Cape Town’s built environment grew by 4 056ha between 2012 and 2024, equating to 18 x Century Cities.

This is according to the City of Cape Town’s third Spatial Trends and Implementation Tracking Report which provides an overview of development and land use patterns across the city over the past decade, including changes in densification and mixed-use development, the extent of the city’s built-footprint and natural/agricultural assets, changes in the property market, the uptake of new development, and human settlement patterns.

Our key takeaways from the report:

Balancing growth and space containment: As of 2024, about 69% of the Cape Town’s urban extent is developed, while 31% remains undeveloped and available for future development. The urban footprint increased by roughly 6.4% within this extent between 2012 and 2024.

Shifting development patterns: Most residential development, especially large apartment projects, are happening in the city’s outer areas where affordable land and New Development Areas (NDAs) are designated. Retail floor space has also increased significantly in these outer regions to meet rising demand from growing residential densities. The office sector continues to contract, with low building plan activity meanwhile, industrial areas are expanding, driven by growth in online retail and increased demand for warehousing and distribution facilities.

Heritage protection and expansion and administrative reforms: Since the 2015 MPBL promulgation, the Heritage Protective Overlay Zone (HPOZ) has expanded by 2.92%. In its 2019 review, six more areas (0.52% of the Urban Inner Core) were proposed for inclusion, but even with this, less than 5% of the Urban Inner Core is protected. The growing number of buildings over 60 years old under National Heritage Resources Act (NHRA) protection (s34) creates heavy administrative pressure without clear conservation benefits.

Residential density trends and opportunities for densification in key zones: Residential density is highest in zones designated for residential use – Urban Inner Core (UIC) and Incremental Growth & Consolidation Areas (IGCA) – and low in zones for other uses (DGA and CAN). Between 2018 and 2022, density increased by 8.5% in the UIC and 12.5% in the IGCA, but overall densities remain low compared to similar metro areas.

Residential density growth and policy-driven densification in targeted areas: Between 2012 and 2022, residential density gradually increased across all Spatially Targeted Areas in Cape Town, with an accelerated rate since 2018. Mixed Use Intensification Areas (MUIAs), which encourage redevelopment and mixed land uses, saw the largest density gain of 12% (1.4 dwelling units per hectare) between 2018 and 2022. Overall, gross densities in targeted areas remain below 14 dwelling units per hectare, with corridor and node areas potentially exceeding 75 du/ha.

Expansion of non-residential land use along key development corridors: Over the past decade, Cape Town’s non-residential land use grew by 13 million m² from 40 million m² in 2012 to 53 million m² in 2022. This growth mainly took place in existing industrial and business areas, reinforcing established spatial patterns. The increase was concentrated along key development corridors: the N7 northwards, Voortrekker Road east-west, and the Southern Corridor. Employment nodes such as the CBD, Century City, Bellville, Epping, Somerset West CBD, Blue Downs, and CT International Airport continued to attract new non-residential development or expansions in floor area, reflecting sector-specific location preferences but does not differentiate between property or economic sectors.

Significant property value growth in key corridors and suburbs: Between 2012 and 2022, property values increased significantly across Cape Town, driven by new building completions. The largest value gains occurred along the Southern Corridor, Atlantic Seaboard, and New Development Areas such as Sunningdale, Kraaifontein, and Somerset West. Suburbs with over 100% property value growth include the City Bowl/CBD and surrounds, Camps Bay, Llandudno, Century City, Sunningdale, Claremont, Kenilworth, Wynberg, Strand, Somerset West CBD, Brackenfell, and various lifestyle security estates like Burgundy, Buh-rein, Sitari, Baronetcy, and Garden Cities/Pinehurst.

Non-residential development trends in new development areas: Between 2020 and 2025, Cape Town saw significant non-residential development across targeted New Development Areas (NDAs), with over 10 000 building plan applications submitted. Industrial and public service projects led the way, showing strong alignment with city planning priorities, especially in Table Bay, Blaauwberg, and Helderberg. However, commercial NDAs experienced mixed development uses. Overall, industrial NDAs accounted for the largest increase in building floor area during this period.

Areas of informality: As of 2023, informal areas average a high density of 88 dwellings per hectare. Notable growth in informal settlements is seen in Khayelitsha, Mfuleni, Delft, and Kraaifontein, while Langa and Imizamo Yethu have experienced decreases.

Biodiversity conservation and agricultural land trends in Cape Town: Between 2009 and 2024, Cape Town lost 7% of its Core Biodiversity Network (BioNet) due to authorised and unauthorised land use changes. However, protected and conserved areas within this network increased by 31% through proactive land acquisitions, including the Macassar East Conservation Land Bank, which enabled 7 879 new residential units via biodiversity offsets. Between 2018 and 2023, agricultural land saw only a 1% loss citywide, though peri-urban development pressures are intensifying at the edges, notably impacting the Philippi horticultural area at a higher rate than the city average.