The city of Johannesburg is both the largest and richest city in the South African nation. It is also one of the nine cities selected to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup, although among these cities it has the distinction of being home to two stadiums, including Soccer City, the venue for the final. The opportunity to shine on the international stage has led to massive renovations of the city's stadiums and tourist areas. These renovations create many jobs, frequently filled by migrant workers from other regions. Huge improvements also need to be made to Johannesburg's infrastructure to cope with the thousands of fans who will flock to the city. As regular funding is diverted to football projects and construction jobs are given to outsiders, money is being withdrawn from the city's poorest neighborhoods, areas once closely linked to segregated areas of the city. apartheid era. This system may be outlawed, but similar discrimination continues today. It is a combination of these issues that allows for a large separation between the rich and the poor in the city, even as the city enters the international spotlight of the FIFA tournament. To prepare for the World Cup, South Africa is building five brand new stadiums. and renovate five others as playing fields in addition to numerous other training grounds across the country. Building fields is an extremely expensive endeavor, but it will also create countless construction jobs, even if the money is slow to trickle down to the lowest levels of society. This is particularly true in Johannesburg, where there are two stadiums: Ellis Park Stadium and especially Soccer City, venue of the final. Soccer City will be almost destroyed and rebuilt...... middle of paper ......odes, A. and Watson, V. (2008). Learning from the post-apartheid experience. In Planning and Transformation. New York: Routledge. Jacobson, C. (December 3, 2009). Tourism chiefs battle 2010 World Cup greed. Retrieved December 3, 2009, from Yahoo! Sports News: http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=ap-wcup-tourism&prov=ap&type=lgnsJohannesburg City Government. (February 24, 2005). Johannesburg is preparing for the FIFA World Cup. Retrieved December 1, 2009 from City of Johannesburg: http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/673/191/Knox, P. and Marston, S. (2007). Human geography: places and regions in a global context. Upper Saddle River: Pearson. Lappin, Y. (October 11, 2009). Israel helps South Africa secure 2010 World Cup. Retrieved December 3, 2009 from Jurusalem Post International News: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1255204772362&pagename=JPArticle/ShowFull