12 Johannesburg: race, inequality, and urbanization * Owen Crankshaw and Susan Parnell The city of Johannesburg lies at the heart of a sprawling metropolis. This metropolis, which we shall call the Johannesburg region, roughly corresponds with the boundaries of Gauteng Province. 1 It stretches from Soshanguve in the north to Vanderbijl Park in the south and from Carletonville in the west to Springs in the east (Map 12.1). While Johan- nesburg is an obvious example of a large city in a poor country that is riddled by social and economic inequality, there is a certain irony in its portrayal as a world city. After all, only five years ago Johannesburg was the hub of a pariah nation that was the object of one of the most successful international sanctions campaigns (see Gelb 1991). Notwithstanding the impact of the boycott against apartheid, Johannesburg has long served as the major urban center of southern Africa. It is an unusually cosmopoli- tan city, with extensive demographic, political, and economic connec- tions with Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America that date back to colonial times (Goty and Simone 2002; Parnell and Pirie 1991). Increas- ingly strong links are now also being forged with Australasia through immigration and sport. Johannesburg is the economic hub of both South Africa and of the southern African region. As an urban giant located in a middle-income * Financial assistance from the Research Foundation and the University of Cape Town for this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed in this chapter and conclusions arrived at are those of the authors and are not necessarily to be attributed to the National Research Foundation. 1 A note on terminology: this metropolis used to be called the “PWV,” an acronym for the “Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging Complex.” The functional importance of this region has since been given the status of a province and is now known as “Gauteng” (the place of gold). However, the names “PWV” and “Gauteng” are not known in interna- tional circles so, for the purposes of this chapter, we have chosen to name this metropolitan area the “Johannesburg region” or simply “Johannesburg.” When we refer to the city of Johannesburg, we will refer to its formal administrative designation of the “Greater Johan- nesburg Metropolitan Area” or simply as the “city of Johannesburg.” The Greater Johan- nesburg Metropolitan Council was an interim municipal authority that incorporated, amongst others, the erstwhile local authorities of Johannesburg, Randburg, Roodepoort, Sandton, and Soweto (see Map 12.1). 348