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…
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‘Not soon. Not just now. Now. Because if you don’t, who will?’
One of the unexpected treats of the 2010 World Cup was having something other than political wrangling to read about on the front pages of our newspapers every day. For a whole month.
No disrespect intended, but sometimes we in South Africa get a little obsessed with what politicians are saying and doing. I…
2020 Olympic Bid: Next big thing or red herring?
Cape Town is already a popular global and local events city – think Design Indaba, Cycle Tour, Jazz Festival, CT Carnival, World Economic Forum, Mining Indaba, etc - and we have strengthened our reputation by helping to host a successful Football World Cup. We need now to be planning how to bid for more sporting and cultural events in…
Our Cities Ourselves
Our Cities Ourselves is the title of an imaginative new exhibition that opened yesterday in New York, which shows visions for ten cities, mainly in the developing world, from ten leading architects. The exhibition, which is organised by the respected Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, is themed around sustainable transport…
The infrastructural benefit of South Africa’s World Cup
A useful article by Nate Berg, who argues that the main benefit of South Africa’s World Cup is the urban infrastructure investments, particularly with regard to public transport, but that the real test will be in the country being able to maintain momentum after the World Cup. Read here
Nate Berg…
Don’t write off the Joburg inner city
It’s become convention wisdom in certain quarters to write off the Johannesburg inner city, especially amongst those who haven’t been there for a long time. I’ve got a meeting next week with Lael Bethlehem, who heads up the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) and her team, so I’m hoping to catch up on…
Who’s afraid of South African urban culture?
I am a bit worried when I read the description of the design of the South African Pavilion at the $60-billion Expo 2010 Shanghai, which opened at the beginning of May. The theme of the Expo is ‘Better City, Better Life’. You would think therefore that this would be…
Why Cape Town works
The Cape Town Central City features very positively in a recent article by Alan Cameron at iafrica.com entitled ‘Why Cape Town works’. The article is based partly on comparisons between the Cape Town Central City and the Johannesburg and Durban CBDs.
Many of the subsequent responses from readers to the…
Local Government Turnaround Strategy
Last year, the South African Government launched a review of local government, and came up with some pretty damning findings. This has resulted in the launch of an ambitious Local Government Turnaround Strategy aimed at addressing the internal factors (e.g. quality of decision-making by Councillors, quality of appointments, transparency of tender…
Mandela’s release February 1990
Twenty years ago, on 11 February 1990, I watched Nelson Mandela’s release on a small TV in our rented house in Isidingo Road in Yeoville, Johannesburg. I had moved from Cape Town to Johannesburg in 1989, with my wife Nike Romano to work for an NGO called Planact. I remember getting highly irritated with…
We can do better than this!
One of the less succesful aspects of the 2010 Final Draw experience was the stereotypical way in which we persist in portraying South Africa to the rest of the world. I visited the South African Host Cities exhibition space at the CTICC and was shocked to see how we continue to reinforce colonial…
State of the South African cities debate
Last week, I attended an urban conference organised by the South African Cities Network (SACN). The purpose of the conference was to begin preparations for the publication of the third edition of the SACN State of the Cities Report, scheduled for October 2010. I will be writing more
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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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