Changing Space, Changing City: Johannesburg after apartheid

As the dynamo of South Africa’s economy, Johannesburg commands a central position in the nation’s imagination and scholars across the world monitor the city as an exemplar of urbanity in the global South. This richly illustrated study offers detailed empirical analyses of changes in the city’s physical space, as well as a host of chapters on the character of specific neighbourhoods and the social identities being forged within them. Informing all these elements is a consideration of underlying economic, social and political processes shaping the wider Gauteng region. A mix of respected academics, practising urban planners and experienced policymakers offer compelling overviews of the rapid and complex spatial developments that have taken place in Johannesburg since the end of apartheid, along with tantalising glimpses into life on the streets and behind the high walls of this diverse city. With empirical data supported by new data sets including the 2011 Census, the city’s Development Planning and Urban Management Department’s information system and Gauteng City-Region Observatory’s substantial archive, the book is an essential reference for planning practitioners, urban geographers, sociologists and social anthropologists, as well as other interested readers.