"Johannesburg" a Johannesburg Travel Page by mke1963

Johannesburg is one of the world's youngest big cities - as long as you exclude certain Chinese cities such as Shenzhen! In the mid 1880s, Johannesburg was just a motley collection of farms lying below a low ridge line. Then migrant miners discovered gold, seemingly when one man saw crushed building material that looked familiar to him.

The city grew rapidly with the subsequent gold rush. A temporary (?) exhibit in MuseuMAfrica in the city centre shows the quite incredible growth, catalogued by a variety of photographers, but especially important are the photographs of the great Peter Magubane. (Reviewed separately)

The city grew fast, with tents being replaced by corrugated iron sheds and a huge market place. Quickly stone buildings were constructed and all the urban trappings and vices appeared. Gold and coal mines were followed and then encouraged by new mining finance houses, and the city spread out over the ridge and onto the slopes around: all a big mix of mines, factories, commercial centres, housing and eventually the vast workers settlements that are now household names - Alex, Sharpeville and Soweto. Johannesburg became - and still is - the richest city in Africa, attracting the rich, the poor, the hopeful and the desperate. Johannesburg's streets still appear to be paved with gold for the have-nots of much of Africa. With the end of apartheid in the 1990s, vast numbers of rural poor from South Africa packed their bags and set off for Joburg. Just a few years later, they were joined by successive waves of migrants from across the continent. As the new arrivals set up home in shacks and in tents, so many existing residents left - first for other South African cities, then later for safer destinations abroad. The desperation and massive social conditions bred massive violence and for a time, it looked like the city was about to implode - along with many other cities in the country. It remains one of the most violent and dangerous cities on earth, but the crime rates have declined and order is being reestablished. Johannesburg could be wonderful - people, climate, sights, scenes - but it will be many years before it will be truly safe for anyone to walk around the city.

The city grew fast, with tents being replaced by corrugated iron sheds and a huge market place. Quickly stone buildings were constructed and all the urban trappings and vices appeared. Gold and coal mines were followed and then encouraged by new mining finance houses, and the city spread out over the ridge and onto the slopes around: all a big mix of mines, factories, commercial centres, housing and eventually the vast workers settlements that are now household names - Alex, Sharpeville and Soweto. Johannesburg became - and still is - the richest city in Africa, attracting the rich, the poor, the hopeful and the desperate. Johannesburg's streets still appear to be paved with gold for the have-nots of much of Africa. With the end of apartheid in the 1990s, vast numbers of rural poor from South Africa packed their bags and set off for Joburg. Just a few years later, they were joined by successive waves of migrants from across the continent. As the new arrivals set up home in shacks and in tents, so many existing residents left - first for other South African cities, then later for safer destinations abroad. The desperation and massive social conditions bred massive violence and for a time, it looked like the city was about to implode - along with many other cities in the country. It remains one of the most violent and dangerous cities on earth, but the crime rates have declined and order is being reestablished. Johannesburg could be wonderful - people, climate, sights, scenes - but it will be many years before it will be truly safe for anyone to walk around the city.

In the mid 1990s, the response to the crime and violence in Johannesburg and Braamfontein was that business simply left, and headed to suburban areas. Johannesburg has, at the turn of the 21st Century, become a city of cities: each city springing from the red earth in all directions. Today, Sandton and the central northern area of Johannesburg has become the home to most of the city's big businesses. Johannesburg's old city centre deteriorated quickly and despite heavy recent investment in urban regeneration, it is still a mere shadow of its old self. Huge skyscrapers lie empty and it seems that every other building is vacant.

You need a lot of vision and a lot of faith to see a bright future for the city - it is clear that many locals have both.