Sandton

Sandton is a town in the northern part of the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area, South Africa in the Gauteng Province. The name comes from the combination of two suburbs, Sandown and Bryanston, both of which were named after places in the United Kingdom.

History

1960's

The municipality was established as an extension of the city in 1969, after Johannesburg began to expand northwards. It's initial beginnings was very much a residential area consisting mostly of small holdings. This rural "horsey" lifestyle of Sandton gave it the image of being a smart address. It was dubbed the "mink and manure" belt of Johannesburg.

1990's

After the demise of Apartheid and the manifestation of the new political dispensation, Sandton became part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municiplaity following new demarcations put forward by the government, and it no longer has a separate municipal government.

Role in 21st Century Johannesburg

Financial & Business Centre

It has become the new financial centre of South Africa and Johannesburg's premier business centre. Much of the financial focus of Johannesburg has shifted from the Central Business District to Sandton, especially in the last 15 years. Only South Africa's four largest banks have kept their head offices in downtown Johannesburg, as well as Transnet, the transport parastatal.

But much of the "new money" has moved north to Sandton, including investment banks, financial consultants and the like. A considerable amount of the city's A-grade office space is to be found in Sandton. The JSE Securities Exchange, Johannesburg's stock exchange, relocated its offices to Sandton from the Central Business District in the late 1990s. Sandton's gain was the central business district's loss: it resulted in urban blight and "white flight" of the downtown Johannesburg area.

Sandton is home to the Sandton Convention Centre, one of the largest convention centres on the continent and primary site of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (also known as "Rio + 10"), which Johannesburg hosted. The convention centre also hosted the African National Congress' victory celebrations after the party won the 2004 elections.

Tourism & Retail Hub

One of the main attractions in Sandton is Sandton City, which ranks among the largest shopping centres in Africa. Together with Nelson Mandela Square, the centre, with some 144,000m² of shopping space, is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, larger than Sydney's Westfield Parramatta or Melbourne's Westfield Southland centres. Much of Johannesburg's business tourism is centred on Sandton, which has a string of 5-star hotels.

Nelson Mandela Square, formerly known as Sandton Square, was renamed in March 2004, after the unveiling of a 6-metre bronze statue of the former president, arguably one of South Africa's greatest statesman. Perhaps ironically, Liliesleaf Farm, where Mandela and other political activists were arrested in the 1960s and tried as part of the now infamous Rivonia Trial, is north of Nelson Mandela Square, close to the N1 freeway, off Rivonia Road. The area is now home to massive office parks and other developments, and little remains of the farm.

"Africa's Richest Square Mile"

The Sandton area is one of the most opulent and wealthy in Johannesburg and South Africa,and therefore in Africa but not far away from Alexandra, one of the poorest former black townships. Sandton covers an area of approximately 156 km² while Alexandra is just under 4 km². It is estimated that the population of Alexandra is the same as that of Sandton itself.

Due to the shortage of available land, the trend in new developments is to go skyward. This is evidenced by the new 140-metre tall Michelangelo Towers, which will offer Manhattan-style living in Johannesburg. The new apartment block will be the fourth-tallest building in Johannesburg and local newspaper the Sunday Times reports that the top-selling penthouse apartment was sold for R28 million (around $5 million).

Concerns have been raised as to whether Sandton has the necessary road and water infrastructure to sustain the massive development that is characteristic of Johannesburg in the 21st century (since the demise of Apartheid and the Group Areas Act).

Other suburbs of Sandton include Rivonia and Marlboro.