CAPE TOWN

City Form and the Factors That Influenced It

Claveria, Marc Davis M. 2008 – 17934
Arch 162 – Prof. Silvestre
QUICK FACTS
 South Africa
 Cape Floristic Region
 948 square miles(2,455 sq km)
 3,497,097 people - 48% Colored (the South African term
for ethnically mixed race peoples with ancestry in Sub-
Saharan Africa), 31% Black African, 19% white and 1.43%
Asian.
 Robben Island – 6.2 miles(10 kilometers) from city
center
 Legislative capital of South Africa
 Provincial Capital
LOCATION
LOCATION
LOCATION
LOCATION
LOCATION
BRIEF HISTORY
 Prehistory
 Khoe San people – pastoralist community
 Bartholomew Dias – Discovery of “Cape of Good
Hope”
 Emergence of Trade with Dutch and English
 The “Cape Town”, as referred to by sailors, became
a strategic resting place for the ships
 Jan Van Riebeeck - Sent by VOC to create a trading
post in Cape Town
 Development of Company Gardens maintained by
Burghers
 Very large number of laborers were needed for the
developments, which resulted to importing of slave
EARLY SETTLERS
BRIEF HISTORY
 Development of towns
 boarding houses for the sailors
 Former burghers turned to crafts and professions
 Development of workshop and buildings near the
port
 Expansion to the east by burghers
BRIEF HISTORY
 Cape Town in 1700’s
 Straight streets with grid iron patterns
 Tree lined canal from the Company Gardens to
the sea
 Shoreline – lined with warehouses, shipyards,
townhouses
 Very diverse group of people
 About 70 ships coming from different nations
dock at Cape Town every year, each ship staying
for about 20-30 days
 Coined as “Tavern of the Seas” by sailors
 Some Burghers shifted farming to trading due to
the influx of people
BRIEF HISTORY
 June 1795 – Arrival of British forces
 Dec 1, 1834 – All slaves were set free
 Resulted to a more stratified society
 Development of Slum areas occupied by former
slaves
 Boom years
 1860 - Development of Victoria and Albert basins
 1863 - Development of railways from Cape Town to
winelands
 1864 – railways to the length of the peninsula
 Telegraph lines, road building
 Townships – created for racial segregation and
health reasons
BRIEF HISTORY
 1924 - Slums act
 1925 – new pier built in Cape Town harbour.
 1938-1945 – reclamation of the foreshore
 1940 – destroyed the pier for land reclamation,
improved city infrastructure, followed by the
development of a modern port
 Urban planning policy
 2 Dominant styles:
 British garden city movement

 American style

 Public health and maintenance of social order are

key considerations
BRIEF HISTORY
 Cape Town City Planning
 1927 – town planning ordinance
 1934 – town planning department
 1941 – comprehensive urban zoning
 American neighborhood units style
 Development of large squatter areas due to
insufficient housing for large numbers of people that
arrived
 Shanty towns - Reception centers for people with no
housing space. Ex. Langa
BRIEF HISTORY
 1948 – Manifesto of Apartheid(separate development)
 Grand apartheid – separate homelands and areas
 Petty apartheid – separate everyday places
 Separate amenities act (1953), Native Laws
Amendment Act (1957)
 1990 – FW de Klerk declares the end of apartheid
 1994 onwards – Developments related to tourism
 Ratanga Junction, Centruy City, V & A Waterfront
1750
1764
1764
19TH CENTURY MAP
CAPE WINELANDS MAP
MODERN CAPE TOWN
CITY CENTER LAYOUT
CITY CENTER
CAPE TOWN MAP
STREET LAYOUT
ATLANTIC OCEAN BEACH FRONT
TRANSPORT LOCATION MAP
AIRPORT LOCATION
OLD CAPE TOWN
OLD CAPE TOWN
OLD CAPE TOWN
OLD CAPE TOWN
SHANTY TOWNS, SLUMS, TOWNSHIPS
SHANTY TOWNS, SLUMS, TOWNSHIPS
APARTHEID ( RACIAL SEPARATION)
ARCHITECTS OF APARTHEID
MODERN CAPE TOWN
MODERN CAPE TOWN
V & A WATERFRONT
V & A WATERFRONT MAP
V & A WATERFRONT AERIAL VIEW
CAPE TOWN PORT
CAPE TOWN PORT
•FACTORS THAT AFFECTED THE FORM OF
CAPE TOWN: LOCATION
 Topography
 Mountanous topography, having the Table
mountain as the backdrop of the city
 Strategic location and openness to the sea allowed
it to become a port city
 Geology
 Well-watered, fertile soil

