Andrew Boraine » Grand Parade

“Pedestrians in Cape Town are a hunted race”… We’ve made some progress

Andrew — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:03:17 +0000

In 2005, Gehl Architects from Copenhagen did an analysis of public space and public life in the Cape Town Central City. Jan Gehl, world-renowned architect and pioneer of the city-building philosophy of “first people, then space, and then buildings”, commented at the time, when he saw the extent of car-dominance…

People’s Power in an Ancient City

Andrew — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 08:02:21 +0000

Who hasn’t been transfixed and moved by the scenes over the past 18 days on Cairo’s Tahrir (Liberation) Square – the brave resistance to a tyrannical regime, hopes dashed when the dictator refused to go, the celebrations and joy when he finally left?

How appropriate for us in South Africa that Mubarak’s resignation…

Capetonians take to the streets again

Andrew — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 07:50:11 +0000

The annual Community Chest Twilight Run provided another opportunity for Capetonians to take over the streets of the Central City. In the spirit of the 2010 World Cup Fan Walk, over 25 000 people, many dressed in outlandish gear and cheered on by an enthusiastic crowd, ran/walked a…

Transforming the city through redesigning public spaces for people

Andrew — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 09:50:53 +0000

Here is another great article published in yesterday’s Cape Argus (Sept 9, 2010) by my colleagues, Lorelle Bell and Alexandra Jongens, in support of Cape Town’s bid for the title of World Design Capital 2014. Through the WDC bid process, we are asking the question: how do we use design…

Post 2010 paradigm shifts create opportunities for new city development

Andrew — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:12:12 +0000

In 2008, the City of Cape Town and the Cape Town Partnership published the Central City Development Strategy – a framework to guide change and manage growth over the next ten years. We are currently reviewing and updating the strategy in light of the 2010 World Cup experience.…

Cape Town Squared (or how some of our most valuable public assets are not being properly used)

Andrew — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:17:27 +0000

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

Andrew — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:47:22 +0000

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

Andrew — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:46:34 +0000

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…

Navigating the Cape Town Central City

Andrew — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:42:00 +0000

As part of our efforts to make the Cape Town Central City more navigable for tourists (and local suburbanites!) during the 2010 World Cup, the Cape Town Partnership and CCID asked Chip Snaddon, well known local cartoonist and illustrator at the Cape Argus, to draw us a humerous guide which showed,…

“We won the French!”

Andrew — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:43:39 +0000

You would swear from the reaction of the crowd in the streets after the Bafana-French match that we were through to the next round. Everyone was beaming, blowing vuvuzelas, and dancing up and down with great pride. My best moment was when a stranger came up to me in Long Street and shouted…