Cape Town is a finalist in the WWF we love cities campaign. The concept of sustainability refers to using natural resources in a circular rather than linear way, thus ensuring that they are sustained for use by future generations.
For many years South Africa’s Cape Town has been known as a top surfing destination, one of the 10 most loved cities, an international design capital, one of the top 10 beach destinations in Africa, and the best destination in Africa.
Cape Town’s top attractions, known as the Big Six, are Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Robben Island, Cape Point, the V&A Waterfront and the Cape Town Vineyards. The city also offers exceptional beaches (many of them with Blue Flag status), cultural attractions such as architectural and archaeological heritage sites, museums, shops, and art galleries, as well as a geographical layout that allows quick and easy travel between sea, mountain and city.
More recently, Cape Town has started focusing on its “green image”. Cape Town is surrounded by and surrounds nature. This fact is illustrated by the adjacent Cape Floral Kingdom with approximately 9 600 species of indigenous plants and the Table Mountain National Park that is located in the city centre. Cape Town has further enhanced its green reputation through the roll-out of 300 000 solar water heaters and the signing of a 20-year purchase agreement for wind energy.
2010 FIFA World Cup™ assisted Cape Town to further its plans for becoming a world-renowned sustainable, responsible city. Thousands of visitors had to be accommodated during this international event, and the host city had to address issues like refuse removal and transport. Cape Town implemented a large-scale street-waste recycling project, and launched the Myciti bus system. This system, together with other measures such as cycle lanes, have culminated in Cape Town being made a finalist in the WWF We Love Cities campaign.
The city is competing with the world’s “greenest cities”, such as Copenhagen in Denmark and Chicago in the United States. Copenhagen has an established cycling culture, while Chicago is home to the world’s biggest urban solar plant.
The aim of the competition is to find the city with the most sustainability initiatives. Sustainability, for this particular challenge, refers to a society or city that lives in a way that sustains rather than destroys the ecosystem in which it is embedded. The WWF we love cities competition will run until 27th March 2014 and you can vote here: http://www.welovecities.org/capetown/. Visitors and native Capetonians alike may vote for the city they love. This is also the perfect opportunity to learn more about Cape Town and perhaps even plan a visit to this beloved, green city.
While Cape Town has always been known as a top tourist destination, there is so much more to this city. It is picturesque and tourist-friendly, and also environmentally responsible. If you are interested in becoming a part of this vibrant city for a short holiday or extended period of time to work and live in Cape Town, please make enquiries about visiting Cape Town today.