MZANZI TRAVEL - ISSUE 3

Lifestyle
JOZI LIVE...
THE MABONENG PRECINCT
Next time you are in Johannesburg
(also known as Jozi, eGoli or just
Joburg) and you want to experience
its new downtown urban vibe, do
what the smart, the cool and the
fun people do: go hang out in the
exciting Maboneng Precinct.
It’s described as an urban
neighbourhood where residents,
businesses and visitors are part of a growing tribe connecting the
heart and essence of the City of Johannesburg, a collaborative
cultural and business hub that is the epicentre of “the Joburg
inner-city renaissance”.
The precinct is a total lifestyle development on the eastern side of
downtown Joburg offering accommodation for both residents and
visitors, retail stores, a variety of exciting entertainment venues,
restaurants, art, tours and open ‘people places’ combined with
office and industrial spaces. It also combines history and early
architecture with a modern industrial feel and the urban pulse
of South Africa’s biggest city. It focuses strongly on a sense of
community and is a safe and secure neighbourhood.
In a sense this is the Joburg experience coming full circle: from its
early beginnings when the action was centered around the taverns
and brothels in the tent and shanty mining camps of Fordsburg and
Ferreira’s Township in the late 1800s; to the later focal point of the
old Carlton Hotel and the grand shops of Pritchard and Eloff Streets
in the city and its new suburbs such as Jeppestown, Doornfontein
and Parktown in the 1940s; to the high-rise concrete jungle and
cosmopolitan, never-sleep entertainment and fun of Hillbrow
in the 1960s; followed by the decay and desertion of the inner
city and relocation to the posh northern areas of Rosebank and
Sandton; and now the return to the inner city with creative and
exciting developments such as Maboneng which covers an area
between the city centre and Jeppestown.
Moboneng precinct is the brainchild of development group,
Propertuity, who envisioned a precinct development that would
revitalise a significant portion of Joburg’s inner city incorporating
business, housing and creative spaces to be used by people from
all walks of life.
Nyiko Chauke, Propertuity’s marketing manager for Maboneng,
told MzanziTravel the idea behind Maboneng was to create
an inclusive neighbourhood community with a mix of good art
galleries, restaurants, cinema, residential buildings, office space,
trees and more. It now even has its own primary school.
86 |ISSUE 3|www.mzanzitravel.co.za | MZANZI TRAVEL