African City Model
The African City Model is a conceptual framework used to understand the spatial organization and development of cities in Africa. It emphasizes the unique characteristics of African urban areas, such as informal economies, rapid urbanization, and diverse cultural influences. The model highlights the complex interplay between traditional and modern elements in shaping the urban landscape of African cities.
6 Key excerpts on "African City Model"
eBook - ePubArchitectural Research Addressing Societal Challenges Volume 1
Proceedings of the EAAE ARCC 10th International Conference (EAAE ARCC 2016), 15-18 June 2016, Lisbon, Portugal
- Manuel Jorge Rodrigues Couceiro da Costa, Filipa Roseta, Susana Couceiro da Costa, Joana Pestana Lages, Manuel Jorge Rodrigues Couceiro da Costa, Filipa Roseta, Susana Couceiro da Costa, Joana Pestana Lages(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...To make modern cities work, a transformation in fiscal and administrative institutions is more needed than an incremental change, and it often comes in response to a crisis of some kind. 2 OVERVIEW OF AFRICAN CITIES TODAY 2.1 African urban exceptionalism Though African cities are quite different from one another, there are main struggles, linked to previous features, that most African cities share: overcoming colonial inheritances of poverty, underdevelopment and socio-spatial inequality; dealing with informal sectors and settlements and governing justly. Edgar Pieterse and Susan Parnell in their book Africa’s urban revolution and Garth Andrew Mayers, in his book African Cities. Alternative visions of Urban Theory and Practice identify several distinctive features of African cities. First of all they are integrally connected to rural areas through the practice of circular migration, a strategy for maintaining multiple bases so as to optimize livelihoods and mitigate the risks of settling permanently in economically, environmentally, socially or politically precarious African towns. Second, there is the sponge of the urban fringe or peri-urban edge; this is often a porous settlement boundary which is neither urban nor rural in its character or governance. What is also distinctive in Africa is the phenomenon of urban primacy: one large capital city serves as the center point of national settlement system and is typically three to four times larger than the second largest city in the country. In many African countries this is a direct hangover from the colonial era. Colonial regimes attempted to restrict migration to cities from the countryside or even to exclude Africans from the legal right to live in cities. Under colonialism, rural-to-urban migration seems to have been fueled as much by the pull factor of perception as by actual opportunity, and by the push factors of rural landlessness, poverty and lack of employment...
eBook - ePub- Aly Karam, François Viruly, Catherine Kariuki, Victor Akujuru, Aly Karam, François Viruly, Catherine Kariuki, Victor Akujuru(Authors)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Ancient and colonial cities were constrained by technological limitations, to dislocate themselves from those they regard as poor and economically inferior. The arrival of the colonial powers, racisms, and other forms of dominance on African cities, boosted by neo-liberal economic policies and discriminatory land use management practices, have set the stage for the current poverty traps, inequalities, and marginalisation. The efforts of powerful elites have directly and indirectly influenced the growth and structure of African cities and by default, the patterns of real estate investment, within the context of compounding development challenges such as massive inequality, poverty, and economic marginalisation of the majority of the urban population. The brief historic overview of African cities shows that roots of the current realities can be traced back to the political, social, and economic forces at play; the growth, urban form, and structure of settlements on the continent; the associated pattern of property investment and development; and the urban management response from the public sector. The complex and integrated relationships between these factors were explored over the ancient, colonial, and contemporary epochs. This analysis shows that the interests of those in power, in this case the property elites, have a significant impact on how the city is structured and developed and how the state generally serves this interest, or at least does not confront the forces at play. However, the growth of cities has also in modern times been influenced by development philosophies such a Keynesianism and Humanism that recognise that communities are poor not by accident but by design and therefore advocate the welfare of broader society. The effective and efficient management of cities is central to addressing these challenges facing African cities...
eBook - ePubUrban Planning in Sub-Saharan Africa
Colonial and Post-Colonial Planning Cultures
- Carlos Nunes Silva(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...In addition, the racist discourse and the practice of National Socialism in Germany made increasingly intellectually unacceptable the arguments in favor of racial residential segregation in the colonial cities. 41 Deborah Potts (2012) reveals a different picture. Briggs and Yeboah (2001) argue that African cities continue to grow and mainly through peri-urban development. David Satterthwaite (2010), among others, highlights the gaps and limitations in the data available on urban populations. For the broad UN perspective on African urbanization and urban policy challenges, see its 2010 and 2014 reports on the state of African cities (UN-Habitat, 2010; 2014). 42 In the case of the African regional center of Unesco, located in Khartoum, it was responsible for training seminars for architects, planners and policy makers. Also important in the post-independence has been the role that international aid agencies played in the transfer of architectural and urban planning knowledge (Raedt, 2014). 43 Beeckmans (2010) for the case of France and former Belgian Congo. Also relevant is the case of the innumerable new planning influences in the former Portuguese colonies. 44 As is the case of the strategic spatial planning and the collaborative planning approach. Nonetheless, Todes et al. (2010) show, based on the experience of South Africa, that some of these new approaches to spatial planning have been shaped by older thinking. As a consequence, it is claimed that more debate is needed in particular on the appropriateness of these new approaches to the various African city contexts. See also: Parnell, Pieterse and Watson (2009); Attahi et al. (2009); Okpala (2009); Todes (2012). 45 The first of these ministerial conferences was held in Durban, in 2005, and was focused on the theme “Urbanization, Shelter and Development: Towards an Enhanced Framework for Sustainable Cities and Towns in Africa”...
