1.1 Introduction
The idea of urban planning imagination is both historical and contemporary, and planning is increasingly viewed and employed as a purposeful, future-oriented act of imagination (Phelps, Reference Phelps2021). The past and present formation and patterns of cities reflect the diversity and plurality of urban planning imaginations. Therefore, urban planning transcends mere spatial development of cities to include rationalisation of activities and reshaping of urban space to enable sustainable, comfortable and congenial habitation, aiding productivity (Magnusson, Reference Magnusson2011). Phelps (Reference Phelps2021, p. 4) explains that planning imagination
is ever more distributed across a range of actors with differing geohistorical sensibilities. It is this that ensures that consideration of urban planning’s contributions and failures should adopt vantage points well outside those of Western Europe and North America. The way in which we think about urban planning … should perhaps be forgiving of urban planning’s inherent limitations but re-enchanted by its impressive and growing stock of knowledge, ideas, and methods and the sense of possibility it carries with it.
In other words, urban planning, whether incremental or large-scale, frequently involves a geohistorical flow of introspective and pragmatic actions that convey significant wisdom in determining desirability or otherwise. Regardless of the focus and scale, urban planning is concerned with creation of improved and liveable cities. However, Sack (Reference Sack2003) asserts that where there is ignorance and lack of imagination, urban planning can also produce undesirable urban spaces. This may explain the generally poor performance of urban planning across African cities (Cobbinah & Darkwah, Reference Cobbinah and Darkwah2017; Watson, Reference Watson2009a). Still, urban planning remains an activity that has adapted to changes in society over the decades and retains its imaginative potency in developing collaborative efforts towards addressing significant urban challenges (Phelps, Reference Phelps2021).
In this book we recognise the importance of imagination in changing the current narrative of urban planning theory and practice in Africa. For that purpose, the book asks, Can the reimagination of urban planning in Africa, which is largely embedded in and framed around inherited colonial planning, lead to positive and improved outcomes for addressing twenty-first-century urban development challenges? Urban planning reimagination in this context refers to reconsideration, rethinking, re-evaluation and deconstruction of past and current urban planning theory, systems and practices to focus on important issues that define and shape modern African cities. It advocates for less emphasis on and implementation of colonially inherited and imported Western systems of planning, and promotes ‘Africanisation’ in urban planning, developing and implementing planning systems that respond to the needs of the contemporary African city.
Nearly half of Africa’s population lives in urban agglomerations. From humble beginnings in the 1950s, when the continent’s urban population stood at 27 million people, it jumped to 567 million people by the end of the second decade of the twenty-first century (OECD/SWAC, 2020). While the pace of urban growth and urbanisation in Africa varies considerably from country to country, and from one region to another, the continent remains one of the fastest urbanising regions in the world, driven by high population growth and reclassification of rural settlements. For example, North Africa is the most urbanised region in Africa with over 78% of its population residing in urban areas. Official statistics indicate that the continent’s population will double between 2020 and 2050, with two-thirds of the growth occurring in urban areas (OECD/SWAC, 2020). Most of this demographic shift will take place in Africa’s growing conurbations, located predominantly along the coast of the continent – from Rabat and Algiers in the north, to Dakar and Lagos in the west, Dar es Salaam and Mombasa in the east, Cape Town and Maputo in the south, Luanda and Libreville in the central part. The locations of many African cities, particularly coastal ones, make them vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. African cities are described as being in the eye of the climate change storm, with the continent experiencing the harshest effects of climate change (Cobbinah, Reference Cobbinah2021).
Urbanisation and climate change are undoubtedly key drivers framing urban development in Africa – on the one hand cities contribute significantly to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions; on the other hand they remain centres for addressing climate change (Cobbinah & Addaney, Reference Cobbinah and Addaney2019). Similarly, urbanisation provides a context and platform for generation and sharing of prosperity, but also presents considerable problems such as urban sprawl, slum growth, unemployment, congestion, air pollution and insufficient provision of social amenities (Cobbinah & Addaney, Reference Cobbinah and Addaney2022). Past and current experiences of urban planning in African cities show that planning has not performed well in addressing urban challenges, and preparing cities for transformative, adaptable and sustainable futures (see Berrisford, Reference Berrisford2014). But urban planning has enormous potential to address the colliding problems of climate change and rapid urbanisation by providing a platform to lift millions out of poverty, improve housing conditions, contribute to reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and empower cities to become hubs of knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship.
