Thursday, June 20, 2024

Johannesburg

This is the largest city in South Africa, that was built on a Nineteenth Century gold rush. Some of the deepest mines in the world are near here.

Let's start with a view from the Carlton Center, the tallest building around. The first two images are from Google Earth. 



The Carlton Center building, which has a mall, closely resembles Buffalo's Seneca One Tower, especially before it was remodeled with the reddish exterior. Image from Google Earth. 


These scenes begin in Mary Fitzgerald Square, just west of the city center. The first three images are from Google Earth and Street View. 




There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.




Another prominent nearby building is the hollow cylindrical apartment building called Ponte City. These four images are from Google Earth and Street View. 





https://www.google.com/maps/@-26.1906059,28.0477907,3a,75y,158.54h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1siKaJbI-60ENnz4LdvZIsNw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DiKaJbI-60ENnz4LdvZIsNw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D160.56924%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Just northeast of Hillbrow is the district of Yeoville.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-26.1843648,28.0613568,3a,75y,87.57h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1siUaLZbGjM_kKO7htB-JvyQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DiUaLZbGjM_kKO7htB-JvyQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D87.28876%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

A well-known university is the University of Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg. Witwatersrand means "White Waters Ridge" in Afrikaans. The Afrikaans language is a derivative of the Dutch spoken by the original settlers in South Africa. The older buildings with the "bell-shaped" facade show the influence of Dutch architecture. The first three images at the university are from Google Earth and Street View. The purple trees are decorative jacaranda trees. 





https://www.google.com/maps/@-26.0154684,28.1070932,3a,75y,104h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOApPESrC4JmMjTfAHaIo1wAE0m_QGSYLPuOaOI!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOApPESrC4JmMjTfAHaIo1wAE0m_QGSYLPuOaOI%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya105.51069-ro-0-fo100!7i10000!8i5000

Lenasia was traditionally the district of Asian migrants to Johannesburg.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-26.3157275,27.8365781,3a,75y,322h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1smegLnAVRTzLPQhWYTw3q2g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DmegLnAVRTzLPQhWYTw3q2g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D322.5%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Soweto used to be in the news a lot as the focal point of the uprising against minority rule in South Africa. It's name comes from SOuth WEst TOwnship, because it is a residential township to the southwest of central Johannesburg. Here is what Soweto looks like today. The first three images are from Google Street View. I think Soweto's small and affordable houses are a model solution to the housing crisis.



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