SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT & PLANNING
THE ‘FUTURE (CITY) PERFECT’: A WRAP-UP
WCPDF’S 2026 LANDMARK CONFERENCE HOMES IN ON REAL-WORLD SPATIAL REALITIES The property development and construction industry gathered recently in Cape Town for the Western Cape Property Development Forum’s (WCPDF’s) 13th Annual Conference. Held at the CTICC on 24th and 25th June, the event saw a record-breaking attendance of over 500 private and public sector participants.
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peaking to the conference theme, “Future (City) Per fect”, WCPDF Chairperson Deon van Zyl explained that the title was deliberately provocative: “While the term ‘future perfect’ implies something completed by a specific point in time, cities are living ecosystems that are constantly evolving and never actually completed.” “The future is not a story being written for some upcoming date in time; it is under construction right now,” said Van Zyl. “The question in South Africa is whether we are deliberately shaping that future, or simply allowing it to happen to us?”
From left: WCPDF conference MC, Africa Melane; Seth Maqetuka, Cities Support Programme, National Treasury; Kevin Jacoby, CFO, City of Cape Town; Nick Ferguson, Executive Managing Director, RSA Aero Limited; and Eugene Booysen, CEO, Cape Town Stock Exchange
10 IMIESA July 2026
Mega Cities or Mega Monsters As cities grow ever closer throughout South Africa, with urban and rural areas converging, a key opening question for the conference was: “How do we set a master plan for the future of our cities – or do we risk the rise of unworkable monsters?” Responding to this, Anton Bredell, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Local Government,
Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, highlighted the need for municipalities to collaborate more closely together on long-term planning, rather than working in isolation. The role of water and sanitation in enabling resilient urban development was also front of mind, as presented by Ntombizanele Bila-Mupariwa, Western Cape Provincial Head of Water and