As city centres around the world grapple with harsh Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, the Cape Town Central City is holding its own, bench by bench, thanks in no small part to the daily grind of the Cape Town Central City Improvement District’s (CCID) Urban Management department.
While visitor numbers have dropped substantially since lockdown restrictions were enforced to stem the tide of the pandemic, the CCID has worked consistently to maintain and improve the city centre’s appearance, in collaboration with its partner the City of Cape Town.
CCID CEO Tasso Evangelinos says the constant upgrading builds capacity for positive change, shifts negative perceptions, and plays into the famous ‘broken window’ theory – that decreasing visible signs of disorder has a net positive impact. “It helps to build the narrative of a thriving CBD that’s open for business. This benefits the more than 2 800 business entities in the Central City – from retail and entertainment ventures to medical, legal, financial and architectural practices, to educational institutes and more,“ he says.
Project Blue: members of CCID's Urban Management team paint metal benches in Thibault Square.
PIVOTAL ROLE
Kally Benito, manager of Urban Management, says the Urban Management team plays a pivotal role in cleaning the city centre’s streets and maintaining general upkeep. Of late, it has embarked on several other special projects in addition to business as usual. For ease of reference, they’ve been colour-coded, she points out, and over 100 litres of paint has been used. Project Red involved the sanding and repainting by technical teams of all the postboxes in the CBD in the CCID’s operational footprint, including 28 “normal” red postboxes and five “heritage” postboxes (with permission from Cape Mail). The CCID’s technical team also completed Project Blue, which involved the sanding and repainting of the blue infrastructure – such as bollards, poles, and 18 metal benches on Thibault Square – in the CBD. Lastly, Project Brown entailed the sprucing up of wooden benches in St Georges Mall and other areas of the CBD.
In total, 74 cement bollards and 417 steel bollards were painted, 56 wooden benches with steel legs were revarnished, and 31 steel benches were spruced up, Benito says.
Project Brown: the Urban Management team refurbishes wooden benches in St Georges Mall.
REJUVENATING THE URBAN SPACE
While the projects may seem small, Benito says the upgrades speak to a rejuvenation of the urban space. She says: “All these projects contribute to maintaining the urban fabric of our city centre. Investing in the Central City attracts investment, as more business entities and investors will perceive it as an attractive proposition.”
The projects not only beautify the CBD but also provide crucial employment as the CCID partners with Straatwerk NPO to upskill members of its technical team through on-the-job learning opportunities.
Project Blue: the Urban Management team tackles the repainting of cement bollards in the CBD.
HONING NEW SKILLS
Clint Porter, Operations manager of Straatwerk, says the individuals who work on these projects learn new skills and hone them as the project progresses. It’s a steep learning curve, but the sense of accomplishment of not only mastering and perfecting a new technical skill but doing the job well is enormous.
"Their sense of pride is further enhanced by the fact that the results of their handiwork are visible, and they can show their friends and family what they have accomplished. They also work in the public eye and get positive comments from pedestrians while they are working. This also adds to their sense of achievement. These inspirational projects also act as incentives for individuals at Straatwerk to strive to become part of our Technical Services team," Porter says.
Benito concludes that the Urban Management team is committed to continuing its crucial work, with many projects in the pipeline, in addition to regular maintenance and upkeep efforts.
IMAGES: CCID