Canal Walk is a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

located in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It is part of

Century City Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California, United States. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of downtown Los Angeles, Cent ...

, a suburb and 250 hectare

mixed-use development Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...

, built in 1997, that sits alongside the N1 freeway. The largest mall in the city and the third largest in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, Canal Walk is built in what the developers call "Cape Venetian architecture". The mall features over 400 stores, over 8,000 parking bays, a wide variety of restaurants, and an arcade.

History

Canal Walk was built in October 2000, at an estimated cost of around R1.3 billion. At the time of completion, the mall spanned around 125,000 square meters, and hosted 9,600 square meters of office space. The mall is owned by investment companies Hyprop (80%) and Ellerine Bros Ltd (20%). In 2023, it was Hyprop's strongest performer, generating R1 billion in the month of December. In 2024, Canal Walk partnered with over 28 local artists and designers, and 200 students, to host an immersive art installation. This included the Blue Butterfly, which was created using over 200,000 beads, by learners from Marconi Bean Primary School, under the guidance of Art Afrique's master beading artist, Thokozani Twala. The installation also featured

fynbos Fynbos (; , ) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The fynbos ...

artwork, to honor Cape Town's natural beauty.

Features

Canal Walk is classed as a super-regional mall, and is the only one of that size in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

province. It is open 7 days a week from 9AM to 9PM - longer hours than the norm for malls in Cape Town. Canal Walk is home to over 400 stores, spread across almost 150,000 square meters, as well as 12 entrances, and over 8,000 parking bays. Categories of retail and services offered at Canal Walk include books, cards, gifts, banking, cellular services, health, hair, beauty, decor, homeware, clothing, jewelry, fitness, toys, technology, food and beverage (including tea and coffee), pets, luggage, and automobiles. Anchor tenants include Woolworths,

Checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), is a group of Abstract strategy game, strategy board games for two players which involve forward movements of uniform game ...

, Pick n Pay,

Game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

, H&M, @home,

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

, Cape Union Mart, and Edgars. The mall hosts the Wonderland play centre, with an arcade, a bowling alley, and pool tables. Canal Walk also features a 2,600 square meter indoor adventure park, called Freedom Adventure Park, which offers guests access to zip lines, netball, basketball, slides, and a toddler play area.

Concepts and flagships

Canal Walk has hosted the launch of numerous stores, including the first JD Sports store in South Africa, the first stand-alone Silki store in the country, and the maiden flagship store for Shift Espresso Bar.

Sustainability

Canal Walk makes use of numerous environmentally sustainable construction elements, including energy-efficient electronic ballasts, green roofing, efficient insulation, and a food waste yard for composting. The building's management has implemented a strategy to reduce water consumption, with a focus on customer and store usage. Efforts to reduce energy consumption are also undertaken. For making Cape Town greener and more environmentally sustainable, the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) awarded Canal Walk a 5-Star Existing Building Performance v1 green rating in 2020. The mall received the award again in 2024. Canal Walk is involved with numerous community upliftment organizations, such as Ikamva Labantu, Stop Hunger Now, and LEAP Science & Maths Schools. The mall also assists schools and charity organizations in the Western Cape with their fundraising efforts continuously, and encourages its patrons to participate as well.

Gallery

File:Canal-Walk-Glass-Ceiling.jpg, Atrium-like glass ceilings provide natural light to the double-story mall. Image:Canal-Walk-Food-Court.jpg, A massive food court with multi-media entertainment.

External links

Canal Walk websiteCentury City website

References

{{Shopping centres in South Africa Shopping malls established in 2000 Shopping centres in Cape Town