North Riding is a
suburb of
Randburg
Randburg is an area located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly a separate municipality, its administration devolved to the newly created City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, along with neighbouring Sandton and Roodepoort, ...
, in Region C - formerly
Johannesburg Region 5, South Africa.
The suburb was named after one of the three historic subdivisions of
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
. 'North' was favoured at the time due to North Riding's location north of the
CBD of
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...
.
The Suburb formerly fell under the jurisdiction of the Randburg Town Council before it was incorporated into the
City of Johannesburg
The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality is a metropolitan municipality that manages the local governance of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is divided into several branches and departments in order to expedite services for the city. Z ...
Metropolitan area.
Of the original 3 farms that were joined to form Randburg, North riding was located on the Olievenhout farm.
North Riding fully encloses the Suburb of Bellair Park.
The area was once prominently known as a horse riding and stable stronghold in the north of Johannesburg, but gave way to other areas such as Kyalami and Honeydew extensions. This can be seen in the road and street names.
Previously the area was rather rural, had
Agricultural Holding status and is still referred to as Northriding A.H. by some. After 1996 North Riding developed rapidly, in both the residential and commercial sector.
Surrounding suburbs include:
Olivedale, Northworld, Northwold Garden,
Northgate, Johannesburg North, Noordhang and Golden Harvest.
Main streets in the suburb include Blandford, Bellair and
Malibongwe (previously Hans Strijdom) with the original entrance roads of Windsor and Smith, Ascot and Hyperion.
North Riding includes various shopping centers and bed and breakfast accommodation. Various streams flow through the area, one such flowing from west to north-east is the Olievenhoutspoort.
Miriam Makeba
Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she w ...
lived in the suburb at the time of her death.
References
Johannesburg Region C
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