For those of you who are wondering just how the new Hospital Bend pre-selection scheme is going to work, here it is (inbound example):
Hospital Bend pre-selection scheme
Download a larger PDF (1,8MB) version Hosp_Bend_INBOUND
You can get a good idea of how the Green Point Urban Park is taking shape from the top of the Ritz Hotel in Sea Point
Ella Smook of the Cape Argus wrote an article this week on the new Green Point Urban Park, which describes the facilities being planned for the area after the 2010 World Cup. Located next to the new Green Point IRT station, the park will become more accessible to communities throughout the city as the IRT system is rolled out, although just looking at how well-used the adjacent Sea Point Promenade is by a wide range of Capetonians, I have no doubt that the Urban Park will become a popular regional facility from the word go.
The outline of the central common can be clearly seen. The Metropolitan Golf Course is in the background
The Urban Park will form part of a wider system of recreational areas and pedestrian and cycle routes, such as the Sea Point Promenade
The Urban Park is adjacent to the CT Stadium precinct, and will be managed by Stade de France and Sail, the stadium managers
The 2010 FIFA Football World Cup Fan Walk in Cape Town is taking shape. This is the route that creates a pedestrian-priority route from the CT Station in the CBD to the CT Stadium to be used by an estimated 18 000 fans on match days.
My 2010 colleague Carola Koblitz briefs CTP and CCID staff members at the start of our recent Fan Walk inspection tour (corner St George's Mall and Waterkant St)
Up the hill to Long Street. Waterkant (Waterside) Street, the main route of the Fan Walk in the CBD, marks near where the historical shoreline used to be. The whole of Waterkant street is being transformed into a pedestrian-priority route and cycle lane
Broken street furniture in Waterkant St due to be repaired in time for 2010 as part of the City of Cape Town's beautification programme
Sea Street is another reminder of where the shoreline used to be before the reclamation of the foreshore after 1939
Greening the city. In future years, the Fan Walk will be a shaded avenue
The Fan Walk goes past several traditional shops, including the well-known Lusitania Fisheries, where you can get one of the best calamari and chip rolls in town!
Improvements to public space often prompt the upgrade of adjacent buildings. Here, a new design-related development on Waterkant Street behind the historic Lutheran Church takes shape
A new pedestrian bridge under construction, corner Buitengracht and Waterkant St
One of the busiest roads in the Central City is Buitengracht Street, which forms a hostile barrier for pedestrians between the CBD and Green Point. A new pedestrian bridge will begin to soften the interface between these two areas. There will also be a new at-grade pedestrian crossing
The Fan Walk passes the Prestwich Memorial in St Andrew's Square, which pays tribute to the thousands of poor Capetonians, many of them slaves, who were buried over the years in unmarked graves outside the historical city boundary (buiten die Buitengracht - outside the Outer Canal). The new Truth coffee shop provides a welcome respite along the route
The other half of the new pedestrian bridge under construction, against a backdrop of the old Lutheran Church and Table Mountain
The old tram rails show where the trams coming from Sea Point and Green Point used to turn towards town along Waterkant Street
The Fan Walk continues past the historic St Andrew's Church into Somerset Road, Green Point
Somerset Road is at the moment a jumble and clutter of traffic, in places very pedestrian unfriendly. The Fan Walk upgrade is an attempt to allocate addition space to pedestrians and cyclists through this busy area
The Fan Walk passes by the popular Cape Quarter extension
The Gallows Hill (another reminder of our conflict-ridden past) Traffic Department parking lot being converted into a temporary access road onto the Western Boulevard as part of the 2010 transport plan
For sale. Another example of how the upgrade of public space can prompt potential private development
The pedestrian and cycle route along Green Point Main Road is now well established, although concrete benches have been placed in awkward places, causing a potential hazard to a crowd of pedestrians and to cyclists
The new Green Point Circle pedestrian underpass links the Fan Walk to the IRT station, the Waterfront, the CT Stadium and the Green Point Urban Park
Looking back. The Fan Walk provides a pleasant 2,6km (approximetely 30 minutes) walk from the CBD to the Stadium, and will become a means of accessing the stadium over and above the bus shuttle systems that will be provided on match days. It will also contibute to the 2010 legacy in the form of permanent cycling and pedestrian-priority routes through the city, which will no doubt lead to ongoing intensification of urban economic activities
There are five key elements of the 2010 World Cup legacy for Cape Town:
The new raised traffic circle in Green Point, allowing pedestrian access to the CT Stadium and Urban Park, is part of the 2010 infrastructure legacy
So, Cape Town is already a winner because of 2010. How do we build on this legacy? Cape Town is well poised to continue the momentum through key initiatives that are already taking us into the future:
We still don’t have a clear vision of where we want to be as a city in 20-30 years time, and how we are going to get there. This means that we tend to continue with ‘business as usual’ type thinking and doing.
