Johannesburg, populous city of South Africa, physically presents itself as a series of hills, occupying the central part of a plateau; while from an urban planning perspective, the central districts are distinguished from the so-called townships, populous peripheral suburbs like Soweto, which have written the history of Apartheid and its removal.
Johannesburg is not an easy city to visit for first-time arrivals: the distances between areas are considerable and the risk for those who go “do-it-yourself” is also to end up in undesirable places. It is better to rely on an organized tour, while getting to know it better.
1 What to visit in Johannesburg
The most central areas, worth visiting, are the so-called Newtown Precinct, which has become, from an old market district, the beating heart of the city’s cultural life. Easily reachable from the urban highways thanks to the brand new Nelson Mandela bridge, it houses the Museum Africa, an immense collection of relics on the history of the city and South African culture; a theater, the Market Theatre; a museum dedicated to the history of beer, and many multifunctional spaces for concerts, exhibitions, shows, and cultural events of all kinds. And then a center for crafts and design, the Bus Factory, and one for Science and Technology.
2 Parktown und Houghton in Johannesburg
Im Osten und Südosten, direkt am Rande des Zentrums, liegen zwei der schönsten und exklusivsten Viertel von Johannesburg: Parktown und Houghton. Ersteres ist geprägt von großen Häusern im eklektischen Stil, die Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts erbaut wurden; hier befindet sich der Zoo, der sich über 55 Hektar Park erstreckt und in dem mehr als 400 Tierarten leben, sowie der angrenzende Zoo Lake, ein künstlicher See, der von einem Park umgeben ist und eine wertvolle grüne Lunge darstellt, wo jedes Jahr im September das Jazz on the Lake, ein beliebtes Open-Air-Jazzfestival, stattfindet.
Houghton zeigt prächtige Villen mit üppigen Gärten, breite, schattige Straßen und eine elegante, exklusive Atmosphäre. In Houghton befindet sich auch das Casa Graça, die ehemalige Residenz von Präsident Nelson Mandela, benannt nach seiner letzten Frau.
3 Melville
North of the Central Business District, the city’s business center, driven by skyscrapers and large buildings, and touristically unattractive, lies the neighborhood of Melville, where decidedly more pleasant and relaxed atmospheres reign: a sort of South African Greenwich Village, populated by outdoor cafes and restaurants, venues where live music is played, and pedestrian streets safe both during the day and at night.
