Houghton Estate
| Houghton Estate | |
|---|---|
  Houghton Estate Houghton Estate shown within South Africa
| |
|
Location within Greater Johannesburg  Houghton Estate | |
| Coordinates: 26°9′S 28°3′E / 26.150°S 28.050°ECoordinates: 26°9′S 28°3′E / 26.150°S 28.050°E | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Gauteng |
| Municipality | City of Johannesburg |
| Main Place | Johannesburg |
| Government | |
| • Type | Lower Houghton and eastern part of Upper Houghton - Ward 73 (Region E). Western parts of Upper Houghton -Ward 67 (Region F) |
| • Councillor | Marcelle Ravid (Ward 73), Sihlwele Myeki (Ward 67) (DA (Ward 73), ANC (Ward 67)) |
| Area[1] | |
| • Total | 6.94 km2 (2.68 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
| • Total | 7,867 |
| • Density | 1,100/km2 (2,900/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2011)[1] | |
| • Black African | 39.4% |
| • Coloured | 2.0% |
| • Indian/Asian | 22.4% |
| • White | 34.3% |
| • Other | 2.0% |
| First languages (2011)[1] | |
| • English | 60.2% |
| • Zulu | 8.0% |
| • Afrikaans | 5.7% |
| • Northern Sotho | 3.9% |
| • Other | 22.3% |
Houghton Estate, often simply called Houghton is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, north-east of the city centre.
Houghton Estate has traditionally been informally divided into two areas: Upper Houghton, and Lower Houghton.[2] Upper Houghton is the hilly southern portion located on a ridge, while the northern Lower Houghton is flatter, and has a grid street pattern, with portions lying on both sides of the M1 freeway. Upper Houghton has been declared a National Heritage Area.[3] Upper and Lower Houghton are separated by the East-West section of Houghton Drive. Smaller sections of Upper Houghton lie east of Louis Botha Avenue (bordering Observatory), and west of the north-south section of Houghton Drive (bordering Parktown and Hillbrow). Houghton is surrounded by wealthy suburbs in all directions, except south, where it borders less-affluent suburbs like Yeoville and Hillbrow.
Houghton was developed as a residential area around the turn of the 20th Century, primarily by Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company (JCI) (Musiker and Musiker 2000:137).
Historically a wealthy area, it contains many large homes and properties as well as some blocks of flats, and office parks on streets close to the M1 (developed on the sites of former homes), and on Louis Botha Avenue. Houghton is architecturally varied. There are few shops in Houghton itself, apart from those in petrol stations along Louis Botha Avenue, but the area is close to numerous commercial nodes in Johannesburg, including those in Oaklands, Norwood, Killarney, Rosebank and Sandton.
There are good examples of art deco buildings (particularly some of the flats), and many of the large houses in the 1930s are good examples of the Modern style inspired by the work of Le Corbusier (Chipkin 1993).
The most famous resident of Houghton Estate was Nelson Mandela, and he died at his Lower Houghton home, which became a site of rememberence in the immediate aftermath of his death .
Houghton is centrally located, straddling the M1 freeway, with interchanges at Glenhove Road (M1 N & S), Eleventh Avenue (M1 S), Riviera Road (M1 N), 1st Avenue (M1 S) and Houghton Drive (M1 N). Multiple metropolitan routes cross Houghton, including the M16, M20, M31, R25, and M11 (Louis Botha Avenue).
The suburb, particularly Lower Houghton, is currently experiencing rapid redevelopment. Although many plots had already been subdivided in two, there is now a trend towards the development of cluster homes. This redevelopment is sanctioned by the City of Johannesburg's Regional Spatial Development Framework. The city sees many positive aspects to the redevelopment, but it is not uncontroversial and has resulted in the destruction of many traditional houses.
Houghton has two golf courses (Houghton and Killarney) and a large public park, The Wilds. There are a number of well known schools in Houghton: King Edward VII School (a public school for boys, also known as KES), along with its associated primary school (King Edward VII Preparatory School, known as KEPS), St John's College (a private, Anglican school historically only for boys), Roedean, an private Anglican girls school. Houghton School (a public primary school) is also found in the suburb.
References
- C. Chipkin. Johannesburg Style: Architecture & Society 1880s-1960s. David Philip. ISBN 0-86486-221-0.
- N. Musiker and R. Musiker. (2000) A Concise Historical Dictionary of Greater Johannesburg. Francolin Reference. ISBN 1-86859-071-2.
- Chantelle Benjamin. "Sun sets on areas with low rates." The Weekender, 3–4 November 2007, p3.