Introduction Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa, was well known as a multicultural and multiracial port city. With the complexity of races, there has been a long history of racial segregation dating back to the 19th century. Strengthened by a colonial history begun by the Dutch starting from 1652 and ending with the English in 1910, the urban form of this former colonial city deserves careful analysis. In the following essay, the urban form of Cape Town will be analyzed from different perspectives. This essay aims to provide foundations for further studies of urban forms not only in Cape Town, but also in other colonial cities. General information about Cape Town Cape Town is the legislative capital of South Africa. The city is located at the northern tip of the Cape Peninsula. It claims the title of South Africa's second most populous city with 3.5 million inhabitants. The city was officially founded in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company as a supply station for Dutch ships, gradually developing into an economic and cultural center. center of the Cape Colony from 1806 to 1910 (Cape Town Tourism, 2014). Being a multiracial colonial city, Cape Town has 4 main population groups, including coloured, black African, white and Indian or Asian (Frith, 2011). Colored 42.4% Black African 38.6% White 15.7% Indian/Asian 1.4% Other 1.9% White mainly refers to people from Holland, Great Britain and other European countries and colored refers to the population descended from slaves, whites and indigenous Africans, as a mixed race (Phillips, 1957).Figure 1. The racial composition of Cape Town in 2011The urban form of Cape TownThe urban form of Cape Town is linked to its multiracial environment....... middle of paper .. ....governance. Berlin: LIT VERLAG.Figueroa, R. (2013). Racial demographics of Cape Town, South Africa. Retrieved from http://ryfigueroa.blogspot.hk/2013/01/racial-demographics-of-cape-town-south.htmlFrith, A. (2011). City of Cape Town. Retrieved from the 2011 South African Census: http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/199Phillips, H.T. (1957). A cross-racial study of social conditions and infant mortality in Cape Town. The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, Vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 7-28. Scott, P. (1955). Cape Town: a multiracial city. The geographical newspaper, pp. 149-157. South End Museum. (n.d.). The law on group areas. Retrieved from South End Museum: http://www.southendmuseum.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6&Itemid=6Statistics South Africa. (2001). Census 2001. Western Cape. Yiu, E. C. (2014). 3 City plans and models (lesson notes). Hong Kong.