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Cape Town’s nature capital
We often think of cities and nature as being worlds apart. But in Cape Town, the proximity and co-existence of the urban and natural are unmatched: This is one of only three cities globally that rank as an urban biodiversity hotspot. We are located in the Cape Floristic Region – the smallest and richest of the world’s six floral kingdoms. Continued…
Posted in Featured, News, Stories.
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The city as an ecosystem: learn more
What if we stopped thinking of the city as a man-made system of moving parts, somehow separate from nature, and started thinking of it as an ecosystem: a community of living organisms dependent on and co-existing in the natural environment. What would change? Urban ecosystems specialist Shannon Royden-Turner talks to City Views. Continued…
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Drawing on diversity: a City Views cover story
In honour of International Day of Biodiversity on 22 May, the May edition of City Views celebrates the abundance and variety of Cape Town, one of three cities globally that rank as an urban biodiversity hotspot.
Posted in Creative, Featured, Green, News, Stories.
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What does freedom sound like? City Hall Sessions, on stage and behind the scenes
What does freedom sound like? If you were at the sixth instalment of City Hall Sessions in Cape Town on Saturday 27 April 2013 – the day South Africa celebrated the first post-apartheid elections 19 years ago – you would’ve heard Paul Hanmer, McCoy Mrubata, Amaryoni and the Moreira Project in concert. And perhaps, through their music, you would’ve tasted freedom. What did performing in this particular space on Freedom Day mean for the musicians and for the crew behind the scenes? Alma Viviers went in search of answers. Continued…
Posted in Creative, Events, Experience Town, Featured, Stories.
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Bringing the blessing
Michael Weeder was born in District Six, forcibly removed from District One, and raised in Elsie’s River. Today he lives in the Central City. He’s also the dean of St George’s Cathedral at a time when its crypt is being transformed into a jazz venue. We spent some time listening to the extraordinary soundtrack of his life.
Continued…
Posted in Featured, News, Stories.
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How Cape Town got its groove
Music tells its own stories of cities. New Orleans will always be known for its dixieland jazz, Rio for its samba beats and Dublin for its folk ballads. And Cape Town? As a port city, Cape Town has a homegrown sound with influences from four continents. Continued…
Posted in Featured, News, Stories.
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Beyond beauty: a city of possibilities
Bulelwa Makalima-Ngewana, managing director of the Cape Town Partnership, recently wrote about what Cape Town’s Infecting the City public arts festival means to her, and what it could mean for the city. Originally published in the Cape Times on 12 March 2013 under the headline “Artists help us dream about what our city could become”, the opinion piece can be read in full here.
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Housing: temporary intervention vs permanent solution
Informal settlements are a common reality in Cape Town and South Africa’s urban landscape. Dire living conditions are the backdrop to the lack of services like proper sanitation and refuse removal, clean water, public health initiatives, adequate safety and access to economic opportunity. Shack fires regularly rip through these informal settlements, taking lives, ravaging homes and destroying earthly possessions. During the rainy season families are flooded out of their homes into temporary housing, in conditions exacerbated by Cape Town’s icy winters. These familiar experiences have become a regular feature in a country that has collectively failed to address the issue of dignified housing for all.
Posted in Developments, Featured, Green, Social Development, Spaces, Stories.
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The community stories behind Cape Town Carnival
The Cape Town Carnival doesn’t only bring people together on the day of the parade. Behind the costumes and colourful floats, it also sets an example of how a single annual event can help build communities all year round. Continued…
Posted in Creative, Events, Experience, Experience Town, Featured, News, Spaces, Stories, Success Stories, Urban management.
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