Dreaming of the ideal Greenmarket
WHEN the City of Cape Town announced its public participation process around Greenmarket Square, I was immediately struck by what an incredible opportunity this presented for we Capetonians to fully engage and realise a part of our ideal city.
Public spaces play a crucial role in setting the mood of a city and, in many ways, Greenmarket Square represents to me the perfect square: it is fairly well contained, with a rich heritage, and extremely iconic. I mean, where else in Cape Town can you still walk on cobbles? The Old Town House, which now houses the Michaelis Collection and hosts music recitals, is one of the oldest buildings still standing in Cape Town and, through its original purpose of city hall and recognising liberated citizens, symbolic of our city’s democracy.
Greenmarket Square developed in front of this building, and over the years has served as a slave market, farm produce market and parking lot. It is a very distinct square in terms of legibility, which creates a sense of comfort. Unlike the massive Grand Parade and the empty-feeling Church Square, Greenmarket is of human scale; it’s almost like being in a room. If you stand in the middle of the square, you feel embraced by the city.
A lot of cities don’t have that, so it’s quite an asset for Cape Town’s central city. Greenmarket Square is not only a destination, but an intersection. It’s incredibly diverse in terms of the properties around it and the retail offerings inside and outside the square, and incredibly connected in terms of accessing the rest of the CBD in many different ways. It can also be a fantastic eventing space – really a nucleus of the Cape Town potjiekos, like a tangled junction of experience.
Yet, as most Capetonians will agree, it just doesn’t seem to have the same energy as in the past. Tourists still prioritise a visit quite highly on their itineraries, while properties like the city’s oldest tobacconist, Sturk’s, and the Central Methodist Church with its fantastically bold yellow banners continue to contribute to Greenmarket’s unique character.
The market itself, however, seems to have become increasingly onedimensional in its offering. Long gone are the days when designers such as Anne Eales of Naartjie and Paul van der Spuy of BlueCollarWhiteCollar established themselves in the city through a stall there. Traders also complain of low margins and reduced footfall, as the Cape Town Partnership have found in our ongoing research in the informal sector.
The importance of informal trade in the economic ecosystem of our city cannot be overemphasised. Informal trade allows people, especially women, with limited formal education, to access jobs and a liveable income. The 2014 State of the Central City Report (SCCR) stated that 8 040 people were employed in street trading in Cape Town’s CBD, compared with the 2 797 employed in shopping malls.
Besides margins and customers, the overwhelming feedback in our informal trade research is an appeal for improved infrastructure. Responding to this challenge relies on a good public, private and civil society partnership-type model so that the formal property owners around the square, the emerging civic society who use the square, as well as the City and other agencies, can all combine their efforts to collaborate on a Greenmarket Square we are all proud of.
Mayoral committee member for Tourism, Events and Economic Development, councillor Garreth
Greenmarket Square in the the 1960s, top, and the square as it looks today. The square is a major tourist attraction offering visitors plenty of African souvenirs. Bloor, echoed these sentiments on the City’s intentions: “It is believed that a new management model will lead to the physical restoration and regeneration of these public spaces and that security and maintenance will be improved over time.
“Past attempts to effectively manage these specific public spaces have not yielded the desired results. This was partly because the necessary resources, capacity and partnerships were not secured. We believe that a new management model, which is based on partnerships, will actively encourage and allow public, private and voluntary actors to contribute the required knowledge resources and capacity that is needed to ensure that these spaces retain and enhance their creativity, energy and edge.”
Which brings me to the question of what our dream for Greenmarket Square is. This is something that all Capetonian individuals and organisations should be asking themselves if they want to co-create their city. For me, it’s about establishing a very well-managed urban environment, with curated retail, and the enhanced preservation of existing vistas and heritage.
When we say curated retail in Cape Town, many people immediately think of the Biscuit Mill or Watershed. However, it will need to mean something quite different and more inclusive in the context of Greenmarket Square. Here, the curation will need to encourage a diversified market. The problem right now is that there is too much of one thing. So, we need to have a market that serves the highest and lowest LSMs in the same space.
It needs to be a destination of choice for the ordinary Capetonian, whether it is to go have a gatsby, listen to music, buy a pair of affordable earrings or even invest in an exquisite sterling silver necklace that costs the bomb. People should feel comfortable doing all of that.
It is through this diversity that I see so much potential in this public space. I see it as the kind of square that would make it easy to connect emotionally with Capetonians because of what it can offer them.
However, we’ve got to get practical. It’s fantastic in summer, but how about infrastructure that allows for an all-weather environment in winter? We need to make the heritage of Greenmarket Square more visible, install good street furniture that is comfortable and inviting, and establish a busking strategy to open up the space to emerging musicians and performers.
The relationship between informal and formal retail can also be made more mutually beneficial. Additionally, it is important to look at the totality of the retail offering in the CBD, which is why the Cape Town Partnership has been looking at ways over the past few years to extend trading hours and increase footfall to the city’s informal and formal businesses.
Connections between Long Street, St George’s Mall and The Company’s Garden, which all expand on the elements of the square in their own ways, need to be fortified. St George’s Mall especially complements and builds on Greenmarket Square’s offering by acting as a pedestrian spine to many key aspects of the city, yet it is not a continuous experience at the moment. Our recently launched City Walk – now officially part of the Big 7 Cape Town attractions – and City Walk Saturdays; regular activations in the central city on the third Saturday of each month, have already begun to draw a wide audience.
Imagine such a Greenmarket Square! I am so pleased that the City is committed to exploring ways to unlock the potential of this historic space. Appreciating the need to create and maintain excellent public spaces, I share the City’s vision to realise the potential of not only Greenmarket Square, but of all significant public spaces in the broader city from an economic perspective and to the benefit of all Capetonians.
We believe that a new management model will actively encourage all to contribute