The Cape Town area known as District Six developed into a dense residential area close to the center of Cape Town during the second part of the nineteenth century. Home to a diverse community with a wide range of historical origins, neglect on the part of landlords and local authorities led to the area becoming rundown. The government repeatedly directed requests to the city council and the landlords most of whom were white and not residing in the area to upgrade what was fast becoming a slum on the doorstep of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. On 11 February 1966, the government declared District Six a white area under the Group Areas Act, and the wholesale removal of the inhabitants was started mainly to areas away from the city. This process took fifteen years and some 60000 people were removed."