Greenmarket Square in the centre of Cape Town is one of the oldest and most significant public spaces in the city.

To mark its 300th birthday in March 2010, the square is being upgraded into a people-friendly space, with revamped ablution facilities, a stage, newly configured market, and more space for cafe culture.

It has played an important role in the city’s history, both as a gathering place and as a market place, and always highlighted Cape Town’s unique diversity.

However, its importance as a gathering place started to diminish during the 20th century. The drinking fountain was removed in about 1900, and it became a parking lot in the 1940s.
In 1960 Greenmarket Square was declared a national monument, and the fig trees that still stand today were planted. The cobblestones were added five years later. In recent years, it has become an increasingly crowded trading venue, and the upgrade aims to restore it and upgrade it so that it can reclaim its status as one of Cape Town’s top attractions.

The upgrade will be implemented in two phases. The first phase consists of installing additional CCTV cameras and pedestrian lights; lifting the existing granite cobbles, cleaning them and relaying the cobbles at new levels to accommodate the restaurants on the perimeter of the square; installing new bollards, benches and interpretive signage; and paving the existing sidewalks.

The second phase will see the existing ablution facility being upgraded. The roof of the ablution facility will be transformed into a stage, which will allow for special events such as lunchtime concerts.

Construction work on the square is expected to continue until November 2009.
This means that while construction is taking place, the present informal trading market will have to move.

The City of Cape Town had planned to move the informal traders to the Company’s Gardens (Government Avenue) during May, but as this is a provincial heritage site, this required the approval of Heritage Western Cape.

Although Heritage Western Cape approved the move, it has decided to allow for an appeals period, which will end on 25 June. If no appeals are received, Heritage Western Cape will issue the permit for the traders to move to the Company’s Garden thereafter.

The contractor has in the meantime taken over one half of Greenmarket Square to start working on the upgrade, while the informal traders are occupying the other half.