Akasia

Akasia
Akasia  Akasia shown within Gauteng
Coordinates: 25°38′49″S 28°05′59″E / 25.6470°S 28.0998°ECoordinates: 25°38′49″S 28°05′59″E / 25.6470°S 28.0998°E
Country	South Africa
Province	Gauteng
Municipality	City of Tshwane
Area[1]
• Total	80.84 km^2 (31.21 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
• Total	59,455
• Density	740/km^2 (1,900/sq mi)
Racial makeup (2011)[1]
• Black African	73.7%
• Coloured	1.1%
• Indian/Asian	0.8%
• White	23.9%
• Other	0.4%
First languages (2011)[1]
• Tswana	23.8%
• Afrikaans	23.3%
• Northern Sotho	12.4%
• English	9.9%
• Other	30.6%
Postal code (street)	0601

Akasia is a complex of suburbs in the north of Pretoria, part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. The area surrounding Akasia is largely semi-rural and is Akasia itself is built on former agricultural holdings.

The first suburb to be built in Akasia is The Orchards. The Orchards was established as a residential township in 1904 and an old Dutch-Reformed Church was in the center of the neighborhood. As the City of Pretoria grew in light of industrial expansion in the 1960's more houses were constructed in the northern semi-rural holdings today known as Akasia. The turning point in the urban development of Akasia was the establishment of the Roslyn industrial complex in the early 1970's. Roslyn became a significant industrial complex housing large industrial corporations such as Nampac (c), BMW, South African Breweries and Nissan. With the growth of the manufacturing complex came a need for a large skilled and semi-skilled workforce nearby and by the late 1970's the small agricultural holdings in the area were being purchased and transformed into residential offerings with tree lined streets and green parks.

With a success in the sale of Housing in the Orchards, there was a plan to build more similar sub-urban style houses for the large population of artisans and technicians. Soon Suburbs such as Karenpark, Amandasig, Theresapark, Ninapark, Clarina, Hesteapark, Flourana, and Chantelle were built.

The area's population grew from a mere 400 in the 1950's to over 60 000 in the 2011 census.

With an increase in population came an increase in the demand for other support services such as Schools, Healthcare facilities, municipal offices, filling stations, shopping and entertainment centers and religious institutions.As a result of these developments, Akasia has changed its character as a dormitary town and is developing a vibe of a more cosmopolitan city of its own.

Key Features include the fast growing Wonder Park Shopping Centre, the Winternest train station and drivers testing station, schools such as Hoerskool Akasia, Hoerskool Gert-Marits, Laerskool Theresapark, Laerskool Akasia, Amandasig secondary school and Charlton Force college. The area is home to two world class Golf Courses being the Hillside Golf Course in Nina Park and the Thonbrook Golf Estate in Theresapark.

The area is not known for having a busy nightlife as its inhabitants are largely conservative families but over the years, the existence of News Cafe Karen park, Mogomotsi Country lodge next the Mabopane Highway and the Gaabo Motho party Lodge in Amandasig have added a vibrant feel to the area's nightlife.

The people of Akasia were up until the early 90's mainly white Afrikaans speaking people. Since the advent of democracy in South Africa, the area has transformed to represent the demographics of the greater area Pretoria North. Largely Tswana speaking people domniate the area but there has also been migration of people from all walks of life. A development that has arisen in the social construct of the area is the influx of people from other parts of the African continent bringing with them a new cultural flavor to the area. Small Somalian shops and Congolese hairdressers have gave the largely culturally monogomous area a new traditional dynamic. The relationship between the African Migrants and local South Africans in the Akasia area is relatively good as the population in Akasia is well educated, hard working and levels of unemployment are low.

The future of Akasia is very bright. The Area has a growing young population of graduate professionals who are flocking the cosmopolitan complexes in the Karen Park and Therespark area's. This brings with it more need for business development and expansion in numerous industries. The area in Karenpark north of the Wonder Park Shopping Mall has great potential for commercial development. Office space, high end residential and entertainment offerings in the area will be a very good option for investors in the property development space. Soon the character of Akasia will move from that of a residential area to that of a cosmpolitan development node with glass drapped sky-scrapers and an inter-national appeal.

References

1. "Main Place Akasia". Census 2011.

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1. Khumo Thage: Law Student, amateur urban social scientist and industrial visionary