Jozi on top of the world – again
17-11-2014
It has been confirmed: Johannesburg is a world-class African city.
According to the 2014 Good City Index, Jozi is the second-most inspiring city in the world – after Hong Kong.
In a study conducted by the global Good magazine, Joburg scored highly in all the categories the publication uses to rank the cities, such as hub of progress, city engagement, street life, defining moments, connectivity, green life, diversity and work-life balance.
The results were based on data culled by the magazine’s editors and solicited from a network of global correspondents.
Joburg is one of only three African cities to feature in the Top 20 list of the index, the others being Nairobi in Kenya, which is perched on No 5; and Dakar in Senegal, which sits on No 9.
The revelation comes in the same month that the highly acclaimed MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index announced Johannesburg was set to become the most popular destination city in Africa for the second year in a row in 2014, during which it was expected to attract a total of 4.3 million international overnight visitors and international visitor expenditure in excess of $3.3 billion (R35.5 billion).
The Good magazine’s editors describe the Good City Index as “a celebration of the 50 cities around the world that best capture the elusive quality of possibility”.
Johannesburg-based writer Sylvia EK McKeown says in her commentary that “it’s to Joburg’s advantage that, distracted by Cape Town, people don’t seem to pay as much attention to it as they should”.
By occupying the second spot on the Good City Index, Johannesburg has outclassed cities such as Mexico City (third place), New Orleans in the United States (seventh), Montreal in Canada (12th), Melbourne in Australia (14th), Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (19th) and Seoul in South Korea (20th) as far as the creation of inspiration is concerned.
Paris occupies the 22nd spot, Cape Town 25th, Atlanta 30th and Warsaw 50th.
Some of the things that swayed the judges’ votes Joburg’s way include the urban regeneration projects the City is undertaking, such as bike lanes in Soweto, a mixed-use development in the once-rundown area of Newtown and the Joburg Art Fair.
Writes McKeown: “Not that there aren’t many systemic problems in Joburg: crime, poverty, dubious political spending, and a lack of infrastructure and proper sanitation, just to name a few. But the city is good at finding new, sometimes unorthodox, ways to fix itself, like freeing owls to hunt rats in the townships and starting a youth photography skills development programme named ‘Iwasshot in Joburg’.”
One of the things that stand out for her in the city is Braamfontein, “the perfect illustration of a racially integrated South Africa; a breeding ground of creativity and innovation packed full of galleries, artist spaces, bars and startups focused on making meaningful connections with the man on the street”.
Featuring high on the list of aspects that make Joburg an inspiring city include the Inner City Metro; the Newtown Junction; the City’s creative solution to rats infestation in Alexandra; the 5km bicycle track and sidewalk in Orlando East, Soweto; the Diepsloot Mountain Biking Academy; Dlala Nje, a space encouraging children from three of Joburg’s most insular, impoverished, and misunderstood areas inner city areas to come together; and Maboneng’s newest bar.