Johannesburg is the most populous city in South Africa with 4,803,262 people in the City of Johannesburg alone. It is a conurbation engulfing many formerly separate cities and towns and is classified as a megacity. It is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. It is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa. Johannesburg is the seat of the Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa. Most of the major South African companies and banks have their head offices in Johannesburg. The city is located within the mineral-rich Witwatersrand hills, the epicentre of the international-scale mineral and gold trade.
The Western Bypass is a section of the N1 and the Johannesburg Ring Road located in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Known at the time as the Concrete Highway, the freeway was initially opened in 1975 as a route to avoid the city centre of Johannesburg and to provide access to the western areas of the Witwatersrand. From the south, the Western Bypass begins at the Diepkloof Interchange in Soweto, where it splits from the N12 freeway and ends at the Buccleuch Interchange, where it merges with the N3 Eastern Bypass, M1 South and N1 Ben Schoeman freeways.
The suburbs of Johannesburg are officially demarcated areas within the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. As in other Commonwealth countries, the term suburb refers to a "neighbourhood", although in South Africa most "suburbs" have legally recognised borders and often separate postal codes. The municipal functions for the area, such as municipal policing and social services, are still managed by the city government.
Houghton Estate, often simply called Houghton, is an affluent suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, north-east of the city centre.
The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite services for the city. Zulu is the most spoken home language at 23.4% followed by English at 20.1%.
The M1 De Villiers Graaff motorway is a metropolitan route and major freeway in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. The highway connects the southern areas with the city centre and extends further north through Sandton into the Ben Schoeman Highway towards Pretoria. Construction began in 1962 and resulted in the demolition of many properties and houses including numerous historical Parktown Mansions.
Doornfontein is an inner-city suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, located to the east of the city centre. It is in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. In the 1930s, it attracted many Jewish immigrants, becoming the main hub for the city's Jewish community. Black African residents, then a minority in the suburb, lived in slum-yards. Under the Slums Clearance Act 1934, the slum-yards were cleared and many residents were relocated to Orlando, Soweto. Since the late 1970s, Doornfontein and other inner-city suburbs of Johannesburg have underdone high levels of white flight to the city's northern suburbs.
Louis Botha Avenue is a major street in Johannesburg, South Africa. Originally part of the main road between central Johannesburg and Pretoria, it runs along through the north-eastern parts of the city from Hillbrow to Sandton, passing through numerous older suburbs, including Houghton and Orange Grove, before it becomes the Pretoria Main Road at Wynberg and continues to Midrand and Pretoria.
Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) is a not-for-gain company established under Section 21 of the South African Companies Act and wholly owned by the City of Johannesburg.
Kingsway Campus Auckland Park, also known as APK, is the largest and most populated of the four campuses of the University of Johannesburg. It is also the seat of the administration and governance body of the university. The campus was formerly the only educational campus of the Rand Afrikaans University. The campus gets its name from a major Johannesburg road, Kingsway Avenue, that runs along the north-east side of the campus. The roads that form the boundary of the campus are (clock-wise) University Road, Ditton Avenue, Ripley Road, Hampton Avenue, Studente Avenue, Akademie Road and Perth Road. Although the official name of the campus implies that it is in Auckland Park, it actually falls just out of that suburb by one street. It is technically in the suburb of Rossmore with the first-year parking lot bordering the suburb of Melville, Gauteng.
Bunting Road Campus Auckland Park, also known as APB, is one of the four urban campuses of the University of Johannesburg. The APB was originally a campus of the Technikon Witwatersrand.
Johannesburg Park Station is the central railway station in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, and the largest railway station in Africa. It is located between the Central Business District and Braamfontein, in the block bordered by Rissik, Wolmarans, Wanderers, and Noord Streets. Park Station lies on the main Witwatersrand railway line that runs East-West from Krugersdorp to Germiston. The first four stations to the east are Doornfontein, Ellis Park, Jeppe and George Goch Stations.
Jan Smuts Avenue is a major street in Johannesburg, South Africa. It begins in Randburg, and passes through important business areas like Rosebank. It passes the Johannesburg Zoo, Zoo Lake and Wits University before becoming Bertha Street, and the Nelson Mandela Bridge near the Johannesburg CBD. It has been described as "the most important road for a tourist" in Johannesburg. It forms part of Johannesburg's M27 route.
Lael Bethlehem is an expert in urban development. She was director of economic development at the City of Johannesburg from 2002 to 2005 and chief executive of the Johannesburg Development Agency from 2005 to 2010. Prior to those roles, she also served as Chief Director of Forestry at the South African National Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, where she led South Africa’s forestry programme and represented the country in international forestry negotiations. Today, Bethlehem is an investment executive at Hosken Consolidated Investments.
Johannesburg is a young and sprawling city. As the public transport system is still in its infancy, it is difficult to travel around the city. The city has grown into northern areas, but the main transport system is focused on the southern areas. These transportation systems in the south are in major peril and need of an upgrade. The city of Johannesburg invested a large percentage of its budget in this problem.
M7 is a metropolitan route in the Greater Johannesburg metropolitan area. The road connects Thokoza and the southern suburbs of Alberton with suburbs to the west of the Johannesburg CBD.
M27 is a major road in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. A large part of the route is named Jan Smuts Avenue which is roughly 12 km long. It begins in the southern suburb of Booysens and heads northwards through the Johannesburg CBD and the northern suburbs of Randburg.
M71 is a major metropolitan route in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. Starting in the northern CBD, it connects the centre of Johannesburg with the northern suburbs before ending in the outer northern city of Midrand.
The M10 is a long metropolitan route in Greater Johannesburg, South Africa. It connects Lenasia with Johannesburg Central via Soweto.
The M70 road is a short metropolitan route in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. It connects Booysens with Dobsonville via Diepkloof, Orlando and Meadowlands. For much of its route, it is known as the Soweto Highway.
