The R80 billion plan to sink Cape Town’s rail lines

This is the vision for a section of the Cape Town CBD for the year 2030 by Makeka Design Lab. The idea is the brain child of Mokena Makeka, the Principal and Creative Director of Makeka Design Lab.

In 2011, a R80 billion regeneration project for the Cape Town Station precinct and more than 50 hectaresof land between Woodstock and Culemborg was proposed to radically alter Cape Town’s inner city and breathe life into a “dead area”. Plans included the recovery of shipwrecks from below the Cape Town station and the dropping of the railway tracks between Cape Town and Salt River to allow for expanded terrestrial development.

The ambitious inner-city facelift was unveiled at a 2011 City of Cape Town mayoral committee meeting and was one of seven national transport orientated development projects being considered by the former agency, Intersite, the the property division of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA. As about half of the city’s commuters relied on rail transport, Cape Town’s regeneration was a “high priority”, said Intersite chief executive officer Cromet Molepo.

The rail corridors would have nodes and stations, each with a unique character and economic profile. According to Makeka said there would be four neighbourhoods linked by a central spine or grand promenade.

  •  Neighbourhood A would be mixed-use with a cultural centre, museum and boutique hotels.
  •  Neighbourhood B would be a centre of technological research and education.
  •  Neighbourhood C would be a government services area with staff housing and parliamentary loft apartments.
  •  Neighbourhood D would be a health and lifestyle area with clinics, sport medical centres and a fitness park.

Makeka said challenges included the zoning rights that would be needed to get a project of this magnitude off the ground, and the “substantial” amount of infrastructure that would be placed underground.

Article originally on futurecapetown.com

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