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Own a Copy of 50 Years On: The Marina da Gama Story

The history of Cape Town’s most distinctive waterfront development. Told in full for the first time.

Marina da Gama is often seen as a quiet suburb on the edge of Zandvlei. But its origins were far more ambitious.

The development began in the late 1960s as a vision for South Africa’s first residential marina and became one of Cape Town’s most ambitious and innovative urban projects. It brought together engineers, architects, planners, marketers and environmental specialists in a coordinated effort to reshape a barren coastal sandscape into a new kind of waterfront community.

Many of the approaches tested here would go on to inform later developments across Cape Town and beyond, most notably the V&A Waterfront.

Few people realise that only around 65% of the planners’ original vision was ever realised. The elements that were abandoned became part of Cape Town’s most fascinating development stories. The elements that were built have matured into one of Cape Town’s most beautiful and distinctive neighbourhoods.

The book is co-authored by Gerald Rosenthal, the project’s original civil engineer, and Patrick McKenna, long-time Marina resident and professional writer.

The complete story

This book brings together the full narrative:

• The 1968 reconnaissance flight that sparked the idea
• The original masterplan and its ambitious scale
• The ingenious engineering of wind, water, and terrain
• The yacht harbour that was designed but never built
• The marketing of a new way of living on the water
• Anglo American’s withdrawal in 1975
• The emergence of a community from an unfinished vision
• Zandvlei’s rich environmental legacy

Trusted sources

This edition draws on original project documentation, engineering reports, contemporary newspaper coverage, and first-hand accounts from project leaders, planners, engineers and long-standing Marina residents. 

Since launch, 50 Years On has sold more than 300 copies and been featured across Cape Town’s press and radio, including The Cape Times, Cape Argus, community newspapers and CapeTalk radio.

ISBN 978-1-0492-7406-5. Published by Composition.

What You Get

Print Edition — R400

• Full-colour, 80-page hardback edition
• Archival photographs and planning material
• Exclusive interviews with key team members
• Engineering, design and environmental history
• The complete story of vision, delivery and legacy

eBook Edition — R220

• Complete digital edition
• Fully illustrated throughout
• Instant download access
• All book content included

A remarkable Cape Town story. Fifty years in the making.