Cape Town

Cape Town grew around Table Bay, between the harbour and Table Mountain, on land used by Khoikhoi pastoralists before the Dutch East India Company established its supply station in 1652. Maritime trade and successive colonial administrations shaped its development, while its role as the national legislative centre added a lasting concentration of civic institutions.

The wider metropolis retains the spatial divisions imposed by apartheid: residential areas and employment centres remain unevenly connected, with long journeys for many peripheral communities. Municipal planning therefore places particular emphasis on development around existing urban centres and public transport, linking the management of growth to the restructuring of this inherited urban pattern.