At this year’s Quality of Life conference, Cape Town’s mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis joined Monocle Radio’s Carlota Rebelo and Andrew Tuck to discuss how investing smartly in infrastructure and building resilience can truly transform a city, and why tourists are always welcome on his watch.

Andrew Tuck: A simple question: what made you want to be the mayor of Cape Town?

Geordin Hill-Lewis: I was a member of parliament during the coronavirus pandemic, which was tough on Cape Town, as it was on many cities around the world. I had been in opposition for quite some time. I felt a growing sense of dissatisfaction about sitting on the sidelines at parliament, unable to do what I wanted. I increasingly felt that I was watching these things happening without being able to step in and that was incredibly frustrating, especially as I had very clear ideas about what should be done. It dawned on me that I had every reason to run for mayor. It was a hectic primary – I had to run against an incumbent from my own party – but I got there in the end.

Carlota Rebelo: Tourism is one of the main economic drivers of your city. How do you balance the desire for investment and growth with the related challenges that many cities, such as Barcelona, are facing?

GHL: This summer we achieved record tourism numbers in Cape Town. But for us, that number was 1.5 million, whereas Barcelona had about 15 million. The mayor told me that in June alone, Barcelona had more visitors than Cape Town has annually. In that regard, we’re in a very different situation to Barcelona. We are desperate to keep growing our tourism numbers. In terms of keeping our citizens happy, Cape Town currently has the lowest unemployment figure in South Africa. But it’s still 20 per cent, so the most important priority in our government now is to get more people out of poverty and into employment. That way, everyone is included and has access to a more dignified and hopeful life.

CR: What about tangible changes? I know that there has been a push for the reopening of the public swimming pools, which relates to our connections to water, nature and mental health, but also ensures social equity between citizens.

GHL: I’m glad that you bought this up. Cape Town has 38 magnificent public swimming pools and 19 coastal tidal pools. But when I became mayor, most of these were closed to the public – they hadn’t been maintained properly for years. If you live in a township anywhere in a developing-world context, heat is an important consideration. There is nowhere to escape it and many of these climates, Cape Town’s included, are getting hotter. I took it upon myself to ensure that they were fixed up. These are essential for the public; they are not luxuries. They’re a source of community.

AT: Is there a sense that the arc of Cape Town is separate from the rest of the South African story?

GHL: We wanted to show everyone in South Africa, whether they lived in Cape Town or not, that this could be a model for the success of our country. The national economy has been in a tight spot for the better part of a decade. It hasn’t ever properly recovered from the 2008 crisis, let alone the coronavirus pandemic. But in the past 12 months, we have had an extraordinary political shift. Now, the question is really whether political reform can go fast enough to deliver the social change necessary.

CR: Speaking for Cape Town, what’s one thing that you can offer the world?

GHL: The reason why I love Cape Town is its connection to the outdoors and wild spaces. We have a magnificent national park in the heart of our city that’s the size of Liechtenstein. I’m not sure there’s any other place where you can get that kind of seamless connection and accessibility to nature, with an amazing quality of life. It’s healthy for the mind, body and soul. That makes it the best city in the world.