If an extraterrestrial spaceship were to park itself above the downtown skyscrapers of a major world city, which city would it be? In Hollywood movies, visitors from outer space invariably make a beeline for New York or Los Angeles. But the recent Peter Jackson-produced sci-fi blockbuster, District 9, imagined a fresh — and perhaps more logical — setting: Johannesburg.

Jo’burg, Jozi, or eGoli, as it is variously known, is Africa’s great melting pot. The city has always had a brash, anarchic undercurrent that, on the one hand, promotes dynamism and vibrancy, but on the other constantly threatens to bubble over.

With the advent of the new South Africa in 1994, Jo’burg became a magnet for African migrants. They came from all over the continent, flooding into downtown districts such as Hillbrow. Basic services failed, law and order was pushed beyond the breaking point. By the turn of the century, Jo’burg’s Central Business District was a sci-fi apocalyptic nightmare made real.

Recently, the tide of decay has been reversed. Streets that had been surrendered to lawlessness and dereliction have been reclaimed. Businesses that had fled to the suburbs are moving back to the CBD. Swish apartments are now sought-after in areas where, just a few years ago, you wouldn’t have ventured without armed guards.

The impetus for this amazing transformation is an impending alien arrival as dramatic and outlandish as a spaceship. It will be in the shape of a soccer ball.

In June 2010, South Africa will be hosting the finals of the FIFA World Cup, the world’s second-biggest sporting event after the Olympics. The opening ceremony, many of the preliminary matches and the final itself will be held in Jo’burg. Teams representing 32 nations, along with tens of thousands of their fans, will descend on the city.

It will be the most significant moment in Jo’burg’s history since an obscure prospector, George Harrison, uncovered a nugget of gold on a remote farm in 1886. Inadvertently, he had discovered the Witwatersrand Reef, a 60-mile-long seam of gold that sparked the frenzied gold rush which led to the creation of Johannesburg.

Around 40 percent of all the gold ever mined in the world has come from here, and even today the gold mines continue to underpin the economy. Gauteng Province (pronounced “HOW-teng,” meaning “Place of Gold”), which incorporates Jo’burg and South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, accounts for a third of the country’s wealth and an amazing 10 percent of the gross domestic product of the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.

In most global cities, particular districts are synonymous with class, status and race. Jo’burg takes it to extremes. As the city evolved at the beginning of the 20th century, African workers were compelled to live in shanty towns on the outskirts. By the 1960s, the apartheid regime relocated and consolidated these communities into the vast Southwestern Townships, or Soweto.

When apartheid ended, some of the city’s enclaves became entrenched while others changed beyond recognition as old residents moved out and new ones moved in.

For white inhabitants fleeing the increasingly dangerous CBD, the leafy suburbs of Sandton and Melville became the favored refuges. They remain decidedly upmarket, with plush shopping malls, high-value office space and luxurious residential areas protected by high walls and armed response teams. Downtown Sandton has been described as the richest square mile on the African continent.

Now that the immediate aftershocks of political change have dissipated, a new, much more cosmopolitan Jo’burg is taking shape.

Soweto, once synonymous with the injustices of the notorious Group Areas Act (which compelled the races to live in segregation), is being reborn as a new black middle class emerges. Early investment concentrated on upgrading the dirt roads and improving electricity and water supplies. But the coming of the World Cup has given rise to two mega-projects that will permanently change the perception of Soweto for residents and visitors alike.

The first is Soccer City, which will be the tournament’s main venue. Located on the site of the old Orlando Stadium, the spectacular 94,000-seat arena is designed to resemble a traditional African pot being warmed by the flames of a fire.

The second, which is only now under construction after years of wrangling, is Orlando Ekhaya, a multimillion-dollar shopping, entertainment, residential and university complex on the site of the former Orlando Power Station. The power station’s two decommissioned cooling towers have been decorated with colorful murals and stand as a bold symbol of Soweto’s bright new dawn.

In the build-up to the World Cup, millions have been spent sprucing up Jo’burg’s CBD. A state-of-the-art CCTV system has slashed crime levels, enabling a return to relative normality after the terrible years when the area often resembled a war zone.

Works of public art have been installed throughout the CBD, including a giant antelope, a herd of multicolored cow statues and, most controversially, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, who practiced law in the city (and, as many opponents have pointed out, wrote some uncomplimentary things about Africans).

All of the strands of emergent Jo’burg entwine in the downtown district of Newtown. Even during apartheid, this was one of the places where the races mixed freely, especially at cultural venues such as the Market Theatre and Kippies Jazz Club. Appropriately, it was in Newtown that the first green shoots of Jo’burg’s Inner City regeneration took root, providing a model for the entire city. The city’s old fruit and vegetable market was converted into the Museum of Africa, with an extensive collection of exhibits reaching back to the dawn of humankind. A nearby industrial building, the Turbine Hall, formerly part of the city’s first coal-fired power station, has been converted into a multi-function cultural venue. Meanwhile, four enormous grain silos are being developed into 99 trendy apartments.