In this case, how do we ensure that planning empowers African cities to harness the benefits of rapid urbanisation across the continent while addressing its consequent negative outcomes? Africa’s colonial urban planning history has been framed by segregation between rich and poor, north and south, indigenes and non-indigenes, and formality and informality, which has not been successful in addressing critical and urgent urban development problems. How do we avoid the mistakes of the past to ensure that planning in African cities responds to serious climate change challenges in an inclusive, equitable and sustainable manner? Business as usual in urban planning practice in African cities is not an option. So what should urban planning practice reflect – and why do we need to get urban planning right in African cities?
1.2 Why Reimagine Urban Planning in African Cities?
The turn of the twenty-first century marked the beginning of a major shift in global thinking about the future of African cities. This shift is necessitated by the complications of two defining phenomena. The first is the recognition that, for the first time in history, 60% of Africa’s population will be living in cities by 2050 (OECD/SWAC, 2020), and that there has been a failure of urban planning to manage the continent’s rapid urbanisation as defined and framed by informality (Finn & Cobbinah, Reference Finn and Cobbinah2022). The second significant phenomenon is the rate and scale of climate change impacts coupled with issues such as urban poverty and substantial infrastructure deficits producing significant problems in African cities and requiring specific planning responses. In effect, reimagining urban planning in Africa is a recognition of the urgency to fundamentally reconsider theory and practice to enable it to play a significant role in addressing the defining characteristics of rapid urbanisation and climate change in African cities.
Although the inadequacies of urban planning in addressing complications of rapid urbanisation and climate change in African cities are complex and cannot always be blamed on planning itself, Watson (Reference Watson2009a) observes that planning systems in most African cities are either colonially inherited regimes or adopted from the Western world to suit specific local political and ideological agendas. Across several African cities, the colonially inherited planning systems and approaches have been entrenched post colonisation, despite the context evolving significantly. The importance of urban planning to reflect local aspirations, produce functional and inclusive urban spaces, and generate pro-poor and environmental conservation outcomes has therefore received limited consideration. There is a gap between the increasingly techno-managerial and marketised systems of frequently older forms of urban planning and the everyday lived experiences of urban citizens, particularly the marginalised and impoverished urban populations existing mostly under conditions of informality in Africa (Watson, Reference Watson2009a). Thus, there is a demand for a fundamental rethink of urban planning theory and practice in promoting sustainable, inclusive and resilient cities in Africa. This book, Reimagining Urban Planning in Africa, offers additional and alternative theoretical and empirical insights to provide planners a framework for rethinking planning to engender sustainable futures.
Worldwide, there has been commitment towards sustainable urban development via urban planning since the introduction of the concept of sustainable development in the 1980s. This global commitment was strengthened in 2015 with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with Goal 11 specifically focusing on making cities sustainable, resilient and adaptable. In addition, the New Urban Agenda and Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want are demonstrable evidence of global and regional commitment towards improved urban planning and development. Given that cities hold more than half of the world’s population and two-thirds of the global economy, it is argued that these global and regional commitments have been adopted in an urban world and their successes strongly depend on effective urban planning and management. Unfortunately, not all cities are making an appreciable effort towards actualising the sustainable urban development vision. As previously mentioned, Africa remains one of the fastest urbanising continents worldwide, with diverse urban settlements but extremely weak and dysfunctional urban planning systems. There is a huge gap between urban planning ideals and realities across African cities. The continent’s urban spaces are frequently reported to be confronted with similar critical urban and infrastructure development challenges that are impediments to sustainable development: urban sprawl; increasing poverty; slum proliferation; unregulated informality; transport infrastructure shortfalls; water and sanitation challenges; and urban crime.
Meanwhile, urban planning is recognised as possessing transformative power to address key urbanisation and climate change challenges and represents a pivotal first step to empowering cities towards sustainable development. The question that emerges is, Why is urban planning not working for African cities? Urban planning on the continent needs to be interrogated, deconstructed and reimagined to reflect local aspirations, address African challenges, and promote inclusive and just futures. While there are individual reported studies/cases of urban planning experiences in African countries, little is known about how rethinking and deconstruction of the history and current experiences of urban planning within the context of global and regional sustainable development goals can transform the urban spaces on the continent. In a rapidly urbanising continent, sustainable development cannot be achieved without seriously considering how urban planning reflects the identity of the local community and contributes to global and regional commitments focusing on sustainable transformation of cities. This is particularly important given that cities are the drivers of innovative sustainable development at the local level. Urban planning as a product, a profession and a process is critical to the future of African cities and should be reimagined to deliver sustainable outcomes.
