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Cape Town - Despite challenging economic times, Cape Town’s central city has continued to lure investments in the past year, according to the State of Cape Town Central City (CCID) Report.
Now in its fourth edition, the report reflects on the economic activities that took place in Central Cape Town in 2015, as well as commercial and residential property trends.
INFOGRAPHIC: The future of Cape Town
The CCID is a non-profit, public-private partnership that was formed by local property owners who wanted Cape Town to once again take its rightful place as a safe and “open for business” environment.
INFOGRAPHIC: Cape Town boom town
In recent years, Cape Town has once again become renowned as one of the most vibrant and safest CBDs.
A range of business sectors operates in the Cape Town Central Business District (CBD). In an area of 1,6 km² the CBD has:
- 1 200 formal retail business;
- 900 informal trading businesses;
- more than 6 000 residents.
A quarter of the broader City of Cape Town’s entire economy takes place in the central city, while 30% of the total workforce is situated there.
Cape Town has in the past years become the top hiring hub for start-up and technology firms and more than 50% of start-up jobs are being advertised in Cape Town, as opposed to 34% in Johannesburg.
In addition, Cape Town’s CBD is home to 689 legal companies. Advocates are mainly situated in and around Keerom Street, close to the Cape High Court, but prominent law firms, such as ENSAfrica, Cliffe Decker Hofmeyr, Webber Wentzel and Norton Rose Fulbright, have their offices in the upcoming Foreshore area.
Another important economic activity and source of income for the Cape Town CBD is event hosting. Altogether 555 286 people attended the 502 events that took place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) in the past year. These events generated R197m in revenue for the city.
Although retailers in Cape Town’s central city experience the same economic constraints as their counterparts in other parts of the country and the rest of the world, the CBD remains a popular destination for retailers with some 1 200 formal businesses. An emerging trend that is worth noting is that many retailers have become willing to extend their opening hours beyond 5pm on weekdays to service the increasing CBD residents.
Cape Town’s central city is also in the process of becoming a 24/7 economy, thanks to 24-hour call centres and the nighttime economy. Once businesses have fully capitalised on these opportunities, Cape Town will be able to take its place alongside international destinations, such as New York, London, Lagos, Madrid and Hong Kong as so-called 24-hour cities.
