The City Bowl is a part of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. It is a natural

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

-shaped area bordered by

Table Bay Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 by Van Riebeeck) and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named b ...

and defined by the mountains of Signal Hill, Lion's Head,

Table Mountain Table Mountain ( naq, Huriǂoaxa, lit= sea-emerging; af, Tafelberg) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the ...

and Devil's Peak. The area includes the central business district of Cape Town (CBD), the harbour, the

Company's Garden The Company's Garden is the oldest garden in South Africa, a park and heritage site located in central Cape Town. The garden was originally created in the 1650s by the region's first European settlers and provided fertile ground to grow fres ...

, and the residential suburbs of De Waterkant,

Devil's Peak Estate Devil's Peak Estate is a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa in the area known as the City Bowl. It is sandwiched between Vredehoek and Zonnebloem on the slopes of Devil's Peak. According to the 2011 census it has a population of 1,859 residents i ...

District Six District Six (Afrikaans ''Distrik Ses'') is a former inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa. Over 60,000 of its inhabitants were forcibly removed during the 1970s by the apartheid regime. The area of District Six is now ...

Zonnebloem Zonnebloem (Dutch for sunflower) is a suburb in City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa, previously part of District Six. It was a farming estate until the early 19th century, when it became a su ...

Gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

, Higgovale,

Oranjezicht Oranjezicht (Dutch: ''orange view'') is a suburb in Cape Town, South Africa, built on the site of the old Oranjezicht farm, which used to stretch at least as far as the Mount Nelson Hotel and supplied the Castle of Good Hope with fresh produce. ...

, Schotsche Kloof,

Tamboerskloof Tamboerskloof is a neighbourhood and suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. It lies on the slopes of Lion's Head and Signal Hill, adjacent to the neighbourhoods of Gardens and Bo-Kaap. Tamboerskloof is one of the contiguous group of neighbourhood ...

University Estate University Estate is a mainly residential suburb of Cape Town located at the foot of Devil's Peak to the east of the city. University Estate has the postcode 7925. Relation to other suburbs University Estate is bounded by the De Waal Drive to ...

Vredehoek Vredehoek (Afrikaans: "corner of peace" or "peace corner") is a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa located in the City Bowl, on the slopes of Table Mountain, between Devil's Peak Estate and Oranjezicht. The suburb was proclaimed after the first w ...

Walmer Estate Walmer Estate is a suburb of Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It lies at the foot of Table Mountain and is bordered to the south by Table Mountain National Park, to the north-east by Woodstock and to the west by Zonnebloem. ...

and

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...

Central Business District

Cape Town CBD in the City Bowl is a major business district in Cape Town’s metropolitan area and a financial centre of the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

and South Africa. The

South African parliament The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is South Africa's legislature; under the present Constitution of South Africa, the bicameral Parliament comprises a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces. The current twenty-seve ...

is located in Plein Street, and is the seat of government for six months in the year. The Western Cape provincial government and

City of Cape Town The City of Cape Town ( af, Stad Kaapstad; xh, IsiXeko saseKapa) is the metropolitan municipality which governs the city of Cape Town, South Africa and its suburbs and exurbs. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 3,740,026. The remot ...

metropolitan municipality also have their head offices in the Cape Town CBD.

Foreshore Freeway bridge

The Foreshore Freeway Bridge has stood in its unfinished state since construction officially ended in 1977. It was intended to be the Eastern Boulevard Highway in the city bowl, but is unfinished due to budget constraints.

Gallery

Image:Cape Town City Bowl OSM map.svg, Map of the City Bowl File:Cape Town City Aerial.jpg, An aerial panoramic of Cape Town's City Bowl taken from above Signal Hill looking north. File:Cape Town City Bowl and Table Mountain at dawn.jpg, City Bowl and Table Mountain at dawn File:Cape Town City.jpg, An aerial view of the city bowl from the harbour with Table Mountain in the background. File:Cape Town from Signal Hill night 2018a.jpg, City Bowl from Signal Hill at night File:Cape Town City Bowl From M3 Freeway, Sep 2017.jpg, City Bowl from the M3 freeway.

External links

Satellite imagery from Google Maps in which bowl shape of City Bowl is clearly visible
{{Cape Town suburbs Articles containing video clips