A group of volunteers founded Open Streets Cape Town (OSCT) in 2012, and registered a non-profit organisation in 2013. We enjoy the full support of the City of Cape Town, as well as civil society organisations and many individual volunteers from across the city. OSCT has its roots in street action, as well as research, and has grown as a dynamic and organic movement of street-minded citizens.
We work to challenge the paradigm of urban mobility by carrying out campaigns, temporary interventions, dialogues and walks that raise citizen awareness, spark public debate, and ultimately drive behaviour change around the role of streets in the life of the city.
Our flagship programme, which launched the organisation, is a series of Open Streets Days that are spreading across Cape Town. These take inspiration from Bogotá’s Ciclovía, a recreational programme that creates 120km of car-free streets in the Colombian capital every Sunday and public holiday. More than 400 cities around the world have followed suit with their own versions of streets that provide space for recreation and social interaction.
This Cape Town initiative is the first formal Open Streets programme in Africa, and offers a practical way to help bridge the city’s social and spatial divides.
We want streets to embody respect for all.
Our aim is to create shared spaces that bring people together, no matter who we are or how we move, for a more equitable, integrated, vibrant and safer Cape Town.
View our manifesto to see more on our vision for streets.