- Simon Bekker, Slyvia Croese, Simon Bekker, Slyvia Croese(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- African Minds(Publisher)
...CHAPTER 1 Introduction Simon Bekker, Sylvia Croese & Edgar Pieterse The urban is old: cities have existed for thousands of years, but they have been transformed by the arrival of nation-states over two centuries ago … The future of globalism looks pretty sure and well laid out … The main difficult question is the future of the people. – Göran Therborn, Cities of Power (2017: 1, 356) Scholarship on African cities has been proliferating over the past two decades. This is testament to the growing acknowledgement of the importance of cities in an increasingly urban age. This Introduction commences with an outline of Africa’s urban reality today. Subsequently, an overview of contemporary urban scholarship calling for Global South and African approaches to this reality is offered before turning to that proposed by Therborn’s Cities of Power. The principal framework to structure this volume and its various case study chapters is based upon his publication. Its primary theme of seeking relationships between the national, the popular and the global in capital cities today is outlined and the notion of refractions of these forces introduced. The chapter concludes with the structure of the volume. In sub-Saharan Africa, urbanisation has grown exponentially. From 1995 to 2015, Africa’s urban population doubled from 236 million to 472 million. Over the next decade, this population is projected to become larger than Europe’s (559 vs. 555 million). It will also be larger than that of Latin America and the Caribbean (536 million) (Moreno 2017; UNDESA 2019). Urban growth has been associated with social, economic and political development. In 1900, life expectancy in Africa was estimated to be 24 years – today it has reached 63 years. Literacy rates tripled from 23% in 1970 to 65% in 2010. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) multiplied by five times from 1995 to 2015, with an expanding share of industry and services as part of total GDP...
eBook - ePubEngineering Design and Mathematical Modelling
Concepts and Applications
- Nnamdi Nwulu, Mammo Muchie, Nnamdi Nwulu, Mammo Muchie(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Mathematical model showing how socioeconomic dynamics in African cities could widen or reduce inequality Obiora Cornelius Collins, Thokozani Silas Simelane and Kevin Jan Duffy Cities are important forces of national socioeconomic development. Individuals in cities often belong to different socioeconomic statuses depending on their levels of income, education and nature of occupation. Income, employment and education opportunities are among the main attractions of most cities. In this study, we investigate the impact of socioeconomic status on city attractiveness for the African cities of Windhoek, Harare, Lusaka, Kinshasa and Nairobi. The socioeconomic status of samples of individuals in these cities are used to formulate a mathematical model that describes the city population dynamics. Using income as a measure, qualitative analyses of the model together with numerical simulations using survey data show how competitive relationships among the various socioeconomic status groups could widen inequality over time. Alternatively, synergetic relationships among the various socioeconomic groups could reduce this inequality. These results point to urban planning that encourages synergism between the different income classes with the aim of reducing inequality. Introduction Many African cities face challenges in terms of the quality of life they offer their citizens. Despite widespread agreement on the need for improvement, effective programmes are seldom successfully implemented in most cities in Africa (Turok and Watson 2001). In the absence of effective urban policies many African cities are less likely to be inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable as desired by Sustainable Development Goal Number 11 (Radoslav et al. 2012). In addition, improving financial security and job satisfaction in most cities in Africa are less likely. Without these attributes African cities are not expected to be attractive to move to and settle in...
eBook - ePubEconomic Incentives in Sub-Saharan African Urban Planning
A Ghanaian Case Study
- Kwasi Gyau Baffour Awuah(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...For example, the scenario-based approach, one of the popular policy prescriptions for Africa’s sustainable development, which is based on the global economy and methodology model, acknowledges the significant influence of urbanisation in Africa’s development discourse. The approach uses three scenarios, namely, convergence, business-as-usual, and downside. Based on long-term projection of the evolution of 186 countries as a function of labour force, capital stock and total factor productivity, it recommended the convergence scenario (JICA, 2013). According to the convergence scenario, Africa’s per capita income is expected to grow by around 4.6% per annum over the next 40 years, converging with those of the world moving from 27% of the world’s average in recent times to 52%. The per capita growth will also introduce several changes and transform the lives of people on the continent and its role in the world. The size of the middle class will grow more than tenfold, an increase from 12% to 68%, whilst poverty levels are projected to decline from 380 million to 53 million (37% to under 3%). Further, Africa’s contribution of under 3% to global GDP will increase to 9%. However, these expected development outcomes are dependent on factors, such as macroeconomic performance, poverty and inequality demography, urbanisation, and access to natural resources (JICA, 2013). Apart from the above conditions, it is argued that cities’ and urban areas’ continuous performance as an engine of sustainable growth and development depends on the institution of appropriate regulations for their configuration and intervention, to ensure efficient land use and management of diseconomies of agglomeration. This implies that for SSA cities and urban areas to promote growth and development, there is a need for their effective and efficient management (UN-Habitat, 2008; World Bank, 2009)...
