The Cape Town Central City Improvement District’s (CCID), manager of Safety & Security, Muneeb “Mo” Hendricks, recently visited New Orleans and New York City, United States, where he made interesting observations on how the Cape Town Central City fares in comparison to these two cities.
According to Mo, being in both The Big Easy (New Orleans) and The Big Apple (New York City) was an amazing experience that provided valuable lessons and insights in terms of managing a vibrant and ever-changing environment, such as the Central City.
“Just like The Mother City, particularly the Central City, New Orleans has a thriving nightlife and celebrates it daily. Music is everywhere and creates a great vibe in the city; one could literally describe the atmosphere as organised chaos. The city has many bars, pubs and clubs which are all clustered together in different areas.
“Interestingly, Bourbon Street in the heart of New Orleans’ oldest neighbourhood, the French Quarter, is a hive of activity, much like Long Street where there are parties every night. On the other hand, New York City was on another level entirely, with lots of people and plenty of tourist locations to visit.”
The purpose behind Mo’s “adventure” abroad was to attend the Responsible Hospitality Institute’s (RHI) 2018 Sociable City Summit held between 18 and 20 February in New Orleans. The Summit was aimed at managing the nighttime economy and presented a wonderful platform for the CCID and in turn its primary partners, such as the City of Cape Town, to draw lessons in managing the rapidly growing nighttime economy. Prior to the three-day summit, Mo stopped over in New York for a few days to explore the City for the first time.
“The takeaway for me,” says Mo, “is the model adopted by major cities in managing not only the nighttime economy but downtowns in their entirety,” says Mo, elaborating that this entailed a four-pronged approach:
- Forming an alliance by getting all diverse stakeholders on board to be part of the solutions.
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Planning for people and this includes:
Infrastructure changes, transport and the use of spaces
The pedestrianisation of public and tourist areas
Physical blockades in the form of bollards around the pedestrianised areas to prevent cars from entering and knocking people over. - Assuring safety with:
- Systems to prevent crime and disorder in public spaces. For example, informal food vendors who comply with regulations and don’t block sidewalks.
- Visible policing which includes fully kitted SWAT members (a group of highly trained police officers who deal with very dangerous criminals), which gives the public a sense of being safe.
4. Enhancing vibrancy by:
- Creating social experiences for people to enjoy, from buskers to live entertainment, in and outside of venues
- Having food trucks throughout the city
- Having art in public places which enhances the overall urban environment
- Creatively using disused spaces such as the popular High Line in Manhattan – an elevated railway line which was revitalised into a walking route for tourists and the public, and offers some of the best views across Manhattan.
However, having travelled to these two cities as well as a number of others abroad, Mo maintains that: “There’s no place better than Cape Town and I would never live anywhere but here.”
Image by Muneeb “Mo” Hendricks