The concept of urban planning – variously referred to as land use planning, spatial planning and town planning – is a multifaceted activity and an approach through which authority is exercised in the guidance on spatial development of a community, deciding, coordinating and regulating future distribution of land use activities in a rational manner (see CEC, 1997; Kunzmann, Reference Kunzmann, Keiner, Koll-Schretzenmayr and Schmid2005; Magnusson, Reference Magnusson2011). Urban planning has become a progressively more widespread and indispensable pursuit framed by important ‘wisdom of what works and what doesn’t, what could be desirable and what is not’ (Phelps, Reference Phelps2021, p. 1). With its specific-discipline framing and professional forward-looking nature, urban planning forms part of the political decision-making process that aims to implement economic, ecological and social objectives in spatial terms (Pahl-Weber & Schwartze, Reference Pahl-Weber and Schwartze2018). It has radical progressive possibilities and recognises the importance of politics and power play in shaping and framing sustainable and functional urban futures. As argued by Cobbinah and Finn (Reference Finn and Cobbinah2022), urban planning’s application, theoretical expansion and practical interrogation in African urban contexts provide foundational insights into how these possibilities can be reimagined and achieved.
Urban planning at this time of critical challenges from urbanisation and climate change in African cities compels theorists to question how planning can plausibly be reimagined for a functional, inclusive and sustainable future. The need for progressive planning norms in African cities is urgent and highlights the value of offering voice to urban citizens who want to participate in the management of urbanisation and climate change. The trend towards climate change management via urban planning is emerging along with the increasing and devastating impacts of climate change dominating urban development discourse in recent times in Africa (Cobbinah & Addaney, Reference Cobbinah and Addaney2019; Henderson et al., Reference Henderson, Storeygard and Deichmann2017; Lawson, Reference Lawson2016). Climate change research describes African cities as severely impaired when it comes to preparation towards climate change impacts (Broto, Reference Broto2014; IPCC, 2021). Existing climate change impacts, including sea level rise, rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall patterns, are expected to continue to destabilise urban Africa through catastrophic flood events, prolonged droughts and unbearable heatwaves. As reported by the United Nations Office for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR, 2012), the African continent recorded the 10 worst drought catastrophes worldwide between 1970 and 2010. At the same time, the number of people exposed to flood disasters more than tripled between 1970 and 2010 – from 500,000 per annum to about 2 million per annum in 2010. The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report further emphasises the uncertainty, seriousness and reality of climate change impacts in African cities (IPCC, 2021).
Compounding the situation further, the unplanned pattern of urbanisation across African cities is contributing to the production of dysfunctional urban landscapes that threaten the relevance of urban planning. As previously discussed, problems of urban sprawl, slum proliferation, infrastructure deficits, urban poverty and unemployment are commonplace in African cities (see UN-Habitat, 2014). These problems are aggravated by the legacies of colonial urban planning systems and later structural adjustment measures, which have exacerbated the vulnerability of urban citizens living and working in African cities (Cobbinah & Finn, Reference Finn and Cobbinah2022). The embeddedness of colonial urban planning legacies (Berrisford, Reference Berrisford2011) within contemporary debates on the uneven effects of global capitalism is reflected in the disproportionate impacts of climate change on African cities and citizens. For example, the increasing urban population growth in Africa poses considerable problems across its cities, with inadequate public support and limited climate management planning mechanisms already in place. Between 2018 and 2035, the population of African cities such as Kampala (Uganda) is estimated to increase by an average of 5.1%; Dar es Salaam’s (Tanzania) population will grow by 4.8%; those of Abuja and Lagos (Nigeria) will rise by 4.5% and 3.5% respectively; Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) will record 4.3% growth; and Luanda (Angola) is expected to increase by 3.7% (see Hewston, Reference Hewston2018). With these African cities mostly characterised as at ‘extreme risk’ in the climate vulnerability index, their increasing growth without a corresponding inclusive urban planning strategy will subject their citizens to unbearable climate change and urbanisation impacts. While Jenkins et al. (Reference Jenkins, Cumming, Scott and Cairncross2014) report that about 70% of residents in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) live in informal settlements lacking basic services, Obeng-Odoom (Reference Obeng-Odoom2011) observes similar experiences in Accra (Ghana). Therefore, given the increasing climate change and demographic problems, it is vital to reimagine urban planning in African cities to deal with and adapt to climatically tenuous urban environments.
