Reasons for dereliction of harbour areas, and reasons for rejuvenation

Case Study: Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town

The Alfred Basin (completed 1870) and then the Victoria Basin (completed 1917) were the main harbour areas for Cape Town. Ships once crowded these areas to embark and disembark passengers as well as to load and discharge cargoes. However, maritime technology has changed over the years. The most notable changes included the following:

•  To meet the needs of international shipping, the length, beam and draught of ships increased, and larger vessels (over 190 metres) could not fit into the older harbour areas.
• Modern cargo handling techniques require much space, and new harbour areas had to be constructed. This was especially true when containerisation occurred and the container terminal was constructed.
• One of the large containerships replaced five of the old conventional cargoships. This meant that the arrival of nine containerships on the South Africa-Europe trade in 1977-1978 displaced 45 conventional cargoships, and once the services to the Far East and North America had been containerised, even more conventional ships were replaced. Thus, apart from the need for large open areas to stack the containers, fewer berths were required. The Victoria Basin was not needed for commercial purposes and became a facility for the fishing industry. (Many of the old cargo sheds now accommodate fish-processing plants; others stood derelict.)

As these and other changes occurred, the focus of activity in the harbour shifted to other areas, initially to the Duncan Dock (construction began in 1933 and was completed in 1945), and from the arrival of the first big containerships in 1977, to the Ben Schoeman Container Terminal that is now the main cargo handling facility in Cape Town.

The older areas within the harbour became disused, and developed into unattractive places as many of the buildings were no longer used and these parts of the harbour became rather unsightly.

The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront project was launched to transform these derelict areas into thriving tourist attractions. This has revitalised a formerly under-utilised area. Old buildings have been restored; some have become very smart hotels, shopping malls, restaurants or offices. An old fishing store is now an expensive hotel, while an old quarry which had been a fuel storage area, has been flooded to become a small craft harbour. Many new buildings have been added, including the Two Oceans Aquarium which draws thousands of people each month, several prestigious hotels, the Nelson Mandela Gateway (the Robben Island tourist centre), the Clock Tower Precinct, and the latest development – the Silo Complex that has seen the conversion of the old grain silos, once used to export grain, now becoming a world-class art gallery and hotel.

The Clock Tower (red building, built in 1870) was the port control building for teh original Cape Town harbour. The original harbour entrance is shown here. The area has been rejuvenated and new buildings now stand on the site of an old fish market and fish packing facility.

New buildings now form part of the highly successful Waterfront precinct that is Africa’s busiest tourist centre.

A similar project has been undertaken at the Point area of Durban harbour where old, derelict buildings have either made way for modern, upmarket functions, or have been converted to prestigious flats or offices. Shaka World, a marine leisure park, has been built in part of the once dilapidated Point area.

One of the most extensive projects of this kind has been the rejuvenation of the former London Docks where old warehouses and cargo sheds have been demolished and replaced with very upmarket residential blocks or offices. Many of the old harbour wharves have been retained and are now pedestrian walk-ways.