Green Point Common, located on the North West periphery of Cape Town’s central business district, is an ancient wave-cut terrace and contemporary greenbelt system. This space has played an important role throughout the recorded history of Cape Town. During the past 350 years diverse uses of the Common have ranged from the grazing of livestock, horse racing, sailing regattas in the seasonal wetland, and more infamously, the British encampment of Boer women and children prisoners-of-war during the Anglo-Boer War.
Green Point Common has always been an important location for various group activities including rugby, soccer, golfing, cricket, athletics, cycling, the Weekend Flea Market, the hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup and more recently for Formula e motor racing.
At the turn of the 21st century, the Common had degenerated into a neglected and dilapidated pastiche of mono-functional sports fields with a myriad of sports clubs separated by fences and walls which severely limited public access across the Common and impeded the flexibility of movement. The term “Common” had become a complete misnomer.
The controversial decision to build the Soccer Stadium on Green Point Common served as catalyst to realize Cape Town’s long-standing objective: “the transformation of the Common from a dysfunctional open space into a vibrant public amenity; a destination for the people of the Cape Metropolitan area; through the construction of a high quality, multi-functional, and accessible urban park. This will contribute to the regeneration of the city centre and surrounds”.
Resulting from a design competition the initial studies and public participation processes associated with the redevelopment of the Green Point Common began in early 2007. OvP provided full landscape design services from inception to completion for all phases of the project including master planning and reconfiguration of the precinct to accommodate the various recreational uses; as well as the detail design and implementation supervision of the forecourts around the stadium, the sustainability-driven Green Point Urban Park, and various interconnections to the surrounding urban fabric, the redeveloped waterfront and city centre. The stadium forecourt and surrounds, known as the 18Ha Precinct were completed in June 2010, and cost approximately R120m to implement.
BEYOND THE STADIUM
The decision to locate the proposed new stadium on the 107-year old metropolitan golf course, combined with the objective of providing a park for passive recreation, necessitated the reconfiguration of the entire 105-hectare common. The framework planning process entailed extensive negotiation with various sporting bodies, interest groups and associations with leasing rights on the land. Following this, citywide participatory workshops were facilitated to elicit public comments. Before any detailed design and construction work could commence, the framework plan was subjected to both City Council and Provincial Government scrutiny and approval. The resultant ‘Green Point Urban Park’, envisioned as a revitalized metropolitan open space, consists of various components: namely the stadium forecourt precinct, the redesigned golf course, the various sports fields and associated club facilities, and an extensive public park for passive recreation, environmental education and biodiversity interpretation.
The Landscape Master Plan was an interactive process subject to numerous revisions, pulling together the interests of all interested and affected parties, indicated the opportunities and constraints and served as a catalyst for long term design and planning approval purposes.