The African City: Urbanisation in Africa

africanCities, Essay, Jérôme Chenal, No Density, Territory and mobility

Accessibility, African Cities, African identity, African Public Realm, Collective identity, Community Facilities, Construction, Efficiency, Essay, Facilities, Global Cities, History of Architecture, Informal city, Informal economy, Infrastructure, Metropolis, Mobility, Population, Productivity, Public Space, Public space role, Urban conditions, Urban Development, Urban growth, Urban management, Urban planning, Urban policies, Urban space, Urban sprawl

Excerpt from The West African City by Jérôme Chenal, published by EPFL Press.

The history of African cities is ancient. For instance, we know today that urbanisation in Africa existed long before Arab and Portuguese influences (Coquery-Vidrovitch, 1993). However, while this urban history is ancient, it is clear that Europeans introduced a new type of city based on grid patterns and ‘monumental’ architecture (Coquery-Vidrovitch, Georg, 1996). In the colonial era, the ‘real’ city was that of the whites (founded on the European economy), while ‘indigenous’ areas were not considered part of the city and tended to be identified with the village model (i.e. without rules). The importation of traditional village building techniques further reinforced this idea.