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One of the most powerfully visible ways in which public space in inner city Johannesburg is ordered is through the material presence of apparently idle young men – a context profoundly linked to the precarious position of young and immigrant men in the post-apartheid economy. For the most part, these young men are regarded with disdain, the objects of fear and anxiety. In the following discussion, based on two years of field research with a group of unemployed young men (between the ages of 15 and 30 years old) who attend a weekly bible study and soup kitchen at a church in the inner city, I demonstrate ways in which these young men structure their daily lives in response to the over-abundance of time. I consider how the act of loitering in public space serves to reassemble the relationship between time and value at the peripheries of the urban economy, extracting value from the apparently idle activity of waiting in the present, but uncoupled from a sense of control over the past and future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Slum tourism is becoming increasingly popular in cities throughout the global South. South Africa has long been a township/slum tourism destination due to the inequalities caused by apartheid. During the later apartheid years and after the fall of apartheid in 1994, the once upmarket financial centre of inner city Johannesburg took a major economic downturn and has since been considered by many a 'no-go zone'. Since 2012, a number of tour operators have begun to develop walking tours taking visitors into the inner city of Johannesburg. Some research has argued that tourism in Johannesburg's inner city is a form of slum tourism. However, we argue that the inner city of Johannesburg is diverse, vast and complex, and therefore these walking tours should not necessarily be grouped with the concept of slum tourism. The research to justify this argument is multifaceted. First, definitions of slum tourism are explored against the backdrop of the Johannesburg inner city. Second, in-depth interviews were conducted with five tour operators that run inner city walking tours. Finally, 100 tourists were surveyed to determine their perceptions of inner city Johannesburg and whether or not they consider it to be a slum. The results demonstrate that although some commonalities exist between slum tourism and inner city walking tours, particularly the goal of de-stigmatisation, walking tours in the Johannesburg inner city should, arguably, not be considered a form of slum tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban tourism is a growing focus for research in cities of the Global South. It is argued that the challenges of managing urban tourism require an improved understanding of the spatial structuring of tourism and tourist flows within the city context. The specific task in this article is to analyse changing intra-urban flows of tourism in Johannesburg, South Africa's most important city. The results show that different kinds of urban tourists engage with different urban spaces in the city. The Johannesburg study reveals that, although the spaces of leisure and business travellers to the city are closely intertwined, the flows of visiting friends and relatives are markedly different. Likewise, the spaces of international tourists are markedly different from those of domestic travellers to Johannesburg. One striking observation concerns Soweto, an iconic attraction for international tourists visiting Johannesburg, which is dominated by domestic travellers mainly engaged in visiting friends and relatives. From a comparative international perspective, the spatial patterns of tourism flows in Johannesburg exhibit marked differences from those of urban tourism destinations in the Global North, with the most striking difference being that of the limited and weakened role of the inner city for tourism in Johannesburg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation is one of the most fundamental challenges of urban development in the modern world. Cities are currently moving towards sustainable transportation, which includes non-motorised transportation (NMT). The city of Johannesburg has a goal of becoming a smart city, with sustainable development and smart mobility. Encouraging the use of non-motorised transportation and public transport has the potential of reducing the use of private motorised transport and therefor its negative consequences within the city of Johannesburg. There is limited research on cycling and how cyclists interact with cycling infrastructure within the city. The lack of such knowledge hinders proper planning for NMT. This research studies the ability of geolocation based services to provide such information which can be useful in planning for NMT. Strava Metro application is the example of such geolocation based services. The potential of this app to influence planning is investigated. According to the information acquired by Strava Metro, there are more cyclists in suburbs at the centre of Johannesburg and towards the north and to the east, and in Kibler Park at the south western part of the city. There are indications that the numbers of cycling activities recorded by Strava Metro are affected by the availability of gated communities, income levels, crime levels and the provision of infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last two decades of economic decline in Africa have drawn attention to the crisis of masculinities, to “failed men” unable to build kinship networks and to “violent men” who damage social networks whilst competing for scarce resources. This article argues that a fragmented, neo-liberal society also produces new patterns of patriarchal aggrandisement. Focusing on Johannesburg's minibus-taxi industry, it shows how large informal sector activities are structured through kinship networks that in turn give rise to modes of masculinity seeking to control these networks. Johannesburg's minibus-taxi business is dominated by retrenched labour migrants, who moved into the transportation sector in the 1980s and 1990s at a time of industrial decline. It thus offers a case study of the changing patterns of accumulation and household formation in a social landscape where kinship ties continue to constitute the key relationships of obligation and support. Drawing on three-dozen core interviews with Zulu-speaking taxi owners and transporters, this article demonstrates that the taxi owner and the taxi boss are men to be emulated, but that the relationships between “big men” and “failed” or “violent” men are uncomfortably close. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since 2000, South Africa has experienced unprecedented migration from Zimbabwe. Surveys have estimated that by the end of 2007, between 1 million and 2 million Zimbabweans had migrated to South Africa as a result of a political and economic crisis that has been bedevilling their country. These migrants are supporting the livelihoods of relatives left at home through remittances. The nature of the remittance flows is not well documented, and the characteristics of the remittance senders and recipients are even less well understood. In this paper, I attempt to fill this research gap by focusing on the remittance behaviour of the senders. Using data from a survey of Zimbabwean migrants living in Johannesburg in South Africa, in this paper I examine the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the remittance senders. Pertinent findings are that remittance behaviour is seen to be positively correlated with age, the number of dependents supported in the home country, income level and the return migration decision. Furthermore, males and married persons make up a larger proportion of the remitters than females and single persons. There are more remitters among migrants with basic education than among those with tertiary education. I have found remittance behaviour to be independent of legal status and length of stay in the host country. The independence with regard to length of stay raises questions about the validity of the remittance decay hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the current social conditions of Johannesburg, South Africa, and speculates on the possible future of the city. Efforts made to develop the city economically after apartheid ended are discussed. The geographic, economic, and social division between urban residents and affluent white suburbs are considered.

