Northern Suburbs, Cape Town

The Northern Suburbs is a group of suburbs and exurbs in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. It comprises the sub-districts of Tygerberg and Oosterberg (the Eastern District). The region's main and largest town is Bellville.

Overview

The Northern Suburbs lies behind of the imaginary line, 'the Boerewors Curtain' which basically distincts between the predominantly English-speaking Southern Suburbs and the predominantly Afrikaans-speaking Northern Suburbs.[1]

Geography

The Northern Suburbs stretches from Maitland in the west, to Kraaifontein, Brackenfell, Kuils River and Eerste River in the east, to Durbanville in the north, and to Belhar in the south, near the Cape Town International Airport.

Towns such as Maitland, Goodwood, Parow are located more towards the city centre Durbanville on the northern outskirts and Brackenfell, Eerste River Kraaifontein and Kuils River on the eastern outskirts. Towns such as Durbanville, Brackenfell, Kraaifontein and Kuils River are transitioning from rural to urban towns.[2][3]

Commerce

Its main town and economic hub is Bellville which is centrally located in the region. Bellville is home to the Northern Suburbs' largest shopping centre, Tyger Valley Shopping Centre, home to many corporate headquarters namely Sanlam, Metropolitan and Pioneer Foods and regional offices, three universities and a few colleges and 6 hospitals.[4][5]

Parow is also another but smaller economic centre which includes the head offices for The Foschini Group, MWEB, Pepkor and PetroSA and South Africa's second largest hospital, Tygerberg Hospital[6][7][8][9]

Brackenfell, located on the outskirts is also another but smaller and developing economic centre, home to Cape Gate Shopping Centre, which also one of the largest shopping centres in the Western Cape. Brackenfell is also known to home to local retailers' headquarters such as Shoprite-Checkers and Food Lover's Market.[10][11][12]

Industrialisation

The Northern Suburbs's main industrial areas are in Bellville, Parow, Goodwood, Brackenfell, Maitland and Kraaifontein. Industrial areas include Stikland, Bellville South and Sacks Circle in Bellville; Parow Industrial in Parow; Brackengate, Okavango Park and Brackenfell Industrial in Brackenfell, Kraaifontein Industrial in Kraaifontein, Epping in Goodwood and the industrial area along Voortrekker Road in Maitland.

Transport

Air

The Cape Town International Airport is located on the southernmost border of the Northern Suburbs and is situated in Matroosfontein. It offers domestic and international flights to Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.[13]

Rail

There are numerous commuter train stations in the Northern Suburbs offered by Metrorail Western Cape serving the City of Cape Town and surrounding towns. Train stations in the Northern Suburbs stretch from Goodwood in the east to Kraaifontein in the west to Mikpunt in the north and Belhar and Eerste River in the south. Durbanville is the only suburb in the region with no rail access.[14]

The Northern Suburbs's main road is the N1 freeway which links to Cape Town city centre, Paarl, Worcester and Bloemfontein, Johannesburg and Pretoria to a further extent. The N1 bypasses Maitland and then cuts through Goodwood, Parow, Bellville, Brackenfell and Kraaifontein.[15]

The R300 is another major freeway in the Northern Suburbs linking to Mitchells Plain and Phillipi in the Cape Flats region. This road begins in the Stellenberg Interchange between Brackenfell and Bellville and passes the suburbs of Brackenfell, Bellville, Kuils River, Blue Downs and Delft before meeting with the N2, south of Delft.[16]

Durbanville is the only suburb that has no link to a freeway however it does have an indirect link to the N7 to Malmesbury via the M13 and to the N1 via the R302, M124 and M100.[17]

Regional routes in the Northern Suburbs the R300, R102 to Cape Town and Somerset West, R302 to Malmesbury and R101 to Paarl and Worcester.

Recreation

Entertainment
  • Bugs Playpark, Kraaifontein
  • Cool Runnings Tobaggan Park, Bellville
  • GrandWest Casino & Entertainment World, Goodwood

Gardens
  • Cape Garden Centre, Joostenberg Vlakte, Kraaifontein
  • Durbanville Rose Garden, Durbanville

Major Parks
  • Jack Muller & Danie Uys Park, Bellville
  • Majik Forest, Bellville

Museums
  • Motor Museum, Kraaifontein
  • Rust-en-vrede, Durbanville

Nature Reserves
  • Bracken Nature Reserve, Brackenfell
  • Durbanville Nature Reserve, Durbanville
  • Tygerberg Nature Reserve, Bellville & Parow
  • Uitkamp Wetland Nature Reserve, Durbanville

Scate Parks
  • Edgemead Scate Park

Sports Facilities
  • Bellville Golf Club, Bellville
  • Bellville Velodrome, Bellville
  • Brackenfell Action Arena, Brackenfell
  • Durbanville Golf Club, Durbanville
  • Durbanville Sports Club, Durbanville
  • Kuils River Golf Club, Kuils River
  • Parow Golf Club, Parow
  • Tyger Valley Golf Academy, Bellville
  • Wagner's Golf Academy, Brackenfell

Theatres
  • Barnyard Theatre, Bellville

Suburbs

Although the suburbs of Bothasig, Edgemead and Monte Vista geographically fall under the Northern Suburbs, they administratively fall under Milnerton which is mainly part of the West Coast region of the City of Cape Town.

References
  1. "NORTHERN SUBURBS, Cape Town". www.sa-venues.com. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  2. "NORTHERN SUBURBS, Cape Town". www.sa-venues.com. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  3. "Cape Town Map | South Africa Google Satellite Maps". www.maplandia.com. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  4. Scholtz, Christoff. "The future success of our cities must begin today | Global Africa Network". Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  5. "hospitals in bellville - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  6. "Tygerberg Hospital". 23 June 2020.
  7. "THE FOSCHINI GROUP – HEAD OFFICE". www.jewellery.org.za. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  8. "Find us - MWEB". www.mweb.co.za. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  9. "PEPKOR - Contact us". home.intekom.com. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  10. "Cape Gate Shopping Centre". capegatecentre.co.za. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  11. "Shoprite Holdings | Contact Shoprite Holdings". www.shopriteholdings.co.za. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  12. "Contact". Food Lovers Market. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  13. "Cape Town International Airport". 23 June 2020.
  14. "Metrorail Western Cape" (PDF). 23 June 2020.
  15. "Best Of Cape Town's Northern Suburbs for Property Buyers - Property24". www.property24.com. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  16. "Brackenfell Map | South Africa Google Satellite Maps". www.maplandia.com. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  17. "Durbanville Map | South Africa Google Satellite Maps". www.maplandia.com. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
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