Cape Town is a mixture of my expectations and some surprises. Having never visited the country, let alone any part of the African continent, I actually did not know what to expect. I have seen movies, read books, reviewed news and taken courses regarding the present situation of the country and people. I also have a few friends and relatives who have resided and who are currently residing in the country and even from their description and account I could not get a very clear sense except for the city being more like a quaint port town and a well-developed commercial area. After doing some more research I gauged that the city had many European influences and so in many ways would reflect that through the architecture. With the mountain backdrop and sea front I assumed it would be less of a strictly urban area and a more peaceful countryside area. And I also expected to see less impoverished areas and larger white dominance around, in a way mirroring European cities. I was partially correct. Indeed in terms of layout Cape Town has breathtaking scenery with fantastic views all around. The entire city starts from the foot of Table Mountain and eventually cascades down into the Atlantic Ocean. In many ways the city setup reminds me a lot of San Francisco where a lot of the streets and houses alternate between being uphill or downhill and the terrain overall is not at all flat or plateau-like. The urban part of the city, which seems to be centrally-located, is not dominant and is minimal compared to the more flat-roofed houses and cottages, which sprinkle a majority of the city. Houses and building seem to continue on with interruptions of urban structures like skyscrapers and stadiums, till the beach front making it appear to a person flying in on a plane as more of a town.
The city is actually quite well-equipped with modern amenities like tar roads. But what makes Cape Town so unique is that government has decided to keep the old elements such as castles dating back to the Dutch East India Company while incorporating high-rises. In the deep parts of some of the areas like Bo-Kaap, the tar road suddenly ends to reveal cobbled paths. It in a way gives the city its sense of history and culture and lets visitors and residents not forget how Cape Town once was. Communities that seem to live together are subtly sectioned and focused around the religious places of worship like mosques and churches. Each community has its own style of building construction, with many Muslim communities painting their houses in bright colors. But there are some structures which are integrated in terms of style. We saw one mosque, which instead of having a typical think minaret, had a spiraling tower with turrets that seemed to reflect Gothic architecture and was located on Church Street.
The Western Cape is according to sources known for having the most Coluored population and I have noticed this as well. Black Africans are the second largest group followed by whites and then Indians. In terms of distribution it seemed that Cape Flats as township has the most Coloured people and Khayelitsha consists of mostly black people. The area where we lived seemed to be mostly white-populated. Keeping this in mind I think the socio-economic disparities are extremely vast within Cape Town even though it is considered to be by itself a major economic center in the country. You have areas like Stellenbosch where mostly the affluent reside thanks to the booming wine industry and then you have townships like Khayelitsha where people live minimalistic lifestyles and are struggling in terms of resources. In many ways it is the huge economic differences that act as a base to the disparities in education, society etc. We have been warned about the problem of crime which is also a result of the frustration of low income. While we do see it around us daily as we travel to our workplaces I personally don’t see any other way with dealing with it except to blend in with the crowd.
The city is actually quite well-equipped with modern amenities like tar roads. But what makes Cape Town so unique is that government has decided to keep the old elements such as castles dating back to the Dutch East India Company while incorporating high-rises. In the deep parts of some of the areas like Bo-Kaap, the tar road suddenly ends to reveal cobbled paths. It in a way gives the city its sense of history and culture and lets visitors and residents not forget how Cape Town once was. Communities that seem to live together are subtly sectioned and focused around the religious places of worship like mosques and churches. Each community has its own style of building construction, with many Muslim communities painting their houses in bright colors. But there are some structures which are integrated in terms of style. We saw one mosque, which instead of having a typical think minaret, had a spiraling tower with turrets that seemed to reflect Gothic architecture and was located on Church Street.
The Western Cape is according to sources known for having the most Coluored population and I have noticed this as well. Black Africans are the second largest group followed by whites and then Indians. In terms of distribution it seemed that Cape Flats as township has the most Coloured people and Khayelitsha consists of mostly black people. The area where we lived seemed to be mostly white-populated. Keeping this in mind I think the socio-economic disparities are extremely vast within Cape Town even though it is considered to be by itself a major economic center in the country. You have areas like Stellenbosch where mostly the affluent reside thanks to the booming wine industry and then you have townships like Khayelitsha where people live minimalistic lifestyles and are struggling in terms of resources. In many ways it is the huge economic differences that act as a base to the disparities in education, society etc. We have been warned about the problem of crime which is also a result of the frustration of low income. While we do see it around us daily as we travel to our workplaces I personally don’t see any other way with dealing with it except to blend in with the crowd.