 Subtropical Mediterranean climate

•FACTORS THAT AFFECTED THE FORM OF
CAPE TOWN: SOCIETY
 VOC Reign
 Van Riebeeck’s supposedly Trading Post developed
into the early Cape Town with its company
gardens, boarding houses, taverns, etc
 Further developments like shipyards, ports, and
businesses owned by former Burghers contributed
to the progressive development of the whole city
•FACTORS THAT AFFECTED THE FORM OF
CAPE TOWN: SOCIETY
 British Rule
 The former slaves that were working for the people
were set free, giving rise to a huge number of
people that needed housing. This resulted to
development of large slum areas, shanty towns,
and townships like the famous District 6 and The
Crossroads
 This period saw the rise of more massive
developments like the development of Victoria and
Albert basins, railways interconnecting cities,
telegraph, electric and communication lines,
massive road constructions, reclamation of the
Foreshore, improved city infrastructure, and
modern ports
•FACTORS THAT AFFECTED THE FORM OF
CAPE TOWN: SOCIETY
 British Rule
 Urban planning policies arose due to the risk in
public health brought about by sailors and cargoes
from different areas. It was also imposed to
maintain social order among the stratified
community of whites, blacks, and coloured people.
 Two dominant styles were imposed by the British
rule: The British garden city movement, and the
American style which provides large spaces for
industries, commerce and residential areas and the
use of concrete
•FACTORS THAT AFFECTED THE FORM OF
CAPE TOWN: SOCIETY
 British Rule
 The implementation of apartheid or separate
development for different racial classes gave rise to
the segregation between the whites, colored, and
blacks. This gave birth to townships that contain
only black and only colored people. Certain parts of
Cape Town were restricted to the whites only

 FW de Klerk to the present

 FW de Klerk announced the end of the apartheid.
After this, Cape Town geared towards more
developments with tourism as one of its main focus
•FACTORS THAT AFFECTED THE FORM OF
CAPE TOWN: FUNCTION
 Since the arrival of Van Riebeeck, Cape Town
functioned as a port city – a place where sailors can
replenish their stock, trade with the Burghers, and
refresh themselves
 This feature of Cape Town continued to evolve. Not
only was it a port city, the company gardens of the
Burghers developed and expanded to the east, some
even ventured in wheat and wine production. These
produce were sold to the sailors and traders in the
city
•FACTORS THAT AFFECTED THE FORM OF
CAPE TOWN: OTHER FACTORS
 The stratification of the people living in Cape Town
gave rise to apartheid and eventually to separated
city developments. These created areas for the whites
that are more livable and comfortable, while at the
outskirts of the city townships were built to
accommodate the blacks and other races.
 The present political society is geared towards the
development of Cape Town to attract more tourists.
Former ports were developed into the likeness of V &
A Waterfront that attracts tourists from all over the
world. Creation of mall strips, museums, and 5-star
amenities help make the city a favorite tourist spot.
REFERENCES
 http://www.capetown.at/index.htm
 http://www.thebrooklynnomad.com/cape-town-and-brooklyn-
same-same-or-different/
 http://www.history.com/topics/cape-town
 http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/places/villages/westernCape
/capetown/index.php?id=1
 http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/Pages/default.aspx
 http://www.old-map-blog.com/category/19th-century-maps/
 http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionswc/waterfront.htm
 http://www.leejacksonmaps.com/bellcap2.htm
 http://www.saexplorer.co.za/south-
africa/general/map.asp?map=223
 http://geography.about.com/od/southafricamaps/a/capetownsou
thafricageography.htm
 Google Images
 Google Earth