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Colonized Peoples. The struggle to reframe (neo)colonial planning in Anglophone Sub-Saharan Africa.

Details:

Year published: 2022
Categories: Book Chapter

Author / Authors:

  • Garth Myers
  • Francis Owusu

Abstract

In Dorina Pojani (Ed.). Alternative Planning History and Theory. Routledge

The chapter examines urban planning dynamics in three African countries where English is the official language of planning (Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania). Despite great variation and diversity, these settings exemplify many themes common to planning in the former British colonies of Africa South of the Sahara. The struggle to assert an African urban identity for planning faced tremendous challenges after independence, including overlapping economic crises in the public sector and global forces for privatization. Many government-led planning efforts have been unsuccessful, and instead many cities have grown in largely informal ways. Even with a 21st century resurgence of state planning efforts and infusion of foreign capital, the unplanned informal aspects of urban development remain strong. The authors argue that it is often in the informal zones of cities such as Accra, Nairobi, or Dar es Salaam that alternative planning finds roots.


Categories:

  • Book Chapter