University Estate is a mainly residential suburb 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 ...

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 the south, the

Eastern Boulevard The N2 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town through George, Gqeberha, East London, Mthatha and Durban to Ermelo. It is the main highway along the Indian Ocean coast of the country. Its current length of makes it the ...

to the north, and Mountain Road to the west. To the south lie the slopes of Devil's Peak within the

Table Mountain National Park Table Mountain National Park, previously known as the Cape Peninsula National Park, is a national park in Cape Town, South Africa, proclaimed on 29 May 1998, for the purpose of protecting the natural environment of the Table Mountain Chain, and ...

, to the north lie

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 ...

and Salt River, and to the west lies

District 6 District Six is a place in Cape Town, South Africa. District Six may also refer to: :Government divisions * District 6, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam * District 6 (New York City Council), in the United States * VI District, Turku, in Finland * Distri ...

( Walmer Estate). Pedestrian access to Devil's Peak is possible via stairs to De Waal Drive on Kylemore Road and a short walkway on the median between the highway's inbound and outbound lanes. Upper Woodstock and Salt River are reachable from two pedestrian bridges across Eastern Boulevard.

Demographics

Under the

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

Group Areas Act Group Areas Act was the title of three acts of the Parliament of South Africa enacted under the apartheid government of South Africa. The acts assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system o ...

, University Estate was classed as an exclusively "white" area. Until the early 1990s when F.W. de Klerk's government repealed the Act in June 1991, the suburb was indeed inhabited solely by whites, a large number of the residents being from the Portuguese immigrant community. Over the following years the suburb became popular among wealthier families from previously excluded racial groups.

Commerce

Since the suburb is zoned almost exclusively for residential use, there are few businesses in the area. Exceptions include 88 Roodebloem Road (a small factory complex adjacent to Eastern Boulevard), a small number of guest lodges scattered throughout the area and some low-impact home businesses. The

Cape Town City Council 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 ...

has also approved the rezoning of and subsequent development plans for the premises of the old Rocklands site, but in early 2010 has had to intervene due to unauthorized demolition of the villa.City takes action to restore Rocklands Villa
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Recreation

University Estate has a number of open spaces which are popular among children and dog owners. The play park at the intersection of Rhodes Avenue and Haig Road has see-saws, swings, a merry-go-round, a slide and a jungle gym, which attract younger children. Older children also socialize in this play park, but also make greater use of the undeveloped "quarry" field just south of the factory complex where they sometimes also ride around on quadbikes. Dog owners tend to prefer this "quarry" field or the field at the eastern end of the suburb for walking their pets, or may simply walk around the streets. The "quarry" field and the open areas between the merging highways on the eastern side are also used by "

Bergie Bergie is a term used for a subsection of homeless people in Cape Town, South Africa. The word originates from the Afrikaans ''berg'' meaning "mountain" – the term originally referred to the homeless people who sheltered in the forests of the ...

s" (as homeless people are commonly known in Cape Town) as their "home".

References

External links

*http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionswc/university-estate.htm *http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=13&art_id=vn20050510071306821C759281&set_id= {{Cape Town, communities Suburbs of Cape Town