Newtown is the clearest manifestation of Nelson Mandela’s dream for a “Rainbow Nation.” Back in 1995, it seemed that the dream was already being realized when South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup and the national team triumphed in the final held at Jo’burg’s Ellis Park stadium.

Rugby had always been the sport of the white minority, while the black population was fervently passionate for soccer (the national soccer team is fondly referred to as Bafana Bafana, meaning “the boys”). The rugby victory in 1995 proved to be a false beginning. Much of the optimism was drained by seemingly insurmountable divisions.

In June, the eyes of the world will again be focused on Jo’burg when the prestigious soccer tournament settles on South Africa. It will move off four weeks later. The organizers hope that the lessons of the past have been learned and that the $3 billion event will be the catalyst for unity. Perhaps, at last, the nightmares of the past will fade to memory, allowing Jo’burg to face a bright, confident future.

Diversions

Johannesburg is still a relatively young city, but its Highveld surroundings have been home to humans for more than 2.5 million years. The Origins Centre, at Wits University in the central district of Braamfontein, provides a fascinating overview of the evolution of homo sapiens. It is the ideal prelude for a visit to the Cradle of Humankind , a 183-square-mile World Heritage site 30 miles northwest of Jo’burg that incorporates 13 dolomite caves in which important early human fossils have been found. The main visitor center for the site is at Maropeng (meaning “returning to the place of our origins”), which is usually combined with a visit to the nearby Sterkfontein Caves.

For an introduction to the city’s beginnings, Gold Reef City, south of the CBD, is an amusement theme park that pays tribute to Jo’burg’s wild gold rush days; the park includes roller-coasters, mock-Victorian streets, performance venues and a gold-mining museum. Nearby, providing a jarring contrast to the carefree fun of Gold Reef City, is the powerful Apartheid Museum, recording the injustices of South Africa’s recent past. Visitors are given an admission card stating their race and enter using the appropriate gate, “White” or “Non-White.”

You can gain a stunning 360-degree panorama of modern Jo’burg from the Top of Africa, the 50th floor viewing deck of Africa’s tallest building, the Carlton Centre, in the CBD. A few blocks away, on the edge of Joubert Park, is the Johannesburg Art Gallery, which boasts the world’s finest collection of South African art, as well as works by Picasso, Degas and Monet. There is a cluster of interesting visitor attractions in Newtown, including the excellent SAB World of Beer, celebrating South Africa’s favorite beverage. Highlights include a recreation of a shebeen, a township drinking house. You can visit the real thing during a tour of Soweto. Several companies offer daytrips to the vast township, and it is becoming an increasingly popular place to stay for a night or two in a bed and breakfast. One of Soweto’s most important attractions is the Hector Pieterson Museum, dedicated to the 12-year-old boy who was shot dead by the police during the 1976 Soweto Uprising. The Mandela House is a recently renovated museum occupying the house in which Nelson Mandela lived prior to his arrest in 1962 and to which he briefly returned after his release in 1990.

One of the popular attractions in Jo’burg is also one of the most bizarre: Montecasino, a huge entertainment and shopping complex designed to resemble a Tuscan hilltop village. Wildlife enthusiasts won’t want to miss Montecasino Bird Gardens, where interactive shows provide an introduction to the local birdlife. Bigger critters can be encountered at the Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre, a 90-minute drive north of Jo’burg. It is the best place in the world to photograph the king cheetah (a rare, striped-coat cheetah mutation), as well as brown hyenas and several antelope species. It is essential to book well in advance. South Africa’s premier game park, Kruger National Park, is easily accessible by air from Jo’burg. There are several superb private reserves along the park boundary, the most famous of which is Mala Mala, the safari venue of choice for the rich and famous.

Info To Go

Flights arrive at O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), 14 miles east
of the city. Many hotels provide courtesy buses. A taxi will usually cost around $35.

Lodging

Lolo’s Guest House
Run by a retired school teacher, Mrs. Mabitsela, this award-winning B&B provides a comfortable home-away-from-home within Soweto. 1320 Diepkloof Ext., Soweto, tel 27 11 985 9183, $$

Saxon Boutique Hotel and Spa
A top-notch boutique hotel, the Saxon is located close to Sandton. Nelson Mandela lived here while writing his autobiography. 36 Saxon Road, Sandhurst, tel 27 11 292 6000, $$$$

The Westcliff
Set amid jacaranda trees on a hillside overlooking Jo’burg Zoo, this is a calm, luxurious oasis founded by the current owner of the Orient Express. 67 Jan Smuts Ave., Westcliff, tel 27 11 481 6000, $$$$

Dining

Addictions Restaurant
A contemporary take on Asian cuisine, incorporating local ingredients such as ostrich steak. 137 Greenway Road, Greenside, Melville, tel 27 11 646 8981 $$$

Butcher Shop & Grill
Situated on Nelson Mandela Square at the heart of Sandton, this popular restaurant celebrates the prime element of South African cuisine: meat. Shop 30, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton, tel 27 11 784 8676 $$

Moyo Zoo Lake
One of three branches in Jo’burg, Moyo specializes in inventively updated African cuisine. 1 Prince of Wales Drive, Parkview, tel 27 11 646 0058, $$