What we need is a city development strategy – a planning process used by many cities around the world to set out a vision for the city’s future and a roadmap on how to get there.
A city development strategy or CDS is not a ‘plan’ but a way of getting city leaders and citizens to agree to make the right choices. A successful city strategy cannot be all things to all people – it must provoke choices. To be really useful, a CDS needs to contain a set of ‘change levers’ to ‘bend’ our current unsustainable development path towards a more desirable future.
Khayelitsha - a poor but potentially vibrant economic node
Examples of issues (indicative rather than exhaustive) that would need to be addressed by a CDS include:
The good news is that the City of Cape Town has recently signalled its intention to lead an inclusive and participative city development strategy process later this year. Much good work has already been done by Accelerate Cape Town’s 2030 visioning process, which can be built upon.
It is imperative that we take this process seriously and get involved so that we can collectively shape the future of our city.
We need to get behind the Integrated Rapid Transport System (IRTS)
The question we ought to be asking is not, can the Cape Town afford the IRT, but rather, can we afford not to build it. To continue as a primarily car-based city without a decent, safe, reliable public transport system is not sustainable. A large proportion of our citizens don’t have cars in any case! Rising energy costs will make car travel less affordable. We need to reduce our city’s carbon footprint. The economic cost of congestion on our roads increases exponentially every year. Finally, we cannot continue with the political, economic and social cost of not connecting the disparate parts of our city together and enhancing mobility and access for our citizens.
The IRT is not just a transport project – it is a city transformation project. It is the cheapest form of car-competitive public transport available to cities. It has the potential to drive the necessary city densification processes, with more compact development clustering around stations and along public transport corridors. It can link isolated communities to the mainstream urban economy, offering opportunities to reduce poverty. It can complement the existing rail network. It can provide jobs for taxi- and bus-drivers and many others.
IRT lanes under construction (Pic: Bruce Sutherland, City of Cape Town)
IRT is probably the single most important infrastructure project in the city over the next 10-15 years. It is the main 2010 World Cup legacy project – if we mess it up, we will have squandered the development opportunity of our generation.
It is a complex project, not for the faint-hearted. The City of Cape Town’s initial estimates of costs were too low, the initial project management processes not systematic enough. However, I believe that the City has rectified these issues, and that we are back on track. There is a top team with experience in place under Mike Marsden, which has instituted proper programming and planning. The Department of Transport and National Treasury are firmly behind the project – but this window of funding opportunity will not last forever. If we are not seen to be actively behind the project, driving it beyond 2010 to all corners of the metropolitan area, the funding will peter out, and with it, our chance to experience a decent public transport in our lifetime.
Central City Development Strategy (CCDS)
The CCDS is an existing ten-year framework to guide public and private planners, investors and developers in the Central City (defined as stretching from Green Point to Salt River), published by the City of Cape Town and CT Partnership in 2008.
