Hillbrow
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Hillbrow is the inner city residential neighbourhood of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is known for its high levels of population density, unemployment and poverty. In the 1970s it was an Apartheid-designated 'whites only' area but gradually became a cosmopolitan area of mixed races. Many whites left Hillbrow and the central business district after poorly controlled and restriced political uprisings and demonstrations in the late days of Apartheid, taking along with them their wealth and places of employment - accelerating the pace of urban decay . Now it is overwhelmingly populated by black migrants from the townships, rural areas and the rest of Africa. It is a common conception of many South Africans that there are many illegal immigrants from Northern and Western Africa living there.
In 2000, Michael Hammon and Jacqueline Görgen directed a documentary named Hillbrow Kids, depicting the struggles of a group of street children in post-apartheid urban South Africa. The 2001 novel Welcome to Our Hillbrow by Phaswane Mpe dealt with life in the district in the years after apartheid, the novel dealt with a large number of issues, most notably poverty, HIV/AIDS, and xenophobia.
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Landmarks
Constitution Hill
The Constitution Hill precinct, seat of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, is located on the western edge of Hillbrow, and is part of a major government and private initiative to revitalize the area and the rest of the CBD,
Hillbrow Tower
The Hillbrow tower, a telecomunications tower, dominates the Johannesburg city skyline, features in many picture postcard views of the city. It has becom a symbol of the city and appears in the city seal. Completed in 1971, it rises to a height of 270-metres, thus making it the tallest man-made structure with an elevator in Africa. Initially named the JG Strijdom Tower, it became popularly known simply as the Hillbrow tower, and in May 2005 it was renamed to Telkom Joburg Tower, with it's new name displayed prominently in lights. It once featured a luxury rotating restuarant, but that was closed in 1981 due to security fears and is unlikely to be re-opened.
External Links
- Hillbrow Tower (http://www.southafrica.info/plan_trip/holiday/cities/hillbrowtower.htm)