[2] It is located 10 km to the north-east of central Cape Town along the N1 motorway and is traversed by numerous waterways, wetlands and canals.

[3] Century City's original developments were the Ratanga Junction theme park and Canal Walk shopping centre.

When it was opened in October 2000, Canal Walk was the largest shopping mall in Africa and the Southern Hemisphere in lettable area at 141,000 m2.

[citation needed][4] The Ratanga Junction theme park closed in May 2018 after many years of financial problems.

[6][7] There were concerns that Century City would cause decentralisation from the Cape Town central business district, but thanks to the city improvement district (CID) and urban renewal efforts spearheaded by the Cape Town Partnership (CTP), this has not happened.