1.2.1 The Realities of Urban Planning in African Cities
Urban planning, through its adaptability and transience, provides a platform to experiment and collaboratively work with local communities to deliver community-based urban outcomes and climate management strategies. It requires state planning authorities and local communities to cooperatively consider and develop strategies to manage the increasing risks from population growth and climate change (Phelps, Reference Phelps2021). In this sense, a couple of questions remain unanswered: What factors contribute to ineffective urban planning narratives in African cities? Why is urban planning in Africa not evolving to address the critical challenges of urbanisation and climate change confronting the continent’s cities?
The historical literature on urban planning in Africa (e.g., Cobbinah & Darkwah, Reference Cobbinah and Darkwah2017; Home, Reference Home2013; Njoh, Reference Njoh2009) highlights the role and impact of colonisation in creating spatial and socio-economic segregation reflected in formal vs informal economies, formal vs informal housing, and formal vs informal governance. With urban planning creating divisions, as formality was characterised as a structured model and informality as a deviation (Cobbinah & Finn, Reference Finn and Cobbinah2022), the putative purpose of introducing it during colonisation in Africa in response to health emergencies was defeated. Over the years, three interesting schools of thought on urban planning have emerged within the context of African urban development. As argued by Njoh (Reference Njoh2009) and Cobbinah and Darkwah (Reference Cobbinah and Darkwah2017), urban planning in African cities is first characterised as a ‘colonial tool’ for domination and control under the pretext of slum improvement, safety and security, infrastructure upgrading and urban renewal across African cities; second, it is described as a ‘legalist’ framework for creating cultural and structural isolation in Ghana (Adarkwa, Reference Adarkwa2012), fashioning socio-economic segregation in Congo (Njoh, Reference Njoh2009) and Nigeria (Cobbinah & Darkwah, Reference Cobbinah and Darkwah2017), and producing segregationist development during the apartheid era in South Africa (Home, Reference Home2013); and lastly, urban planning in Africa is contested as an ‘elitist’ agenda where local communities and urban citizens are unfavourably related to ‘formal’ professional planning practices in a post-colonial era. While many (e.g., Adarkwa, Reference Adarkwa2012; Home, Reference Home2013; Njoh, Reference Njoh2009) have contested and criticised the ‘colonial tool’ framework, others (e.g., Okpala, Reference Okpala2009) have debated the repudiation of legalist frameworks and challenge the disconnect between formal and informal spaces and activities in African cities. Some (e.g., Lwasa & Kinuthia-Njenga, Reference Lwasa, Kinuthia-Njenga and Polyzos2012) have also discussed the awareness of the importance of evolving professional dynamics shaping the re-characterisation of urban planning as an activity that requires urban citizens’ inputs and participation.
Urban planning in African cities has also been much debated within urban health spheres (see Njoh, Reference Njoh2016). By implication, urban planning has contributed to the management or otherwise of global and regional epidemics (e.g., COVID-19, Ebola) in African cities, with the prospect of improvement over time. However, the continuous institutionalised pattern and practice of colonial planning regimes producing and encouraging the formal order as the model has spurred tyrannical urban planning measures, including eviction and demolition of informal settlements and activities as well as inadequate social service delivery for citizens in informal settlement (Cobbinah & Finn, Reference Finn and Cobbinah2022). In Africa’s growing urban conurbations it is not uncommon to find state planning authorities exercising heavy-handedness in dealing with their own citizens, mostly those living in informal settlements. Meanwhile, the informal sector forms over 80% of Africa’s urban economy (Charmes, Reference Charmes2012), and as of 2010 informal settlements housed over 200 million people in African cities, representing 61.7% of the continent’s urban population (Racelma, Reference Racelma2012). Predictably, the repressive urban planning measures are contributing to the reproduction of vulnerabilities in African cities.
