The football pitches are being remodeled for the occasion
Credit: Andreas Schmidt | ©sxc.hu/surfapimp
With the eyes of the world on South Africa, host of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Johannesburg is limbering up in style with new temples of design, art galleries and museums and top class restaurants headed by some of Africa's top chefs. This is a city on the brink of stardom.
Beneath the 51st floor of the Carlton Panorama, known as the 'Roof of Africa', spreads a forest of tower blocks and other buildings that make up the center of Johannesburg. Created thanks to gold and diamond mines, this amalgam of tall buildings, wide avenues, and telecommunications antennae is very different from the common cliches of Africa. Seen from above, downtown area could be the center of any European city and might even be said to resemble Chicago.
On the ground, things are different. Around the glazed world of banks, offices and shopping centers are the city's famous townships. The nearby streets, once the home of Nelson Mandela are still redolent of both African traditions and of the age-old football fever, which has long swept the area. The traditional derby between South Africa's two biggest teams, the Orlando Pirates and the Keizer Chiefs, has been held here for decades. That event is awaited year round with nationwide expectation.
Beneath the 51st floor of the Carlton Panorama, known as the 'Roof of Africa', spreads a forest of tower blocks and other buildings that make up the center of Johannesburg. Created thanks to gold and diamond mines, this amalgam of tall buildings, wide avenues, and telecommunications antennae is very different from the common cliches of Africa. Seen from above, downtown area could be the center of any European city and might even be said to resemble Chicago.
On the ground, things are different. Around the glazed world of banks, offices and shopping centers are the city's famous townships. The nearby streets, once the home of Nelson Mandela are still redolent of both African traditions and of the age-old football fever, which has long swept the area. The traditional derby between South Africa's two biggest teams, the Orlando Pirates and the Keizer Chiefs, has been held here for decades. That event is awaited year round with nationwide expectation.
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