The Story Of Sandton And Alexandra — Johannesburg
Two Worlds, Just A Kilometre Apart
The narrative of Alexandra and Sandton is one of South Africa’s most glaring wealth disparities.
Sandton is synonymous with riches, grandeur, money, soft-life, and everything one can think of. The JSE, Sandton Convention Centre, Sandton City shopping centre and many prominent business offices are here. A prestigious, exciting suburb in which business people, residents, shoppers, and tourists live, work, play, shop, and meet.
During the 1990s, the urban degradation of central Johannesburg helped Sandton. As a result, it became an alternate, appealing, and safe location for businesses to operate. Today, it is regarded as South Africa’s financial centre and even gained the title of “The Richest Square Mile In Africa “.
On the other side, there is Alexandra. A township just across the M1 freeway and opposite Sandton. Alexandra is an icon of apartheid-era urban design and former home to several famous struggle heroes, including Nelson Mandela.
Alexandra appears to be carved out of stone from above. It’s almost devoid of trees, in stark contrast to Sandton’s green parks and avenues. Shacks fill every nook and contour within the streets, planned out in a precise grid.
Huge hostel complexes were designed to shelter all of Alexandra’s residents now loom like megaliths within the urban structure.
The municipality itself is nearly a perfect square, seen from any map view. That is the most shocking aspect of Alex to me. The appearance of order, even accuracy, in a city structure includes some irregularity.
South Africa seems to be working hard to repair the spatial divide created by apartheid-era urban design, with every incoming Johannesburg mayor promising to readdress the city’s social inequalities. However, the people on the ground have something else to say; they think it’s all talk and the preaching of the usual gospel, and not much is changing - only time will tell.
