Suburbs of Johannesburg
Johannesburg, like many other boom towns, grew rapidly and with little planning, and thus the city covers an extremely large area.
The main differences between the city's suburbs tend to be socioeconomic: The north is often associated with wealth due to areas such as Houghton, which boasts large properties and contained the residence of former president Nelson Mandela, and Sandton which has become an alternative business district and is referred to as "Africa's richest square mile".
The first major modern settlements in Johannesburg were loosely planned, as they grew up quickly in order to service the need for labour in the gold mines on the Witwatersrand.
However, the population of Johannesburg increased rapidly and the city quickly established formal neighbourhoods, most of which were racially mixed as labourers lived together.
The Central Business District (CBD) grew rapidly in the early 20th century as many formal European style buildings were constructed, such as the city's main post office.
During this time period, the city invested in street cars, which mostly served to connect wealthier white suburbs with the CBD.
Physical growth, although somewhat limited by transportation, continued quickly as immigration to South Africa, and Johannesburg in particular, increased dramatically.
Many large freeways were built to link Johannesburg with the rest of South Africa, although this permitted the further outward expansion of the city along the N1, N3, and M2 roadways.
The amount of business and population of the northern suburbs increased exponentially, while the CBD was left empty and abandoned as a "no-go zone".
Around 800,000 commuters pass through the inner city every day, and it functions as a regional shopping node for visitors from the southern suburbs.
Johannesburg's main railway station, bus terminal, and minibus taxi centre are all located in the inner city.
The suburbs close to the CBD, in particular Joubert Park, Hillbrow, and Berea, have a large number of high-rise apartment blocks.
These areas were formerly extremely desirable; however, due to the increase in crime, the housing stock has greatly deteriorated as many wealthier residents have left for the northern suburbs.
The CBD area lacks open spaces; although there are small neighbourhood parks in all suburbs, they are also not used due to mugging concerns.
The area is also functionally integrated with East Rand border towns outside of the official boundary of Johannesburg, such as Bedfordview and Edenvale (both part of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality).
The eastern suburbs are some of the oldest areas of Johannesburg, there are large communities of Jewish and other European backgrounds, the majority of the population is English speaking.
[14] There is efficient road access for many parts of the region along busy highways to the CBD and Roodepoort, but commuters are largely reliant on trains and taxis.
[15] Spreading to the north from the inner city to the border with Midrand, the northern suburbs include both large housing developments and commercial centres.
[16] The area is also becoming more dense, as large residential properties are subdivided, or redeveloped, as townhouse and cluster house complexes.
Towards the northern border of the city, the density of development decreases, leaving large areas of undeveloped land around Midrand.
Just to the west of Parktown is Westcliff and Parkwood, which is one of the wealthiest areas in Johannesburg, as it is located on the side of a very tall hill and overlooks the inner city as well as the northern suburbs.
Sandton has become the new business area of Johannesburg, and features many corporate headquarters, as well as Nelson Mandela Square and Wanderers Stadium, the most prestigious cricket ground in South Africa.
Roodepoort's previously predominantly white population is changing as its proximity to Soweto has made it attractive to middle-class black people who want to move to nicer houses while maintaining ties to their old communities.
This gives rise to increasing numbers of secondary roads, creating congestion and putting pressure on residential areas and infrastructure.
Auckland Park is home to the headquarters of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which is located in Radiopark, and two campuses of the sprawling University of Johannesburg.
North of Auckland Park lies Melville, which has morphed into a Bohemian enclave of restaurants, cafés, and bookstores based chiefly around 7th Avenue.
A national serial drama, 7de Laan, shows the strip in its opening credits, mistakenly referring to the road as 7th Avenue.
Currently, Melville has faced decline as several businesses relocate back into the newly renovated Newtown area in the city centre.
A significant amount of underdeveloped and vacant agricultural land is publicly owned, and the city government is currently in the process of selling large tracts of it for development, which is hoped to provide jobs for the residents of the informal settlements.
The 700 who died of that group are buried at the Suideroord Concentration Camp Cemetery which was on a farm called Klipriviersberg and which is now the suburb of Winchester Hills.
