UniverCity-centre : the university as an anchor and its capacity foe democratizing urban space

Abstract

The capitalistic growth of the City of Cape Town, more specifically its expansion to the north, foreshadows the absorption of Bellville and its surroundings, including the Campus of the University of the Western Cape, consequently putting the University in the centre of the new Cape Town metropole. Despite of apartheid’s fierce oppression, cultural and social life flourished in this previously peripheral areas and the University was one of the leaders in the historical changes the nation went through. They actively engaged themselves in working together with, as well as within, the local communities, thus building an accessible and more just higher education centre. The aim of this contribution is to explore theoretical concepts that are of importance if the university wants to uphold his role as an urban anchor, an active linchpin able to guide the ambitious redevelopment the area will undergo. As such not only preserving the important historical meaning of the University but also safeguarding the identities of the historically deprived communities which surround it.