The suburbs in northern Cape Town on both sides of the N1 are called the "Northern Suburbs". The main ones are Century City, Milnerton, Sunset Beach, Blouberg, Melkbos, Plattekloof, Bellville, Parow, Tygerberg and Durbanville.

Here - about 25 kilometres from the centre of Cape Town - lives the majority of the population of Cape Town. During the week at the rush hours there is stop-and-go traffic on the N1.

Most of the people living in the Northern Suburbs speak Afrikaans as a first language, and so many immigrants from Johannesburg feel very much at home here. As a result the population of the Northern Suburbs is growing steadily. Particularly popular is Durbanville, a very green residential area with big properties and big houses.

The commercial centre of this region is the Tygerberg Centre, a shopping centre surrounded by office buildings. At the moment the "Tygerberg Waterfront" has been completed and is - apart from the grotesk Century City - an alternative to the Waterfront.