Century City (Centenary City) can be safely called a city within a city. It is located almost in the heart of Cape Town, 10 km north-east of its centre, against the backdrop of Table Mountain. The 250 hectares of land accommodate a large number of office, residential, retail, sports and leisure facilities that meet all the requirements of modern society.
In the centre of Century City are its green lungs - Intaka Island. The 16 hectares of wetlands is home to a nature reserve rich in a wide variety of bird species and native plants. Formerly known as Bluevlei, Intaka Island and its surrounding wetlands consist of 8 hectares of the island itself, 8 hectares of reconstructed wetlands that serve to purify the water, and 6 kilometres of navigable canals linking different parts of Century City.
Work on the Century City project began by construction firm Monex Development in 1997 with an investment of over ZAR 10 billion and is currently being continued by its new owner, Rabie Property Group.
The Ratanga Junction Theme Park and Canal Walk Shopping Centre were the very first to be built. Despite high costs during construction, dwindling attendance in the off-season and occasional closures during major conferences, the Ratanga Junction theme park proved profitable. Canal Walk too had to be expanded from 125,000 square metres to 141,000 square metres to meet demand. There were also fears that the construction of Century City would lead to the decentralisation of Cape Town's business district, but thanks to improvements made by the city's management, this did not happen. Century City thus became another commercial and business centre in South Africa's capital city.
Canal Walk, opened in 2000 has become the largest commercial centre in Africa and the Southern Hemisphere. Its 141,000 square metres now contains over 400 shops, 20 cinemas, many restaurants, cafes and bars, and a large entertainment centre.
Adjacent to the Canal Walk Shopping and Entertainment Centre, two 11-storey buildings came into being in 2009. They house a 5-star hotel with 180 rooms as well as a luxury office centre. Nearby are other hotels, shopping centres and multi-level residential developments for people of all income levels.
In 2009, the South African business magazine Finweek ranked Century City as the best modern middle-class neighbourhood in South Africa.
