Still living in the house he was born in, artist William Kentridge says it's the old architecture and the fact that Joburg is 'a working city' that keeps him inspired.

William Kentridge, internationally renowned artist, in his studio in Joburg

ARTIST William Kentridge, a Joburger by birth, loves the fact that Joburg is not a tourist city.

"It has a zero tourist base - its logic is not determined by tourism. It is not like Cape Town, it's not owned by foreign money, it's a working city."

World-renowned Kentridge, who lives in the same house in Houghton he was born in, has often acknowledged that Johannesburg is his source of inspiration.

And that inspiration has spanned some 20 years of work, exhibited all over the world and housed in private and public collections internationally. Joburgers are privileged to see frequent exhibitions of his work in the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG). At present his Black Box/Chambre Noire is getting people into the CBD.

He loves the cosmopolitan nature of Joburg. "I love the sense of Africa in the city, of being wider, with other worlds here, other languages."

It's easy to see why he loves the dark, moody thunderclouds that build up on summer afternoons, calling them "our alps" - his work is always in shades of black, done in charcoal, captured in wonderful images on film and video.

He also loves the large, winged angel of peace at the top of the Johannesburg Zoo - the 20m tall Rand Regiments Memorial, erected originally to the memory of the British soldiers who died in the South African War of 1899, and designed by notable British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. The angel sits atop a huge four-sided arch, looking out over the lushness of the zoo.

Lutyens also designed another building that is close to Kentridge's heart - the JAG.

Kentridge describes it as one of his favourite places. "It's a fantastic piece of architecture, better than anything in Sandton."

But he bemoans the fact that the area around the gallery has become untidy, overcrowded and a crime risk. "It's a real sadness that Joubert Park has become a no-go area for tourists."

He thinks it's a bad idea to move the JAG to Newtown, an idea mooted 18 months ago by the city authorities. The building itself is in need of maintenance, and it is felt that it would be more appropriately located in the cultural precinct of Newtown.

Kentridge thinks the buildings surrounding Joubert Park, one of the city's oldest parks but now too small for the thousands of people who live in the immediate vicinity, are worth spending money on. "The buildings around Joubert Park are fantastic - they should be rescued."

It's a case, he says, of the public space being eroded. The park is jam-packed every weekend, the surrounding streets choked with taxis. "I don't know that we have any more public space."

Kentridge sees this erosion in the suburbs as well.

"There is an extraordinary distraction of civic space, where public space is being turned into high-security walls that get higher and higher," he says.

He is concerned about the demolition of city buildings, particularly Art Deco creations. He bemoans the fact that there is immense private wealth in the city, but at the same time there is "extraordinary stinginess in giving back to the city".

He'd like to see a concert hall built in the city.

He's not sure about the value of one of the city's newest structures, the Nelson Mandela Bridge.

"The bridge is very pretty but it's like a toy, so modern but a bit like going to Santarama [a miniature model town in Rosettenville]."

He sees this as a "failure of civic imagination", but feels that better things are still coming.

In the meantime, he admits to enjoying visits to the Market Theatre in Newtown.

• Why I love Joburg