Late last year Cape Town was named the most creative city of 2016, with eight other cities that ‘the creative class of 2016 (are) spending their time’, according to HowItTravel.  

Cape Town is praised for having embraced the World Design Capital 2014, its design programme aimed at making Cape Town a better place, rather than focusing on attracting tourists. Visitors to Cape Town are advised to participate in Design Indaba, and visit Imiso Ceramics. 

The rest of the accolade for our city is food-related, with recommendations to eat at Clarke’s, The Dogs Bollocks, Department of Coffee, and Truth Coffee (described as the ‘real show-stopper’ of all eateries in Cape Town’,  ‘it’s a place that has to be seen to be believed; once you settle into a seat, you’ll see that the novelty doesn’t end with the interior – the place is just damn good fun’). 

It’s a pity that the Mother City’s serious eateries are completely ignored, and that the food emphasis is mainly coffee shop related, not reflecting Cape Town’s cuisine creativity. The photograph selected for Cape Town is not reflective of our city’s beauty. 

The other eight creative cities are the following:

#   Amsterdam is praised for creating ‘an ideal breeding ground for innovation’, and is described as a ‘hot spot’, and ‘one of Europe’s foremost architectural hubs’. 

#   Beijing is in third place, for its many museums, theatres, and design colleges ‘supporting the next generation of creatives’. 

#   Christchurch in New Zealand is on the list because of the re-creation of the city centre after it was destroyed by earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. This has resulted in a ‘smart, connected city with digital technology that tracks how the city itself is living’.

#.  Fifth on the list is Austin in the USA, home of live music, and described as one of the world’s most ‘creative and art-centric cities’. 

#   Stockholm ranks sixth on the Creative City list, and is the home of music, tech, and Scandinavian design. Its creativity comes from ‘Design for freedom, openness to the world, being a country held together by trust, and quite a few eccentrics’. 

#   Helsinki is described as a city with a mix of Art Deco buildings and ‘cutting-edge design’, and its cuisine is praised too. 

#   Bilbao ranks eighth on the list, for its marriage of old world charm with modern design and innovation. Its Guggenheim Museum designed by architect Frank Gehry is the design jewel of the city. 

#   Nagoya in Japan, is described as ‘a bit kooky’. It is said to be the creative hub of Japan, for its museums, cultural temples, and contemporary architecture. 

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whalecottage.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: click here  Instagram: @Chris_Ulmenstein