A welcoming heartbeat is throbbing in Cape Town’s inner city

The drab substation at Riebeeck Square in Cape Town’s inner city has been transformed into a vibrant public gallery featuring murals by local artists.

Along St George’s Mall, through which 120,000 people pass daily, pedestrians can pause to peek through a pinhole into a repurposed “Kiosk of Curiosities” packed with artwork. Cross traffic-congested Strand Street, and pedestrians step on a canvas of cheerful daisies designed to remind motorists to be courteous. After dark, the pedestrianised sections of Shortmarket Street and Church Lane are lit up with strings of festoon lights.

These small interventions led by the Mission for Inner City Cape Town, a not-for-profit launched eight months ago, aim to make the city more welcoming and walk­able. Describing the group’s aims, cofounder and executive chair Tim Harris said: “We are building a platform that unlocks energy and ingenuity by supporting locals who have their own vision.”

The mission works hand in hand with the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID), on whose board Harris serves. Over 25 years, this government-business collaboration has helped to arrest inner-city decay and the exodus to suburbia.

Yet Harris and cofounder Brad Armitage were “shocked by what we saw” as 117 businesses vanished from the CBD during ­Covid, revealing a need for additional interventions to unlock local potential and private investment. “We realised that we needed to supplement the CCID’s efforts, for instance, to fast-track approvals from the City of Cape Town, ease facilitation, provide funding now and then, and offer support.”

Unlike the CCID’s broad mandate and 750-person organogram, the mission is focused and lean, tapping into the energy of people working and living in the city.

One example: “Inner-City Saturdays” were launched after retailers sought help to boost weekend trade.

“Inspired by the format of First Thursdays, we created an activation and supported them, but it was their effort; they led it. That’s the model: we unlock passion across the city. That is how we achieve scale.”

The mission has secured three years of City funding, matched by private contributions, with more sponsors in the pipeline.

Harris, a former MP and Wesgro CEO, believes Cape Town is a “functional inner city in the face of serious social challenges”. Inclusivity and diversity underpin the mission’s model, with a concept called “placemaking” – collaborative public space-building for living, working, playing and learning – at the core.

Place-making enhanced Riebeeck Square’s Bree Street Gallery with murals, concrete seating and planters. A giant mural appeared on a Long Street wall. Nearby, Shortmarket Street is lit at night and being semi-pedestrianised, hosting two new boutique hotels opposite the iconic 1980s late-night Cadiz takeaway café. Church Lane also boasts lighting, benches and retail curation plans, all key mission interventions alongside walking routes, wayfinding and public events.

At Church Lane’s Burg Street entrance, the “Purple Shall Govern” plaque, which commemorates the 1989 anti-apartheid protest that police doused with purple water-cannon dye – has been cleaned up for visibility.

Balancing heritage and innovation, the mission also addresses very modern needs. During a walkabout, public art project leader Shani Judes highlighted the delivery bikers clustering around St George’s Mall and Riebeeck Square.

“Together with Young Urbanists and Takealot and Mr D, we are going to be piloting safe mobility hubs where drivers will have a place to sit, charge devices and have access to a toilet and hand washing,” she said.

Harris sees Greenmarket Square’s potential as the city’s traditional heart, though it is saturated by tourist trinkets.

“Market products need to be more diverse. The key to creating functional public spaces is to cater to locals. They live here year-round, and tourists want to experience what locals experience.”

The mission is working with the City to curb unregulated parking around the square by erecting bollards, then adding seating, lighting and greenery.

Harris acknowledges the “binding constraints” in the city, like public transport and housing challenges, but these fall outside the mission’s scope.

“Those are problems others are working on. We are working to make the inner city more livable, visitable, functional and commercially viable.”

On the “Airbnb effect” of out-of-reach high-end short-term rentals, Harris is optimistic about a shift. Thousands of student units around Cape Town Station are shifting dynamics, spurring retail changes. “Students bring a different energy,” he said.

The 90-year-old Jack Lemkus sneaker store recently opened a Jack’s burger joint to cater to the emerging student market. The 50-year-old Golden Acre’s overhaul will convert a 24-storey office tower into 414 affordable rentals.

Harris welcomes the controversial influx of digital nomads as “part of the mix, but they cannot be the dominant one. That is why we say: locals first. That is our priority.”

Acknowledging perceptions of a criminal underbelly, including extortion, Harris said opportunities exist to “crowd out bad elements to create a more diverse, legitimate economy”. To share its long-term vision with developers and landlords, the mission runs an “Inner-City Voices” dialogue. Landlords, lured by short-term gains such as upfront annual rental payments, are encouraged to consider aspirational, diverse and curated retail alternatives.

Drawing from the V&A Waterfront as a “masterclass” in place-making, the mission aims to achieve something similar, “but in a public, not a private, controlled space. If we can get that working, in the face of poverty and inequality, we can create viable, inclusive spaces.”

Unlike the V&A’s high-end rentals, the inner city’s “secret weapon” is a mix of more affordable retail spaces that could attract authentic, independent retailers, not global chain stores.

To pinpoint user needs, the mission is conducting extensive data research, including surveys that ask: “What’s your mission?” and “Where do you feel unsafe?”

A “pram index” is being conducted, with the Company’s Garden being reimagined as a family-friendly space. The public park took a knock during Covid, exacerbated by the devastating fire at Parliament, which sucked life out of the neighbourhood. But it is now showing signs of a pick-up.

“I have been to 34 African countries and never seen an inner city that has the potential to do what we can do,” said Harris.

“Inner cities are difficult... We toured Johannesburg. The extent of urban decay is staggering.”

During the tour, Jozi My Jozi’s Robbie Brozin was asked what was being done about place-making in their shared mission to revitalise inner cities.

“He laughed and said right now they are trying to take back hijacked buildings. It is a different level,” said Harris, who expressed optimism that Joburg’s inner city would get back on track. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.