Since the end of formal apartheid, former council housing schemes for racially designated groups are being remodelled and reconfigured. These communities, still home to the poor, are burdened by their past and challenged by their present circumstances. This article attempts to locate discourses on transition and identity in the context of Jan Hofmeyr, a former `poor white' council housing scheme in Johannesburg. Drawing on the methods of life histories, documentary review and semi-structured in-depth interviews, it asks how, against the background of the formal end to apartheid and the liberalization of the South African economy, and inserted into the changing landscape of the post-colonial city, do residents make and understand their lives in material and symbolic ways. The article approaches notions of identity within the frame of discourse, practice and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban tourism has attracted a growing literature in the context of cities in the developed world. In this article, the role of urban tourism is explored in the developing world setting of Johannesburg. As in the case of the developed world, in Johannesburg the promotion of urban tourism is linked to economic regeneration and urban economic development. Johannesburg's tourism economy exhibits distinct geographical and sectoral clustering, with business tourism being the most vibrant subsector for tourism development. New development initiatives by both provincial and local government are seeking to further enhance the role of tourism in Johannesburg's economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assesses the potential of the clothing industry for revival of the economy of inner-city Johannesburg in South Africa. Reorganization of South African clothing industry; Emergence of enterprise clothing economy; Recommendations for strengthening garments cluster of inner-city Johannesburg.

Central to the increase in urban poverty in the post-apartheid period is the rise in unemployment. This provides the point of departure for this paper. The first section shows how Johannesburg and its environs, although constituting the industrial and commercial heartland of South Africa, is a city that has not reached its potential economic development. Having outlined the causes and dimensions of this sluggish economic position, next is considered how the poor survive in Johannesburg through both economic and non-economic strategies. With this in mind it is argued that addressing the current situation of growing poverty and inequality (as well as redressing the legacy of past inequities) requires broad municipal response to urban unemployment. Instead of the current tendency to view poverty simply as the product of income and consumption deprivation, a more widely defined response to urban poverty reduction, based on a livelihoods framework, is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides information on a study which explained the decline and transformation of the Johannesburg central city. Parallels with the United States; Influence on policymaking; Changes in the Johannesburg central city; Factors affecting the redevelopment of United States central cities; Inner city visioning process; Emergence of African business center in Johannesburg.

The article presents a study on the economic condition of the clothing industry in the inner city of Johannesburg, South Africa. The study conducted interviews to several independent retailers and retail chains to examine the changes in market demand and highlight on which strategies the small clothing producers have used to cope with the global competition. Results show that most clothing makers failed to adjust their strategies despite the rising legal and illegal imports and production cost.

It has been argued that in terms of local economic development, the fortress city of Johannesburg is seeking to transform itself into a creative city. The initiatives which I examined in the process of assessing the potential of Johannesburg to become a centre for cultural and media excellence all had the common vision of Johannesburg at the centre of the African renaissance. Not only did the interviewees express the desire for Johannesburg to become the most competitive city in the country, they extended this desire to the whole of Africa. Private-public partnerships have been suggested as a strategy to combat the common challenge of a lack of finance, and innovative strategies have demonstrated a refusal to allow the threat of crime to dominate them. With these strategies in place, the only weakness which Johannesburg faces is the training of its residents so that there is a pool of highly skilled workers available for the ever increasing technological sophistication which many of the industries rely upon to expand. Johannesburg is primed to become the centre of cultural and media excellence in South Africa. The energy and commitment which many of the interviewees expressed almost guarantees Johannesburg the status of being the centre of the African renaissance. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A00OB018 00006 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that the Johannesburg Stock Exchange's (JSE's) all share index (Alsi) has fallen below the magic number of 20,000 points and remain to this number for some time. It is said that the Alsi made its first dip below the 20,000 mark in October 2008. According ot George Glynos from Econometrix Treasury Management, the days of investors of getting returns of between 20% and 30% on their equity portfolios are over. However, South Africa still has growth potential amidst the ailing economy of the country.