I was having quite an interesting debate about our poor capital city, Gaborone, on Facebook. All was sparked by this article written by Gothataone Moeng. Here's an excerpt:
"But despite these developments, or perhaps because of them, it is difficult to pin down what it is that Gaborone now stands for as a city. Along with its stature as one of the world’s fashion capitals (alongside Milan, New York and London), Paris is also widely regarded as the “city of love” while London, New York, Johannesburg and Lagos are cultural cities. “Are we a financial city, an industrial city, a cultural city?” asks Mokwete about Gaborone. Mokwete, who also writes for architectural and property magazine Boidus Focus, says the image and character of a city can either be consciously cultivated, especially in the case of a ‘virgin’ city such as Gaborone was at its inception, or it can be allowed to grow organically."
On a recent trip to Gaborone, I commented how beautiful it looks lately. It is fairly quiet for a capital city, that's true , and culturally it's only on a lucky weekend you'll find things to do, but I for one like it that way. In any case, it is quite a young city so it's a bit unfair to compare it to London or Paris or New York, even Joburg for that matter.
What do you think? Does Gaborone have a face?
i've been trying to think of a face to fit; which is tricky because i only go there on rare occasions and i find the traffic increasingly daunting. But Gabs is definitely a modern city and because it is so new it is architecturally fresh if you know what i mean. it is a shiny diamond found in sand!
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