By Pauline Larsen 
  
Johannesburg urban experts are fuming over an article in the April 2004 National Geographic about the city. It looks only at the negatives, they say.  The magazine analyses the city in a gloomy article titled "City of hope, city of fear". It's easy to criticise, experts argue, but accomplishments in the past decade deserve praise. 

For a start, Johannesburg's five-year growth rate is steaming at 4,95%/ year, double the national rate. Between 1998 and 2002, the city's annual GDP skipped above the 6% mark three times.  " Dramatic strides have been made in improving infrastructure and services," says the city's director of economic development, Lael Bethlehem.  And she's right (see table). Between 1996 and 2001 formal housing was provided for 44% more households; 48% more households received weekly municipal refuse collection , 42% more of the city's households were electrified and 35% more received on-property water. 

The urban population has risen at 4,1%/year since 1997. There have been increases in all population groups.  In stark contrast to claims of white flight from Johannesburg, the white urban population has grown by 4,6%.  The murder rate in Soweto has been halved in the past decade from 1 200 in 1994 to 620 in 2002. Johannesburg's murder rate has declined slightly, from an annual 1 150 to 1 000 in the latest data.  The biggest challenge facing Johannesburg, say urban developers, is unemployment. "It affects housing, crime and a host of other variables, and we need to have a major think-tank between the public and private sectors to work out what can be done," says Central Johannesburg Partnership head Neil Fraser. 

But even there, says Bethlehem, Johannesburg had a 2,4%/year increase in the five years to 2002 - close on 150 000 new jobs.  The inner city is receiving greatly increased investment. Private-sector funding in the node rose from R19,6m in 2000 to R57,1m in 2002. That's almost 200% - outdone only by the 500% rise in public-sector capital expenditure . 

Fraser points to the successful city improvement districts: they have brought in R30m of private funding. The city has also begun to cultivate specialist precincts and districts, ranging from the fashion district and Chinatown to the cultural centre at Newtown.  It's the only city in SA today with a 30-year economic development strategy.