Cape Town#
The dataset’s first African city. CTICC, Neighbourgoods Market, township community arts, Cape jazz — participation in a city shaped by both abundance and inequality.
Facilities#
- Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) — Foreshore. ~120,000 sqm.
CommonScore: Cape Town — 27#
CommonScore: 27.
Claims in italics are unverified and may be incorrect. Cape Town research is preliminary — the first African city in the dataset.
| # | Dimension | Wt | Avail | Scale | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Food | 11 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 4.4 | Neighbourgoods Market (Woodstock, Saturdays). Farmers markets. Street food. Township food vendor culture. |
| 2 | Civic | 11 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 2.0 | City of Cape Town libraries. Community centres — including in townships (Khayelitsha, Gugulethu). Civic infrastructure exists but unevenly distributed across the city’s geographic and economic divides. |
| 3 | Education | 9 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 2.2 | CPUT, UWC, UCT. Community education programs. |
| 4 | Arts | 7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.8 | Woodstock studios, township art projects. Cape Town’s art scene is real — Zeitz MOCAA is consumption but community arts in townships is participation. |
| 5 | Music | 7 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 2.0 | Cape jazz — participation music tradition. Live venues. Township music scene. |
| 6 | Makers | 7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.4 | Limited documented maker infrastructure. |
| 7 | Industry | 7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 2.5 | CTICC (~120K sqm). Convention events. |
| 8 | Markets | 7 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.3 | Greenmarket Square, craft markets. Neighbourgoods Market. Township markets. |
| 9 | Kids | 6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.5 | Community centre programs. After-school in townships. |
| 10 | Robotics | 6 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | University programs. Limited. |
| 11 | Wellness | 5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.8 | Community pools. Ocean swimming (tidal pools). Outdoor fitness. |
| 12 | Seniors | 4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | Senior programmes. Limited documentation. |
| 13 | Gaming | 4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | Board game shops. Smaller scene. |
| 14 | Theater | 4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.4 | Baxter Theatre community programs. Township theater. Cape Town Fringe. |
| 15 | Sports | 2 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 1.0 | Community sports. Rugby/cricket clubs. Pickup soccer in townships. |
| 16 | Mega | 3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.1 | CTICC events. |
Dimension scores = Wt × Avail × Scale. Total: 27 → CommonScore 27.
The Inequality Dimension#
Cape Town is the first city in the dataset where geographic inequality directly shapes the CommonScore. Participation infrastructure exists on both sides of the divide — community arts and music in townships, craft markets in Woodstock, CTICC conventions in the Foreshore — but the distribution is uneven in ways other cities in the dataset don’t face at the same scale.
The CommonScore measures what exists, not how equitably it’s distributed. Cape Town’s 20 reflects real participation infrastructure that serves the city — but the story behind the number is more complex than the score alone conveys.