It is worth acknowledging, however, that these planning measures are gradually being addressed in some African cities as part of efforts to manage the threats of rapid urbanisation and climate change. There are ongoing positive dialogues on blurring the sharp distinction between formal vs informal, recognising the benefits of informality in Africa’s urban planning system. Cross-border sharing of urban planning knowledge produced by technological innovation is emerging in several African countries, which Cobbinah and Finn (Reference Finn and Cobbinah2022) consider critical in addressing climate change. For instance, Dakar (Senegal) and Accra (Ghana) have developed an urban planning strategy focusing on climate adaptation with the support of 100 Resilient Cities – an initiative for equipping cities for resilience in urban planning and development (Accra Metropolitan Assembly, 2019; Ville De Dakar & 100 Resilient Cities, 2016). Similarly, African countries such as Zimbabwe and Nigeria have, in principle, embarked on urban planning democratisation via institutional and legislative reforms, and stakeholder engagement in structural planning projects respectively (see Okpala, Reference Okpala2009). While these attempts are encouraging, reimagining urban planning within these emerging frameworks requires greater attention, especially during this period when there are improved urban management technologies (e.g., GIS – geographic information system – and remote sensing) and increased global and regional commitments (e.g., SDGs, New Urban Agenda – NUA) towards sustainable futures. As argued by Cobbinah and Finn (Reference Finn and Cobbinah2022), the debate on the formal vs informal in the production and management of African cities continues to offer space for ongoing discourse, and an urban planning theory and practice that blurs the sharp contrast between formal and informal and recognises the symbiotic relationship between the two in developing and advancing inclusive and sustainable urban future is required.
1.2.2 Urban Planning: What It Means for Reimagining African Cities
Urban planning continues to be practised and remains useful in African cities, yet it is often linked to negative public characterisations such as elitist activity, non-participatory, segregation, informal economic activities, and demolition of informal settlements (see Home, Reference Home2013; Okpala, Reference Okpala2009). Cobbinah and Darkwah (Reference Cobbinah and Darkwah2017) explain that, on the one hand, urban planning in Africa is viewed as a tool for addressing otherwise insurmountable problems of urban growth compounding existing weak social, economic, political and geographic growth factors and, on the other hand, as a problematic professional practice denying the reflection of urban citizens’ aspirations and involvement in decisions and actions that concern them, and that ought to be addressed through reforms. Nonetheless, despite urban planning in African cities drawing interest from across academic disciplines and professional practices, the focus of analysis commonly centres narrowly on particular aspects with inadequate cross-disciplinary and professional stimulation. For instance, previous literature often examines urban planning in Africa by focusing on history (Silva & Matos, Reference Silva and Matos2014), challenges (Berrisford, Reference Berrisford2011, Reference Berrisford2014) and potential (Cobbinah & Addaney, Reference Cobbinah and Addaney2022), mostly within specific cities. While these issues are relevant in understanding urban planning in African cities, they do not offer ways in which urban planning on the continent can be reimagined to address the critical challenges of rapid urbanisation and climate change.
Arising from this account of earlier research is an inclination to restrict the appraisal of urban planning theory and practice to urban citizens who live and work in the ‘formal’ spaces of African cities, disregarding those who mostly live and work informally. While urban planning should be all-embracing, Cobbinah and Darkwah (Reference Cobbinah and Darkwah2017) state that artificial borders cross spatial, political and economic domains and the embeddedness of formal vs informal statuses have choked wide-ranging cross-cutting analysis and inclusive urban planning practices in African cities by awarding state planning authorities excessive power and shifting attention away from urban citizens, who should be the most powerful stakeholders in urban planning.
Advancing the urban planning discourse further, Phelps (Reference Phelps2021, p. 4) calls for urban planning to focus on the way it should be seen by stakeholders (e.g., academics, professionals, citizens, politicians) as tolerating its innate shortcomings, and to capitalise on the flourishing of knowledge, methods and potentialities, which resonates with the African situation. Other understandings, such as urban planning as ‘a way of rationalising politics by rendering it governable’ (Magnusson, 2013, p. 132), the means of societal modernisation (Hall & Tewdwr-Jones, Reference Hall and Tewdwr-Jones2020) and an approach to confronting wicked problems (Rittel & Webber, Reference Rittel and Webber1973), provide a context to challenge and rethink static and colonial acts of urban planning dominating African cities, and support the agency of marginalised people whose informal enterprises are often forbidden and otherwise delegitimised (Cobbinah & Finn, Reference Finn and Cobbinah2022). Gleeson and Low’s (Reference Gleeson and Low2000) characterisation of urban planning as a dialectical process offering a platform for reconciliation provides an avenue for understanding the tensions between formal and informal spaces in African cities and developing strategies towards their resolution by recognising the activities of different groups, individuals and sectors.
