La Lucia is a wealthy suburb located in
uMhlanga in the
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
province of South Africa and is situated approximately 14 kilometres (9 mi) north of the
Durban CBD. It was named after Lucia Michel. She and her husband Albert Michel founded the
sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...
farm
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
La Lucia.
Commerce
La Lucia is primarily a residential neighbourhood; however, it also features La Lucia Mall to the east, the area's only shopping centre, anchored by
PicknPay,
Woolworths,
Edgars and
Virgin Active. Just north of the suburb is La Lucia Ridge, a major office estate, adding a commercial dimension to the area.
La Lucia Ridge
La Lucia Ridge Office Estate is an office estate bordering the M41 freeway to the north of La Lucia. The office estate owned and developed by
Tongaat Hulett comprises 10 smaller office parks which include small and major corporations such as the headquarters for
Unilever South Africa,
Aspen Pharmacare,
SA Home Loans and Consumer Relief as well as the regional offices for
Multichoice
MultiChoice is a South Africa, South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company also operates GOtv Africa, GOtv, a minor satellite TV service operating in 9 countries, and Showmax, ...
,
Sappi,
Sanlam
Sanlam Limited is a South African financial services group headquartered in Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa. Sanlam is one of the largest insurance companies in Africa. It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Namibian Stock ...
,
Liquid Telecom and
Deloitte
Deloitte is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four accounting firms, along wi ...
. It also contains the German Honorary Consulate for Durban.
Geography
La Lucia is situated on a slope overlooking the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
, forming part of the Northern Municipal Planning Region of eThekwini, also known as the FunShine Coast or the uMhlanga Coast.
The suburb is situated towards the southern boundary of uMhlanga with Durban, and borders on uMhlanga Ridge to the north, uMhlanga Rocks to the east,
Durban North to the south and Somerset Park and Sunningdale to the west.
Safety
In terms of policing, La Lucia is covered by the policing precinct of
Durban North SAPS (located approx. 2,7 km to the south in Broadway, Durban North).
Transport
La Lucia is bordered by three routes, namely the M41 (north), M4 (east) and the M12 (west). The
M41 is a major highway connecting
uMhlanga with
Mount Edgecombe
Mount Edgecombe or Mt Edgecombe is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, situated just north of Durban, which forms part of eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, eThekwini, the Greater Durban Metropolitan area. Much of the suburb is cordoned off a ...
and
Phoenix to the west and provides access to the
N2 (to
Durban
Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Situated on the east coast of South ...
and
KwaDukuza
KwaDukuza, previously known as Stanger, is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In 2006, the municipal name was changed to KwaDukuza (which incorporates towns such as Stanger, Ballito and Shakaskraal), but the Zulu people in the area called ...
). The
M4 (Leo Boyd Highway) connects Durban to the south with uMhlanga Rocks and
Ballito
Ballito is an affluent coastal town located in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Ballito is about north of Durban and 24 kilometres (15 mi) south of KwaDukuza. It forms part of the KwaDukuza Local Municipality, and iLembe District Municipality. ...
to the north. The
M12 (uMhlanga Rocks Drive) connects uMhlanga Ridge to the north with
Durban North to the south.
Education
Crawford College, La Lucia, established in 1999, is a large private school located in the suburb. La Lucia Junior Primary and Redwood College La Lucia are also located in La Lucia.
Demographics
Many houses have been developed recently in La Lucia with the population growing substantially between 2001 and 2011. The population rose 121% from 2,899 to 6,414. Black Africans, Indians and Asians, saw an especially large increase in numbers.
References
Suburbs of Durban
{{KwaZuluNatal-geo-stub