I took a group of 25 international journalists on a walking tour of the Cape Town Central City this morning. The weather was awful, a typical wet Cape winter’s day, but true to our motto – we walk, come rain or shine – we set off in good spirits. The group is…
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Athlone Towers – a giant new opportunity for a different approach to city building?
When our boys were small, their name for the Athlone cooling towers was the ‘giant’s coffee cups’. Located near the N2 highway out of Cape Town, the ‘coffee cups’ usually signified the start of a holiday weekend out of town, or the end of a long tiring journey home.
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A Ripple of Hope – Reflections on Robert Kennedy’s 1966 visit to South Africa
For many years, an old LP recording of a speech by Robert Kennedy in Cape Town in 1966 lay around our family home. I never realised its significance until I saw RFK in the Land of Apartheid – A Ripple of Hope at the opening night of the…
The UDF was born in song
Steve Gordon’s moving tribute to the late Robbie Jansen in the Mail and Guardian this weekend (The last blow for freedom) reminded me just how important music was to the culture and ethos of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Cape Town in the 1980s.
Who can forget…
The ‘unhappy compromise’ shows signs of coming of age
The Cape Town Foreshore has been described as an ‘unhappy compromise’ resulting in series of ‘wind-blown stretches of asphalt and concrete, filled with car parks and roaring traffic, inaccessible to pedestrians.’* Yet on a still winter’s morning, in the early dawn light, on foot, the Foreshore can almost be beautiful.…
Cape Town Squared (or how some of our most valuable public assets are not being properly used)
Do you remember the popular zebra artworks dotted around public spaces in Cape Town during the World Cup? Well, they’ve now migrated to the Artscape Piazza on the Foreshore.
The 33 zebras form an exhibition entitled ‘Not all is Black and White’, by the World for All…
Storming the ramparts: How the Castle of Good Hope can become part of city life
One of the good things about hosting a large global event like the 2010 World Cup is the way we were able do things that previously seemed impossible. Like regular road closures to create safe pedestrian spaces, reliable public transport, dressing the city in bright colours, colourful wall murals and outdoor advertisements,…
Ten reasons why the Cape Town 2010 Fan Walk worked so well
The Cape Town Fan Walk has become one of the talking points of Cape Town’s World Cup experience. The editorial in today’s Cape Argus described it as a ‘masterstroke’. John Robbie of 702 Talk Radio asked me yesterday to what we as a city owed the success of the Fan…
So who are we as a city?
A few weeks ago, I expressed my disappointment about the set of images that attempt to showcase Cape Town in the new arrivals hall passageway at the Cape Town Airport (But where are all the people?) Subsequently, Cape Town Tourism sent me images of their new display on the international arrivals…
I love it when a plan comes together
“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 will provide unique flavour to Cape Town’s World Cup
The Fan Walk, which connects the Cape Town Central City to the Cape Town Stadium, is based on an adaptation of the route followed by the Cape Minstrels or Kaapse Klopse every year for the traditional Tweede Nuwe Jaar (2nd January) carnival procession. In other words, it is a route…
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For sure, freeways?
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Integrated Rapid Transport in Cape Town – no other alternative
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Cape Town Station Square – unburied treasure
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Bright lights, dark alleys*
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I love it when a plan comes together
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We’re on the road to nowhere…
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Come rain or come shine… we walk the city to discover our history
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Cape Town Fan Walk lives on
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Cape Town’s Integrated Rapid Transit System takes shape
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Whoops! Did someone perhaps jump the gun?
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Rashiq Fataar: I am all for reconnecting the city to the sea but ...
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dirk: i just had the privilege of seeing and walking the...
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Comeau: Demolish and reroute them underground I say. It's ...
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Andrew: Negotiations going well for all sites needed for t...
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