Given that rapid urbanisation and climate change impacts are projected to be acute and severe in African cities (see Cobbinah & Addaney, Reference Cobbinah and Addaney2019; IPCC, 2021; OECD/SWAC, 2020), urban planning should go beyond the mere dialectics of formal as the model and informality as a deviation and seek to establish and promote inclusive, adaptable and sustainable practices. Within this context, recognising the value of a reimagined urban planning system, thinking and practice in African cities can promote social, spatial and political connections within and between the state and diverse stakeholder groups across the city (and across economic, spatial and political domains within it), which is fundamental to understanding and addressing issues of resource distribution, power, security and inclusiveness.
1.3 Reimagining Urban Planning in Africa: Significant Emerging Unifying Analysis
The chapter contributors contended with the significant task of having to develop and create the environment for a future urban planning research agenda in Africa. In the case of urban planning, this is exceptionally challenging since the knowledge base is isolated, underdeveloped and evolving, and no agreement presently exists as to the future of urban planning theory and practice on the continent. However, even in this environment of theoretical scarcity, chapter contributors accomplish a tremendously important activity of figuring out the discussions, arguments, gaps and uncertainties that shape urban planning theory, practices and experiences in African cities, which is, on balance, in its infancy compared to other regions of the world. Additionally, where necessary, the chapter contributors propose areas where a certain level of compromise or consistency may be developing – a sign, perhaps, that research on Africa’s urban planning agenda is shifting in the direction of maturity. Specifically, in this book 19 chapters focus on the theory, history, current practices and future of urban planning in African cities. The contributors come from various disciplinary backgrounds: urban studies, urban planning, human geography and environmental law and policy. The editors and chapter contributors are African scholars and professionals based in and/or studying the five geopolitical blocs in Africa (North, West, East, Southern and Central Africa) and the book contains analysis of national case studies from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Tanzania, Egypt and Angola.
Continental and regional contributions on issues such as climate change, informality and land governance are also considered, resulting in a thorough compilation of African voices on urban planning curation and practices as well as the future of urban planning on the continent. Combining the use of case studies and pluralistic strategies, the chapter contributors discuss the evolution of urban planning and sustainable development in Africa, and their future positioning from the perspectives of scholars, policymakers and practitioners who reside and work in Africa. The editors and chapter contributors acknowledge the diversity in urban planning thinking and practices across the continent and articulate jointly in broad terms as it is presented here, but with moderation to acknowledge the distinctiveness of each country’s situation and the commonality across the continent. Knowing the distinctiveness of urban planning across African cities, an effort is made to outline a shared African proposal and prospects for advancing common action, which partially considers detailed case studies that would connect to large-scale interpretations and inform city-specific urban planning considerations. This, it is debated, is an important opening phase to reimagining urban planning in Africa towards a sustainable and inclusive future where the welfare of all urban citizens is guaranteed, particularly in informal settlements. This volume is structured in three parts. Each part focuses on a significant facet of the interconnectedness between urban planning and sustainable development in African cities.
1.3.1 Part I: Understanding Sustainable Urban Planning in African Cities
The chapters in this part analyse urban planning understandings and how different urban planning practices have evolved over the years and their influence in the production and management of different African cities. This chapter provides contextual background and insights into why urban planning needs to be reimagined in Africa and its association with sustainable urban development. It further offers discourse on complex policy developments during colonial and post-colonial times. The urgency of reimagined urban planning in African cities is discussed, having acquired importance because of the particular history of colonisation and growth in urbanisation and population as well as experiences of climate change. In Chapter 2, Darkwah and Cobbinah provide a conceptual understanding of a variety of histories, current practices and experiences of urban planning and assesses them against sustainable urban development narratives in African cities. Key to the discussion is the advocacy for inclusiveness and spatial integration towards delivering effective and sustainable urban planning outcomes.
Building on the previous chapter on the history and current practices of urban planning, in Chapter 3 Korah and Cobbinah discuss the paradox of the emergence of new cities versus the practice of urban planning in African cities. The authors question the actors’ motivation for the proliferation of ‘new cities’ in Africa, arguing that they create segregation between informal and planned areas, and do not reflect inclusive urban planning and just urban development. On the question of informality, Chapter 4 provides theoretical and practical insights into urban planning and informality in African cities. Okyere and colleagues provide insights into the perpetual challenge of informality in African cities, and the socio-political and historical dimensions as reference points for reimagining the urban planning regime. The chapter, using Luanda (Angola) as an example, draws attention to the historical, political and social roots of the formation of informal urban settlements and the associated urban planning regime that ‘leaves behind’ the spaces and living conditions of the urban poor. As a matter of theory and policy, the authors argue that reimagining urban planning in Luanda calls for urban planning to be removed from state control and the building of local institutional capacity to integrate social equity, local participation, institutional empowerment and experimentation in co-design initiatives within a pro-poor urban planning framework.
