Public spaces

Real public space has often been missing in South African cities, partly due to the commercialisation of shopping and relaxing, and the lack of reliable formal-sector public transport options. Public transport is of course the friend of public space. Both need each other to operate successfully.

The World Cup, however, gave South Africa a chance to reinvent old public spaces and public transport systems, and also create completely new ones. Fans needed spaces to revel with fellow supporters outside of stadiums; they couldn’t be at every match, so the large FIFA Fan Fests in every host city facilitated massive crowds.

The transportation of fans and tourists between stadiums, hotels, airports and tourist destinations also had to be facilitated by new public space upgrades. In Johannesburg, the Johannesburg Development Agency upgraded a large public space near Soccer City, where fans could leave busses and trains, and go on to gather, celebrate and embrace the experience.

In Cape Town, the Integrated Rapid Transit (My Citi) system was very closely linked to the Cape Town Fan Walk, so that visitors could leave the walk to travel elsewhere in the city. A combination of pedestrian public movement and space, the Fan Walk served as the centre of Cape Town’s celebrations on match days.

Today, South Africans are left with a public space and transport legacy. Previously disused plots of land in Johannesburg townships were grassed over as Fan Parks and are now community parks. The Rea Vaya runs smoothly connecting new public spaces such as Soweto’s large Thokoza Park and the public space around the Constitution Hill development.

Cape Town has its Fan Walk, uniting numerous public spaces along its length, and Durban has a better developed beachfront, which facilitates movement and the public far easier than it has before. Public space and transport are the democratisers of cities, platforms for the mixing and celebration of South Africa’s diverse cultures.

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