HOST CITY: JOHANNESBURG
Johannesburg or Joburg as it is more commonly known is known as the City of Gold due to 40% of the World Gold coming from here. In fact Johannesburg was founded back in the 19th century due to the vast amounts of Gold found in the area.
Joburg has a wealth of historical attractions including Constitutional Hill & the Apartheid Museum.
“Soweto”, part of Johannesburg, is an attraction area on its own. Soweto is a place filled with history and culture. The Soweto Tour includes visits to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (The Largest in Southern Africa), Cooling Towers, Oppenheimer Tower, Nelson Mandela’s Home as well as a stop for Lunch at the very well known Wandie’s Place.
Although Joburg is a business hub and may be known as the “Concrete Jungle” it also has many parks & greenery making it an Urban Forest and not only purely a concrete city. The Botanical Gardens, Melville Kopies and Various Large Parks & Lakes such as Zoo Lake & Emmarentia Dam can be found in and around the city.
Entertainment in the city of Johannesburg includes a number of shopping malls such as Sandton City as well as many nightlife entertainment areas such as Melrose Arch as well as many night clubs and restaurants. Gold Reef City Theme Park & Casino provides fun & entertainment for both Adults &Children.
Johannesburg also has many attractions a small drive away from the city including other host cities such as Rustenburg & Pretoria both within 2 hours drive from Joburg. Other attractions close to the city include the Magaliesburg Mountains, Vaal River & Dam and the Warmbaths Resort.
The city of Johannesburg is host to 2 of the biggest football clubs in South Africa. Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates have the biggest support following as football clubs in South Africa. The rivalry and history of these 2 Soweto based clubs is intense and huge. These 2 footballing giants are the core of Domestic Football in South Africa.
Johannesburg will play host to a total of 15 games at the FIFA World Cup over 2 stadiums, Ellis Park & Soccer City. The latter will play host to both the Opening Cermeony and the World Cup final itself.
2010 PROJECTS
SOCCER CITY
Soccer City will be South Africa’s biggest stadium for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It will play host to a total of 8 games including 4 Group Games, 1 2nd Round game, 1 Quarterfinal the Opening Ceremony as well as the World Cup final. The Soccer City Stadium has been rebuilt to increase the capacity of the stadium to 95 000. The design of the new stadium is inspired by an African calabash, a traditional African Cooking Pot.
The improvements and construction of the stadium is expected to cost about 1.5 billion Rands.
Furthermore to the stadium itself over 100 million Rand is being spent on the Stadium Precinct around Soccer City Stadium. SAFA House & The Nasrec Expo Centre which will house International Broadcast Centre will be upgraded. Transport including a Rail Station as well as the BRT on the Soweto Highway is also being upgraded to allow for 25 000 passengers per hour to be catered for.
ELLIS PARK STADIUM
Ellis Park is the 2nd Stadium for the city of Johannesburg. It will play host to 5 Group Games, 1 2nd Round game and 1 Quarterfinal. The Upgrades and Improvements made to the Ellis Park Stadium were all completed in time for the FIFA Confederations Cup held in June of this year as Ellis Park was one of the stadiums used for the tournament including the final match. A total of 250 million Rand was spent in upgrading Ellis Park Stadium to c capacity of 62000.
Furthermore a total of 2 billion rand is being spent on the Precinct in and around Ellis Park.
TRAINING VENUES
The Official Training Venues for the City of Johannesburg are the following Stadiums:
Rand Stadium – The Rand Stadium is being revamped to seat 25 000 spectators. The cost of the project is budgeted at R76 Million.
Dobsonville Stadium – Is Undergoing Refurbishments budgeted to 69 million Rand. The stadium will seat 24000 spectators.
Orlando Stadium – Has been completely rebuilt from scratch for the 2010 World Cup.
The cost for the project of the new Stadium is close on R300 Million. It is expected to seat a total of 40 000 spectators.
FAN PARKS
The main & Official FIFA FAN PARK for the city of Johannesburg will be located at the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newton which is a very central location within the city.
Two other Official Public Viewing Areas are also being developed which are Innes-Free Park in Sandton just off the M1 Highway in the North of Johannesburg.
Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown is the designated public viewing area for the South of Johannesburg.
Furthermore to these main sites above other areas targeted include Indoor Venues as the World Cup is taking place during winter. The main indoor public viewing areas targeted are the Dome in Northgate and Gallagher Estate in Midrand.
PARK & RIDE
The Official Park & Ride Sites for the City of Johannesburg include the following:
Marks Park in Emmarentia
Wits University Wets Campus
Rand Stadium in Turffontein
Bezuidenhout Park
Monte Casino
The Dome in Northgate
Brightwater Commons
Westgate Shopping Mall
Wanderers
TRANSPORT PROJECTS
Over and above the 2 major Transport Projects discussed over the past 2 weeks being the Rwa Vaya and the Gautrain projects, the following are also projects undertaken by the City of Johannesburg for the 2010 World Cup.
iTransie 2 Ellis Park – This Project was successfully use during the FIFA Confederations Cup and serves as the link between the Park & Ride Sites to the Ellis Park Stadium itself.
Oliver Tambo Airport – The main influx of spectators to the City of Johannesburg will most likely be by flight to the OR Tambo International Airport. Transport from the Airport includes a Shuttle Service, Metered Taxi or Car Rentals. The Gautrain Project from the Airport to Sandton will be ready as well by the 2010 World Cup.
Public Transport – Public Transport in and around the city obviously includes the 2 major projects of the Rea Vaya and the Gautrain. Existing Public Transport in and round the city include:
Johannesburg Metro Buses
Mini Bus Taxi’s – which is the Quickest method, but have no set timetable or routes, and safety may be a concern
MetroRail Trains with the Hub being Park Station in Braamfontein
Rental Cars which rely on you finding your own way around
ACCOMODATION
The majority of 4 and 5 star accommodation in Johannesburg is based in the North especially in Sandton and its surrounding areas. The 2010 World Cup will have an increase in demand for accommodation especially in Johannesburg due to a total of 15 games over 2 stadiums taking place in the city including the World Cup Final itself. The projected demand for accommodation for the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg is estimated in the table below.
From the above you will notice that Johannesburg has a shortfall of over 50 000 beds come 2010 World Cup.
Among the plans to accommodate the visitors of the 2010 World Cup, the City of Johannesburg is planning to establish a range of Fan Camps around the city as well as trying to obtain domestic homes and apartments from local residents.
Below is a graph map showing the accommodation available throughout the city of Johannesburg.
Galactico
No comments:
Post a Comment