In Chapter 5, after a careful analysis of informality within the context of urban planning, Chigbu explores further by analysing conceptual understandings of urban land governance and sustainable development in African cities, by providing analysis of the intricate dialectics and dialogues. The author argues that dialogues between urban citizens and city authorities can serve as sources of ideas for city authorities and policymakers towards addressing land use and governance problems. Using urban analysis of five African cities – Addis Ababa, Cairo, Kinshasa, Lagos and Windhoek – Chigbu convincingly argues for the use of dialectics and dialogic enquiries to encourage the citizens in African cities to voice critical questions on urban planning and sustainable land governance. By implication, explicit and implicit scenarios within the dialogues reveal innate limitations of land governance in African cities. Linking the issue of land governance to climate change in the context of urban planning, in Chapter 6 Gaisie and colleagues discuss theoretical insights on climate change impacts in African cities; examine the urban planning responses to managing climate change impacts; and explore pathways for strengthening climate change adaptation and resilience in African urban planning systems. The authors review urban planning and policy frameworks from selected cities to understand their positionality in addressing climate change.
1.3.2 Part II: Case Studies on Urban Planning in African Countries
Part II of the volume analyses different case studies of urban planning practices and experiences across various African cities and countries. Urban planning has a wide range of functionalities that shape and dictate patterns of urban growth and management processes. There are, however, many trajectories through which urban planning is practised in African countries and cities. Differences in planning practices and experiences exist between them. The chapters in Part II of the book collectively address these cases of urban planning practices and experiences across African cities and countries. Core to the conversation on urban planning practice in African cities, Chapter 7 discusses reimagination of urban planning in Ghana by analysing the emergence of gated communities. Ehwi employs institutional theory to explore how the relationship between formal and informal rules within planning provides space for the reimagination of urban planning. The author discusses how informal rules privilege developers of gated communities within the planning system, making it possible for planners to deliver on their statutory mandate while simultaneously creating thriving space for questionable practices. Ehwi concludes with a reflection on how gated communities can contribute to reimagining urban planning in Ghana, and other African countries. In Chapter 8, Chirisa and colleagues examine the situation in the Southern African country of Zimbabwe by analysing the history of urban planning introduced by the British and mostly reflecting the realities of Britain at the time. The authors argue that despite various institutionalised planning amendments following decolonisation, a colonialist rigidity that complicates urban planning and development efforts remains. Citing the 2005 Operation Murambatsvina, described as one of the worst human disasters in the land, echoing Vanessa Watson’s (Reference Watson2009b) parody of ‘the planned city sweeps the poor away’, they argue that while a host of challenges exists, opportunities are available to improve urban planning in Zimbabwe. Chapter 9 examines the case of urban planning in Nigeria, focusing on the evolution and nature of planning practices. Popoola and colleagues employ an institutional perspective to examine the evolution, challenges and rejuvenation of urban planning in Nigeria. The authors cover the history of planning practice and education in Nigeria, providing an overview of the planning idealists in the country and how they have shaped planning practices.
In Chapter 10, Phakathi takes the debate forward by discussing urban planning practices that have been shaped by history and place, bringing together different temporal trajectories and places in Johannesburg. The author discusses densification/de-densification as a policy framework and how it has dominated most South African planning and housing policies. The chapter examines de-densification as a historical process and its ramifications for urban development and further discusses challenges, practices and lessons towards sustainable urban futures, using the de-densification project in Alexandra (Johannesburg). Taking a different approach, Chapter 11 examines the challenges associated with the growth of informal settlements in Nigeria and provides understandings of the positionality of informal settlements with regard to urban planning. Drawing from planning knowledge and strategies in Ogun State (Nigeria), Odekunle and colleagues explain that state-led housing planning and provision are unable to meet the growing housing needs of urban citizens due to weak urban planning structures, inefficiencies and legislative impediments.