There are two exciting new projects currently underway that will potentially have a large impact on the future development of the city:
Land Use Change Management: This project aims to address issues that often cause difficulties when it comes to deciding on applications for rezoning and departures, such as building height restrictions, development densities, views, heritage and conservation, active streetscapes, parking ratios in buildings, amongst other things. The intention is for the City to be able to publish development parameters to guide future developments in the Central City and thereby give more certainty and predictability to developers when they are drawing up their applications, investors when they are considering funding projects and planners when they are making approvals. The City of Cape Town intends to consult publically in April. If successful, this path-breaking planning project could be used to guide development in other parts of the city.
Cape Town Central City by night as seen from Table Mountain
Provincial Central City Regeneration Project: The Provincial Government is a major owner and occupier of space in the Central City (some 200 000m2). MEC Robin Carlisle has begun a process whereby all Provincial assets in this area are evaluated in terms of their development potential, for example:
The MEC has brought in the participation of the four universities through the Cape Higher Education Consortium. He is also currently liaising with Intersite and Passenger Rail Services (Prasa) with regard to the Cape Town Station phase two regeneration project (in itself, a major potential post-2010 initiative) and Transnet with regard to their Culemborg site, to ensure an integrated public asset management strategy.
This project, which will hopefully be implemented over the next 5-10 years, could have a dramatic impact on the momentum of development in the Central City, and provide ways of addressing the need for affordable housing, spaces for small businesses and non-profit organisations, and additional educational and social facilities. If successful, the intention is to be able to use the model elsewhere in the City and Province.
Cape Town CBD and harbour, with Blaauwberg on the other side of Table Bay
World Design Capital Bid 2014
Creative Cape Town is a programme of the Cape Town Partnership which promotes the development of the creative and knowledge economy in Cape Town. One of our projects is the East City Design Initiative (ECDI) which aims to create a precinct for design, innovation, creativity & entrepreneurship in the Central City.
The East City Precinct is already attracting major attention. It was recently designated a Cape Catalyst project by Provincial Government. It is the home of the successful Cape Craft and Design Initiative, Fabrication Laboratory, the District Six Museum and Homecoming Centre, and the new Central Library in the restored Old Drill Hall. The Old Granary Building is scheduled to be upgraded into a cultural hub.
The new Fugard Theatre opens this week in the old Congregational Church Hall (one of the best restorations of an historic building I have seen) and is destined to become one of the best theatres in SA. The Spier Contemporary is opening in March in the City Hall – showcasing 100 SA artists and 132 works of art – which in turn is helping to restart the process of using the City Hall as a dedicated music and cultural centre.
On the basis of these trends, we will be launching a process to bid for World Design Capital status for Cape Town in 2014 at the forthcoming Design Indaba.
This award is conferred biennially by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) to a city that is dedicated to using design for social, cultural and economic development. If we are successful, this title will give Cape Town a chance to showcase our achievements and aspirations through a year-long programme of design-led events and activities – just as World Design Capital designees Seoul (see YouTube video) and Helsinki will do in 2010 and 2012 respectively.
More importantly, pitching for this title will also give city stakeholders an opportunity to once again work together towards a common goal – just as we have done with the 2010 World Cup. Already, many key stakeholders including the Mayor of the City of Cape Town have endorsed the project, and prominent individuals associated with design innovation have agreed to join a bid advisory body.
We have to be ready to submit our bid in February 2011. That gives us a year to get our act together. I invite any individual, organisation or business who is interested in getting involved to contact the Partnership, which is acting as a bid secretariat on behalf of all the stakeholders.
Conclusion
I know of many other examples of initiatives and projects in Cape Town, which have the potential to take us beyond 2010. However, time does not permit me to list them all here.
Plans and projects on their own are not good enough – we need to look at how we do things. In implementing plans for 2010, we have shown that we can do things differently. We have taken complex decisions. We have met deadlines. We have mobilised people out of silos and compartments, beyond ‘business as usual’. We have become less parochial and more outward looking.
