Hillbrow, Gauteng

Hillbrow
Hillbrow and the Hillbrow Tower
Hillbrow Show map of Gauteng Hillbrow Show map of South Africa Hillbrow Show map of Africa  Hillbrow shown within Gauteng
Location within Greater Johannesburg  Hillbrow
Coordinates: 26°11′20″S 28°2′56″E / 26.18889°S 28.04889°E / -26.18889; 28.04889Coordinates: 26°11′20″S 28°2′56″E / 26.18889°S 28.04889°E / -26.18889; 28.04889
Country	South Africa
Province	Gauteng
Municipality	City of Johannesburg
Established	1894
Area
• Total	1.08 km2 (0.42 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	74,131
• Density	69,000/km2 (180,000/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)
• Black African	98.3%
• Coloured	0.9%
• Indian/Asian	0.3%
• White	0.4%
• Other	0.2%
First languages (2011)
• Zulu	36.7%
• Southern Ndebele	16.1%
• English	9.7%
• Northern Sotho	7.1%
• Other	30.4%
Postal code (street)	2001
PO box	2038
Area code	010

Hillbrow ( /ˈhɪlbroʊ/) is an inner city residential neighbourhood of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is known for its high levels of population density, unemployment, poverty and crime.

In the 1970s it was an Apartheid-designated "whites only" area but soon became a "grey area", where people of different ethnicities lived together. It acquired a cosmopolitan and politically progressive feel, and was one of the first identifiable gay and lesbian areas in urban South Africa. However, due to the mass growth of the population of poor and unemployed blacks after the end of Apartheid, crime soared and the streets become strewn with rubbish. This, together with lack of investment and fear led to an exodus of middle class residents in the 1980s and the decay of major buildings, leaving in its wake an urban slum by the 1990s.

Today, the majority of the residents are migrants from the townships, rural areas and the rest of Africa, many living in abject poverty. An urban regeneration programme is underway. There are street markets, mainly used by local residents, and the Johannesburg Art Gallery contains work by major local artists including William Kentridge.

Prior to the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, the suburb laid on government owned land called Randjeslaagte that now makes up the Johannesburg CBD. It was a triangular shaped piece of waste land not used for farming and the future suburb lies in the northern apex of the triangle. The origin of its name is simple, the suburb lies on the brow of the east west mountain ridge that crosses the Johannesburg CBD. It was laid out as a suburb in during 1894-95.

In 2000, Michael Hammon and Jacqueline Görgen directed a documentary named Hillbrow Kids, depicting the struggles of a group of street children in post-apartheid urban South Africa. The 2001 novel Welcome to Our Hillbrow by Phaswane Mpe deals with life in the district in the years after apartheid, focusing on a large number of issues ranging from poverty, HIV/AIDS, and xenophobia.