The central business district of Durban — focused on Anton Lembede (West) Street and the surrounding grid — is a working African downtown rather than a polished commercial centre. By day the pavements are crowded with informal traders selling everything from fruit and CDs to second-hand clothing, taxis hoot through the intersections, and the architecture is a haphazard mix of art deco, late-modern office blocks and Victorian survivors like the Old Court House.
It is one of the more energetic urban experiences in South Africa, and a useful corrective to the impression that the country's cities are all suburbs and malls. After dark, it empties out and becomes unsafe — do your wandering in daylight, ideally before midday rush.