From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Century City, Cape Town
Century City, Cape Town
Century City trict, but thanks to the city improvement district (CID)
and urban renewal efforts spearheaded by the Cape Town
— Suburb — Partnership (CTP), this has not happened. This develop-
Country South Africa ment thus remains another commercial node in the Cape
Province Western Cape Town metropolitan area while the city centre remains vi-
Municipality City of Cape Town brant.
Wards
Time zone SAST (UTC+2)
Postal code
Canal Walk’s exterior from the main canal
Developmental Components
Main Canal within Century City, Table Mountain in the back- Canal Walk was the largest shopping mall in Africa and
ground the Southern Hemisphere in lettable area when it was
opened in December 2000. Currently, the 141 000m² mall
Century City is a 250 ha suburb of Cape Town, South contains over 400 stores, 20 movie theatres, many restau-
Africa that was constructed as a mixed use development rants and bars and an entertainment section. Architec-
including entertainment, residential, retail and office turally, it was designed with the "Cape Venetian" style in
components.[1] Development began under Monex Devel- mind. Two twin office towers - the Canal Walk Towers -
opment in 1997 and continues under the new owners, Ra- rest atop of the mall.
bie Property Group. Investment thus far exceeds ZAR10 Adjacent to the mall are two 11-storey towers called
billion. It is located 10 km to the north-east of central the Crystal Towers that opened at the end of 2009. It is
Cape Town along the N1 motorway and is traversed by the largest development in the precinct after Canal Walk
numerous waterways, wetlands and canals.[2] itself. The R750 million development consists of Century
City’s first 5-star hotel with 180 rooms, as well as 91 lux-
ury apartments and an office block.
Criticism Nearby is the 204-room StayEasy by Southern Sun ho-
During initial building phases, Century City’s two original tel. It was the first hotel in the precinct when it opened
developments - Ratanga Junction theme park and Canal in early 2001.
Walk shopping centre - were thought to be white ele- KnightsBridge is another R275 million residential de-
phants. Ratanga has run into many monetary issues, velopment adjacent to Canal Walk, with 15 floors of
however due to downsizing, off-season closures and the apartments in two towers, with penthouses located in a
addition of year-round conference and entertainment fa- 12-storey high bridge across the canal adjoining the two
cilities, it has turned profitable. The then-125 000m² towers. Construction was completed in late 2006.
Canal Walk mall has exceeded expectations, resulting in a The Colosseum is a mixed-use R300 million devel-
recent expansion to 141 000m² in order to meet demand. opment, including ground-floor cafe’s, offices and a
There were concerns that Century City would cause de- 70-room four-star hotel. Construction was completed in
centralisation from the Cape Town central business dis- January 2007.
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Century City, Cape Town
Villa Italia and The Oasis are two multi-storey, multi-
building residential developments, the latter catering to
the upmarket retirement community.
The Island Club was completed in 2005 and is a res-
idential development located around a series of islands
and canals opposite Canal Walk, and includes a small
23-room four-star hotel.
Century Gate and The Estuaries are two additional
commercial developments, collectively costing R500 mil-
lion.
Century View and the Bougain Villas are two low-
density residential developments.
The Manhattan is a 15-floor luxury apartment tower
that was completed at the end of 2008, consisting of a
sectional-title hotel with 30 suites and residential apart- Knightsbridge apartments
ments.
Numerous other corporate offices are located in and
around Century City - especially along the N1 motorway.
Economy
Mercedes-Benz and Daimler/Crysler/Jeep have lifestyle Spur Corporation has its head office in Century City.[3]
centres, which have recently opened adjacent to Canal The area has a vibrant community and social events,
Walk. Should they be a success, similar such lifestyle cen- many of which can be found on the site CenturyCityLiv-
tres will be open worldwide. Similarly, BMW and Porsche ing.co.za.[4]
both have buildings in the precinct too.
In 2009 Century City has been voted SA’s best middle
class suburb by Finweek Magazine.
References
[1] "Century City". http://www.centurycity.co.za.
[2] "search century city articles".
Conservation http://www.eprop.co.za.
Built on a wetland area, Century City needed to comply [3] "Contact Us." Spur Steak Ranches. Retrieved on 10
with conservation measures. Intaka Island is a 16 hectare March 2010.
wetland area within the development. The wetland natu- [4] "[1]." CenturyCityLiving.co.za.
rally cleans the water in the canals and provides a green Coordinates: 33°53′30″S 18°30′30″E / 33.89167°S
lung in an otherwise high-density development. 18.50833°E / -33.89167; 18.50833
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Century_City,_Cape_Town&oldid=434919337"
Categories:
• Suburbs of Cape Town
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