Auckland Park

Auckland Park is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It lies on a gentle slope, and is in close proximity to the suburbs of Melville, Brixton, Westdene and Richmond. Auckland Park is one of the few suburbs close to the Johannesburg city centre that has remained largely unaffected by the recent migration of Johannesburg residents to the city's northern suburbs. Auckland Park is home to a mix of nationalities and cultures, and the suburb is well known as the location of the South African Broadcasting Corporation headquarters.HistoryThe suburb was laid out by John Landau, a New Zealander who named the area due to the similarities he experienced between the region and the city of Auckland, his native home. It was established in 1888 after the land was purchased from Petrus Lindeque and was part of an old Witwatersrand farm called Braamfontein.. Street names in the area are named after places along the river Thames: Richmond, Twickenham, Ditton and Kingston, among others. Some of the city of Johannesburg's first residents settled in Auckland Park, as the region was still considered to be "in the country" relative to the city centre. Victorian gentry who had made South Africa their home would have had weekend homes in the area. The original site offered a boating lake, located where the Country Club Johannesburg is today, as well as a horse racing track, where the University of Johannesburg (formerly RAU) is.