ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses urban change. Cities are dynamic, ever-changing places. As such, they require agile, flexible theoretical lenses and analytic repertoires. Buildings, parks, recreation facilities, churches, streets crowded with people, the back of a police van, shopping malls, a gym, corporate offices and homes. Some of these places certainly exemplified the ‘extremes’ which Johannesburg is noted for. Riding on the high price of gold, the city flourished through the middle decades of the 20th century. The wealth flowing from the mines became concretised in the city’s built form, with older buildings being demolished and the bulk of the high-rise buildings and skyscrapers which make up the city’s contemporary skyline dating from this period, through to the 1970s. Perhaps more than any other setting in Johannesburg, the inner-city demonstrates the changes which have occurred since the end of apartheid. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
