public sculpture
A dedicated follower of fashion
Crossing Exchange Place, until recently a desolate and neglected part of the city
Fans stream along Waterkant Street. There is something poetic about the Fan Walk following the original Cape Town shoreline
I loved this group of fans toyi-toying up and down Long Street all day
A new mural on a building in Waterkant Street adds to the outdoor experience
Cape Town is traditionally conservative when it comes to allowing colourful images in public spaces. One good thing about the World Cup is that it has enabled us to experiment
New mural on Waterkant Street
The glorious winter weather contributed to the occasion. This image shows the new Bree/ Waterkant pedestrian intersection
Fans reach the end of the Waterkant Street section of the Fan Walk
Crossing the new pedestrian bridge over Buitengracht
The view from the pedestrian bridge, with the old Lutheran Church in front of Table Mountain, is destined to become a classic.
Puppets of Sepp (welcome to Sous' Africa) Blatter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Danny Jordaan greeted fans as they arrived at St Andrew's Square, the half-way point on the Fan Walk
New story boards in St Andrew's Square tell an inclusive history of the Green Point area
The relationship between the current Fan Walk and the historical Cape Town shoreline can be clearly seen in this image from the 17th century. The red dot marks the site of the current St Andrew's Square and Prestwich Memorial
'It's beautiful here' by Heath Nash in St Andrew's Square frames the mountain and has become a very popular spot for family photographs
'The Wind Tree' on St Andrew's Square by Felix and Manus Holme, with beading by Derrick Senteni, is silhouetted against The Terraces building in Bree St
Fans also liked the 'Full-Cycle Tree' by the Kommetjie Environmental Action Group
The Fan Walk continues through St Andrew's Square to Somerset Road in Green Point
None shall sleep! My own favourite moment on the Fan Walk on Friday evening was when we walked over the bridge into St Andrew's Square at 6.30pm to the sounds of Nessun Dorma from Puccini's opera Turandot, sung by the Cape Tenors
Young fans enjoy the walk along Somerset Road
Members of the Cape Town Carnival added colour to the Fan Fest
Everyone that I have spoken to agrees that the Fan Walk was a stirring and heart-warming occasion (photo: Anita Van zyl)
Thanks for all the pics!
wow! well done for all the images along the walk – most heart-warming!
v disappointing that we have seen NO images of cape town and the people on the fifa run transmissions of the matches – so much for advertising cape town world wide.
i wouldn’t have known the match held in cape town was in our stadium!
no close up shots of the fans or the stadium – most disappointing – fifa TV shows front rows of empty seats – Why bother having the matches all over if they aren’t going to show images of the places they are taking place.
pity there are no short doccees on match centres that are played at half time
Some images of the cape town stadium for you!
http://worldcupstadium.wordpress.com
What a fantastic day! I’ve lived in CT for 29 years and it felt like I was seeing it for the first time on Friday afternoon. The fan walk has created wonderful spaces to mix with people – a bit like la rambla in Barcelona. Now we just need to pedestrianize upper long street!
Stunning pictures – and ideas! Love the giant Vuvuzela and the family Rainbow pic set-up!
a good feeling to see a dream come true!
Upper Long Street Pedestrianization is much needed. It should run as per normal on weekdays but easily becomes a pedestrianized public space for events with buses/cabs using Loops Street and its corners as bus stops.
I’m most excited about Station Square. We must find uses for it and embrace it.
Love using the fan walk but laughed to see signs being put up at 6;30 pm on Friday! We were already using the “fanwalk” but three workers were hard at work putting up signs describing our route!
great improvement on a public space and innovative improvement in mobility: http://bit.ly/aztGBs – maybe cool for the kids on the fan walk bridge…