Interest in City-Center Living a Key to Integrating Cape Town

"As Cape Town prepares to become World Design Capital in 2014 – the year that also marks the 20th anniversary of democracy in South Africa – the city faces challenges that no past holder of the title has had to tackle," notes Hall. “'In 1994, we inherited a city designed for separation. Since then, we have been designing a city for integration,' reads Cape Town’s winning bid for the twice yearly award."

"The route to a reunified city lies partly in 'socially transformative' design, according to Cape Town Design, the non-profit company behind the World Design Capital bid. One big step towards that is bringing back city-centre living."

"Getting people out of their cars is a vital part of making Cape Town function properly," explains Hall.

“We have suburban sprawl and a car culture as bad as the US. But Cape Town’s new bus system, inspired by the one that has transformed the Brazilian city of Curitiba, is seeing even the middle classes use public transport now,” says Xico Meirelles of MLB Architects.