Newtown is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separat ...

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 De ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. It is located in the capital city of

Gauteng Province Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

and the Region F of the

City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality 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. ...

. It has the

coordinates In geometry, a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine the position of the points or other geometric elements on a manifold such as Euclidean space. The order of the coordinates is si ...

of 26.204°S and 28.034°E. The suburb originated as a manufacturing district for brick production and contained a "racially mixed working class".

Historical background

In early 20th century, the Newtown Precinct was named "the Brickfields". By 1896, approximately 7,000 people lived in the town. Brickfields from Ed Charlton's opinion attracted a number of industries, such as trade firms, banks, brick factories, a brewery, and fisheries, as well as immigrants from other nations. In April 1904, Mahatma Gandi declared an outbreak of the

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium ('' Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as ...

in Brickfield. The plague caused 82 fatalities and 112 people were reportedly diagnosed with it. The local government initiated the fire brigade to start fires within the town, aiming to cease the plague.

Turbine Hall

Originally built between 1927 and 1934, the Turbine Hall became the largest "three steam-driven" power stations. It is situated in the middle of Newtown and has been deemed an iconic building in the art and culture precinct.

Cleanup

The Greater Newtown Construction, was initiated by City of Johannesburg Municipality Council, which rehabilitated old suburb structures, "enhanced public open spaces," and introduced closed-circuit television. Newtown's street lighting was designed by the French engineer Patrick Rimoux.

Regeneration

Johannesburg City Council partnered with Gauteng Agency Blue IQ in a project to develop the community of Newtown. The project includes building five housing developments in which Council states " t willcater for different levels of income". The plan details that over 2,000 housing units will be built, within the next few years. The

Nelson Mandela Bridge Nelson Mandela Bridge is a bridge in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the fourth of five bridges which cross the railway lines and sidings located just west of Johannesburg Park Station, the first being the Johan Rissik Bridge adjacent to ...

was inaugurated on 20 July 2003, and is the northern entrance to Newtown.

References

{{City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, selected=regf Chinatowns in Africa Chinese-South African culture Johannesburg Region F Tourist attractions in Johannesburg Urban decay in South Africa