Traditions of urbanisation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The article focuses on the traditions of construction and spatial form of cities in Sub-Saharan Africa in the pre-colonial period and on the transformations of African cities that took place in the colonial times. The oldest urban civilizations of Africa, like Aksum and Meroe are recalled, followed by the Great Zimbabwe in the Middle Ages in southern Africa, Timbuktu and Djenne in West Africa. Various spatial systems occurring in cities south of the Sahara are discussed. During the colonial period, urban planning was subordinated to the principle of spatial segregation of various population groups in the ethnic and cultural sense. Attention was drawn to the influence of the colony management method on the spatial structure of cities. Materials were presented confirming the fact that the colonial period was a time of accelerated urbanization of African countries.

Keywords:

urbanisation, urban planning, Sub-Saharan Africa

Baruah N.G., Henderson J.V., Peng C., 2017, Colonial legacies: Shaping African cities, “SERC Discussion Paper” 226.
  Google Scholar

Freund B., 2007, The African city, a history, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  Google Scholar

Hull R.W., 1976, African cities and towns before the European conquest, Norton, New York–London.
  Google Scholar

Jones B.G., 2011, Civilising African cities: International housing policy from colonial to neoliberal times, 2012, “Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding” vol. 6, Iss. 1.
  Google Scholar

Kaplan D.H., Wheeler J.O., Holloway S.R., 2004, Urban geography, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken.
  Google Scholar

Mehretu A., 1993, Cities of Sub-Saharian Africa, [w:] Brunn S., Williams J. (eds.), Cities of the world: World regional urban development, Harper Collins, New York.
  Google Scholar

Ross E., 2017, The grid plan in the history of Sengalese urban design, [w:] Silva C.N. (ed.), Urban planning in Sub-Saharian Africa, colonial and post-colonial planning cultures, Routledge, New York–London.
  Google Scholar

Silva C.N., 2017, Urban planning in Sub-Saharian Africa, an overview, [w:] Silva C.N. (ed.), Urban planning in Sub-Saharian Africa, colonial and post-colonial planning cultures, Routledge, New York–London.
  Google Scholar

Windmuller-Luna K., 2015, Monumental architecture and stelae of the Aksumite Empire, “Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History” (April 2015), http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aksu_3/hd_aksu_3.htm (dostęp 10 października 2018).
  Google Scholar


Published
2020-11-28

Cited by

Słodczyk, J. (2020). Traditions of urbanisation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Studia Miejskie, 32, 9–20. https://doi.org/10.25167/sm2018.032.01

Authors

Janusz Słodczyk 
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6887-0294

Statistics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.


License

Copyright (c) 2020 Studia Miejskie

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.


Most read articles by the same author(s)