Cape Town high-rise residential? ‘It is coming’ says top expert

High-rise residential accommodation is an inevitable response to Cape Town's rapid growth, with total population projected to reach up to ten million by 2040.

That's the opinion of Professor Francois Viruly, one of Cape Town's foremost property economists, who foresees big changes to the city's skyline.

Viruly said high-rise residential accommodation was largely conspicuous by its absence in Cape Town – particularly for foreign observers accustomed to greater densification in their home cities.

"They ask, why no high-rise residential?  If we are going to get to ten million people (in Cape Town) by 2040, it is coming,” Viruly told guests at a Cape Chamber Athlone Chapter meeting at the Athlone Stadium this week.

“I think densification will come our way.”

He said the influx would result in a ‘polycentric’ city featuring several development nodes, some of them already fast taking shape, such as Claremont, Bellville, Philippi and Somerset West.  Athlone had the potential to develop into a similar node due to multiple pull factors such as its location and existing infrastructure.