De Waterkant is a historic

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

Cape Town, South Africa 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 ...

, and is well-known for being Cape Town's

gay village A gay village, also known as a gayborhood or gaybourhood, is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Gay vil ...

. The

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

is located in the City Bowl region of Cape Town, adjacent to the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

(CBD), on the southeastern end of Somerset Road. To the south, it is neighbored by the historically

Cape Malay Cape Malays (, in Arabic Afrikaans, Arabic script) also known as Cape Muslims or Malays, are a Muslim community or ethnic group in South Africa. They are the descendants of enslaved and free Muslims from different parts of the world, specifi ...

neighborhood of Bo-Kaap. It contains many vibrantly-colored buildings, lining its sometimes still cobbled streets. creating a very distinct and enjoyable atmosphere. De Waterkant is popular among young professionals and tourists, and contains numerous niche restaurants and retailers. The area is also home to the Cape Quarter

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 ...

and

tertiary education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

institution

Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, and ...

's Cape Town campus.

Cape Town's Gayborhood

De Waterkant is a

, and a neighborhood, destination, and

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

attraction, for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as those interested in supporting the community. Cape Town is a historically very friendly and welcoming city for members of the community, and is known as the ''Gay Capital of Africa'', being a popular LGBTQIA+ tourist destination. De Waterkant contains Cape Town's first rainbow crosswalk, installed in 2022 to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as the ''Pink Route'', which is a painted, pink line along the

pavements Pavement(s) or paving may refer to: Surfacing * Road surface, the durable surfacing of roads and walkways * Sidewalk, a walkway along the side of a road, called a pavement in British English * Asphalt concrete, a common form of road surface * Co ...

of various streets in the area. The Route is a way for visitors to the suburb to take a guided walk around the area, taking them past numerous community-related establishments, in order to get to know it better. The annual Cape Town Pride parade starts in De Waterkant, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the rainbow crossing in Somerset Road, followed by a march to the Green Point Track grounds, for

Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

-related festivities.

Cape Town's Gayborhood

References

Further reading