The key question is: can we continue on this basis, or will we slip back into comfortable mediocrity?
Capetonians came together in 1989 to help get rid of apartheid. Can we again come together around a common vision?
Fan Walk from Station to Stadium. This wonderful pedestrian and cycle path provides a new connection from the CBD to the CT Stadium, Waterfront, Urban Park and Promenade
An army tent guards the horizon at Fort Wynyard in the shadow of the stadium
Fort Wynyard, a centrally-located and valuable heritage site, is currently under the control of the Cape Garrison Artillery. It was built in 1861 by convicts from the nearby Breakwater Prison (now UCT Graduate School of Business), although the site was first used for coastal defences by the Dutch in 1795. It makes sense to consider upgrading and opening this facility to the public to make it part of the overall Green Point Common experience. At the moment, grumpy army guards do their best to keep one away from the site.
Green Point Urban Park under construction. I have no doubt that when this facility is completed, it will become one of the best used public open spaces in Cape Town
Mouille Point Lighthouse. The Urban Park will provide a magnificent pedestrian and cycle link between Green Point Main Road and the Sea Point Promenade.
Urban Park under construction. A row of cranes that look as if they could be from that best loved children's book Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel
Green Point Urban Park under construction
Different angles. The stadium is framed by Signal Hill and Table Mountain
Different angles: CT Stadium and Devil's Peak
Different angles: The stadium resembles a giant paper lamp in front of Table Mountain
Reporting for duty. Security staff get ready for the first match to be played at the new stadium (Santos vs Ajax Cape Town, 23 January 2010)
Mike Mulligan, Mary Anne and friends wave goodbye
Sunday morning
A club cricket match in a stunning setting - surely more use could be made of these grounds?
Mano Boraine was keen to pose in front of the CT Stadium tunnel onto the pitch
Paragliders circle Signal Hill and Lion's Head
Angelo Boraine outside the new CT Stadium
Bruce Sutherland (City of Cape Town) took this great aerial shot last week showing the completed CT Stadium amidst swirling clouds fanned by an unseasonal north-westerly wind. The Statium is expected to host three practice matches in the first three months of next year, before being handed over to FIFA for the 2010 World Cup
The Mandela 46664 concert in the old Green Point Stadium, Cape Town, November 2003
Devil's Peak, Signal Hill and Table Mountain from the old Green Point Stadium. The views from the new Cape Town Stadium will be similar
Salief Keta sings for Mandela as the sun goes down behind Signal Hill
BRT
We’re busy gearing up for the Cape Town Partnership AGM this coming Thursday (29 October). We have decided not to go with just the boring stuff (annual report and financial statements) but turn the occasion into something worthwhile. So we will be having a mini-conference on ‘life after 2010’ to show that we don’t need necessarily to go through the post mega-event blues that many cities seem to go through and that Cape Town will be ‘open for business’. At the same time, we are also conscious of all the ‘unfinished business’ challenges that we face in the next decade – the need for more jobs, a growing economy, affordable housing, with the unfinished Foreshore Freeways and the incomplete restitution of District Six being the two most visible reminders. All the presentations and discussion will be on the Cape Town Partnership website from Friday.
New Pano
Bruce Sutherland of the City of Cape Town captured the iconic grandeur of the new stadium in Green Point last week with these night-time shots. Interestingly, the photographs do not include Table Mountain, Cape Town’s most well-known and best-loved icon. Perhaps this is symbolic of the new era we are moving into, with Cape Town no longer simply defined by our natural beauty, and marketed through traditional reference to our spectacular flora and fauna. As one of the speakers pointed out at the launch of Silicon Cape the other day, the day we are known as a city for our technology, R&D and universities, and not just for our ‘wildlife, whales and wine’, will be the day we start taking business and people development more seriously.
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Copyright & Copy 2009 Andrew Boraine