Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 May 2014
Rapid urbanization has been perhaps the most dramatic of the social phenomena that marked the end of the colonial era in Africa. From a situation in 1950 in which the total urban population was no more than 28 million, the figure had by 1984 jumped to well over 125 million, representing a sharply increasing proportion of the total population (World Bank, 1986a). Yet, after an initial period when urbanization was welcomed as a positive tendency in the modernization of the continent (Friedmann, 1961) there is today some ambivalence as to the contributions of urban centers to the overall development of the continent. There are those (Santos, 1971; Bardinet, 1977) who argue that urban centers have failed to serve as a major force in the economic transformation of African countries but have, instead, highlighted their economic dependency and the negative social consequences that go with this. Others (Collier and Lai, 1980; Mabogunje, 1983) argue that much of the limited development that has been achieved in these countries has been due in no small measure to non-farm activities of these urban centers. Cities and towns are therefore apprehended not as the cause but only as the scene of social and economic problems, their role being to draw attention to endemic poverty and social degradation which otherwise remain buried and unobtrusive in the rural areas. When it comes to the role of urban planning and policies in resolving these problems, the pervading impression is of the failure of governments in most African countries to make any appreciable impact on the situation, a fact which has in turn provoked serious debates as to the nature of the post-colonial state in Africa (Hyden, 1983).
In writing this research overview, I have had to consult a number of bibliographies on urbanization and urban development in Africa which are too numerous for me to acknowledge in this brief monograph. I wish to seize this opportunity to thank all those who over the years have prepared valuable bibliographies, particularly annotated bibliographies, on this most challenging aspect of social life in Africa. Most especially, however, I want to acknowledge my great indebtedness to two such bibliographies, the first by O'Connor (1981) and the other by Stren (1986b). I have found their effort most invaluable and enriching. I want also to acknowledge my gratitude to a number of individuals who have read the first draft of this overview and offered their critical comments and suggestions. In particular, I wish to thank Jane Guyer of Boston University, Bish Sanyal of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Richard Stren of the University of Toronto, Carole Rokadi of the University of Wales, Michael Mattingly of the University College, London, and LaRay Denzer of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. I have found their various comments and suggestions very illuminating and in most cases I have tried to incorporate them to further improve the quality of the overview. Nonetheless, while thanking them for their highly appreciated contribution, I wish to absolve them from any deficiencies or errant opinions in this paper for which I alone must be held responsible.