Expanding on the discourse of informality and urban planning in African cities, in Chapter 12 Nana Djomo and Epo examine the influence of internal migration on residential segregation in urban areas in Cameroon. The authors assess the degree of influence of internal migration in the formation of slums in Cameroon, using data from the Fourth Cameroon Household Consumption Survey undertaken by the National Institute of Statistics. They argue that urban planning strategies that bring together local and central administrations should envisage programmes that mitigate the internal migratory decisions of poor individuals that are likely to exacerbate the conditions of urban informality. Part II concludes with a discussion on piecemeal post-colonial urban planning practices in Tanzania. In Chapter 13, Yamugu, Spocter and Donaldson underscore the ideological rationalities and urban planning practices that are inextricably linked in Tanzania. The chapter traces the ideological changes and their influences on urban planning practices from colonial to post-colonial Tanzania. They consider strategic planning as a postmodernist planning tool that uses relations and pluralistic ideas, and argue that the increasing focus on layout plans as the main spatial planning and decision-making tool in Tanzania has limited strategic planning implementation.
1.3.3 Part III: Sustainable Urban Planning in Africa: Towards 2030 Agenda and Beyond
The final part of this collection focuses on how urban planning in African cities can be reimagined to contribute to sustainable futures within international and regional sustainable development agendas. Here, it is argued that the extent of progress African cities make towards sustainable futures depends considerably on the effectiveness or otherwise of their urban planning protocols. And in turn, increasing focus on correcting the ills of current urban planning practices provides fresh hope in turning the fortunes of urban development in Africa around in terms of addressing the impacts of climate change and rapid urbanisation. In Chapter 14, Norgaard explores the need for sustainable digital urban infrastructure in twenty-first-century South African cities. Drawing on both critical scholarly engagement with infrastructure and ethnographic approaches to employees and customers at a grass-roots Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Centre in Cape Town, the author argues that while digital infrastructure appears highly formal and planned, residents often gain access to that infrastructure from grass-roots initiatives achieved through socio-technical and relational assemblages, themselves infrastructural in nature. The chapter concludes that countering South Africa’s digital divide constitutes a sustainable urban-infrastructural intervention: reliable data access, laptops/phones, training and technical support services offer pathways for community self-sufficiency in education and employment and enhance democratic engagement.
Advancing arguments made in the previous chapter, in Chapter 15 Popoola and colleagues offer a thematic commentary on the South African urban landownership struggle. They explain that the myth of decades of planning ideas within the South African territorial space has revealed the arguments for planning and human activities within the apartheid and post-apartheid era. The authors argue that indigenous land historically owned by black South Africans remains mainly controlled by the minority white population, as the political move towards inclusion and promotion of equity is dominated by advocacy for land redistribution. The chapter determines the common language and underlying narratives and gaps in the landownership struggle. Chapter 16 offers optimism for realising the 2030 Agenda in Zimbabwe’s urban planning practice. Moyo explains how the 2030 Agenda is expressed through sustainable development goals and climate urbanism resulting in reconfiguration of urban planning and related processes in Zimbabwe. The chapter attempts to locate the role of cities, particularly urban planning, in the quest for carbon-free societies in Africa. It highlights opportunities and challenges presented to urban planning by Agenda 2030 and climate urbanism and employs primary and secondary data sources to understand how urban planning in Africa, and particularly in Zimbabwe, is being shaped by the climate discourse. The author argues that the 2030 Agenda and climate urbanism entail a shift from ‘conventional’ planning processes hinged on colonial legacies, post-colonialism, ideologies (socialism and capitalism) and spatial planning to climate-centred planning processes, offering ways to promote a pragmatic shift from abstract thinking to implementation of climate-friendly urban planning.
In Chapter 17, Ola examines the magnitude of Africa’s urbanisation challenges, urban planning responses to the challenges and how the nature of planning has affected the quality of life in urban Africa. The author calls for a re-examination of planning practice and suggests measures that could be explored by urban planners to reposition urban planning for effective urban management in Africa. Further, in Chapter 18 Ouma illustrates how urban citizens of the Mukuru informal settlement in Nairobi have resorted to a combination of legal and transgressive strategies to relocate redistributive politics within emerging spatial governance practices. The author argues that this comes from their realisation that meaningful participation will only be achieved once the critical questions on redistribution are addressed.
In Chapter 19, Bennett explores how we can encourage community participation in urban planning. The author examines discourses on participative design in promoting inclusive spatial design practice in South Africa. Further, in Chapter 20, on promoting participating and inclusiveness, Das discusses smart mobility in the African context and what it means for advancing urban planning reimagination using examples from Bloemfontein, Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg. Finally, in Chapter 21, ‘On the Future of Urban Planning in Africa’, the editors conclude the book by identifying and analysing key theoretical insights and practical strategies in advancing sustainable, inclusive and functional urban spaces in African cities. The chapter also reviews some recent scholarship and stakeholder activities within discussion of their potential implications for urban planning.
