Notes

Week 457 Notes • February 4, 2004

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICA (SUMMARY)

BEFORE COLONIZATION

Urban Systems

Until a few years ago, the literature gave the impression that there were few (if any) indigenous African cities south of the Sahara before Europeans came. This was related to (a) a colonial mentality that "backward nations" were not capable of building cities, and (b) lack of serious research on African history. Now new studies are finding that African cities existed before Europeans came.

Many cities existed in West Africa and served their kingdoms primarily as market or trade centers.

In East Africa, there were less numerous cities. Only a few towns existed along the coast of the Indian Ocean. These cities were also trade centers. They were involved in trading goods and slaves from the interior for shipment to Arabia.

City Building

African cities had a market located at the center of the city. This was a large and outdoors market (rather than housed in buildings).

Nearby the market, there were quarters (or palaces) of the chief or the ruling prince and the quarters of the lesser chiefs and nobles. These quarters contained the retainers, soldiers, followers, and servants of the nobles. They were self contained areas within the larger city and were sometimes separated from one another by walls or gates. They were often divided based on tribal or religious affiliation, not by social class.

African cities were suitable for walking or animal traffic. They had an irregular street pattern.

Most of the structures were less than two storeys.

COLONIZATION

Africa was colonized after Latin America and Asia.

The colonization Africa took place between 1880 and 1914. Before 1880, little of Africa was under direct European rule. Before colonization of Africa, Europeans were mainly interested in gold and black gold (slave) trade (which created various slave towns up and down the Western Coast of Africa).

Major colonizers in Africa included Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Spain. By 1902, the political boundaries of modern Africa had been defined by these colonizers.

Different colonizers had different attitudes regarding local governance. For instance, British let local African rulers maintain their positions as long as they bowed to the colonial government. French, on the other hand, wanted to assimilate Africans into the French way of life. They dismantled
indigenous governments and taught only French in schools. They encouraged the local population toward total identification with French culture.

Discussion. Colonizers established a great number of cities in Africa and displaced internal networks of trade and influence which had developed over many centuries. Portuguese, for example, demolished the east coast cities and destroyed the trade alliances that linked these cities to the Persian Gulf, India, and the Far East. Similarly, in other parts of Africa, Europeans destroyed many political alliances that had kept African tribes and empires in balance with one another. Like colonial cities Europeans built in Latin America and Asia, colonial cities in Africa were centers of commerce and administration (which was designed to strengthen the ties between the colonial territory and the mother country), and they were often located on or near the coast (or a major waterway).

Colonization in Africa led to powerful currents of rural-urban population. African populations were moving around the continent for centuries (mostly in response to commercial opportunities, variations in environmental conditions, political upheavals, and the depredations resulting from the slave trade). However, colonial regimes raised the level of migratory activity to a much higher level. The main reason here was that there were more opportunities after cash economy and wage labor was introduced for African laborers to migrate. They could work in mines, plantations, and urban areas.

City Building. The most striking aspect of African colonial city was a form of apartheid: the partition of urban space into two zones: European or White City and Indigenous or Black City. The two cities hardly blended. In some cases, entry of Africans into the European sections were restricted in the evening (vice versa restrictions existed too). Segregation was made possible through strict legislation in South and East Africa while it was less formal in West Africa (possibly because of smaller numbers of settlers involved).

White city reflected European urban design principles and had good infrastructure. It was built on a grid iron pattern and organized around the CBD. The CBD included stores, businesses, administrative offices of the colonial government (residences of Europeans were nearby). Black city had poorer infrastructure and higher densities compared to the White city (because of overcrowding). It was strictly demarcated and well removed from the White City. In some cases large vacant land separated the two cities (Remember our discussion on Asian colonial cities here). Because of this separation, Africans had to commute long distances for work.

In sum, planning was a tool used by colonizers to dominate and control the local people (the dark side of planning-planning as control).

SOURCE: Geography of Development: Africa <http://www-scf.usc.edu/~yucekus/africa.html>

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICA (SUMMARY)

BEFORE COLONIZATION

Urban Systems

Until a few years ago, the literature gave the impression that there were few (if any) indigenous African cities south of the Sahara before Europeans came. This was related to (a) a colonial mentality that "backward nations" were not capable of building cities, and (b) lack of serious research on African history. Now new studies are finding that African cities existed before Europeans came.
Many cities existed in West Africa and served their kingdoms primarily as market or trade centers.
In East Africa, there were less numerous cities. Only a few towns existed along the coast of the Indian Ocean. These cities were also trade centers. They were involved in trading goods and slaves from the interior for shipment to Arabia.

City Building

African cities had a market located at the center of the city. This was a large and outdoors market (rather than housed in buildings).
Nearby the market, there were quarters (or palaces) of the chief or the ruling prince and the quarters of the lesser chiefs and nobles. These quarters contained the retainers, soldiers, followers, and servants of the nobles. They were self contained areas within the larger city and were sometimes separated from one another by walls or gates. They were often divided based on tribal or religious affiliation, not by social class.
African cities were suitable for walking or animal traffic. They had an irregular street pattern.
Most of the structures were less than two storeys.

COLONIZATION

Africa was colonized after Latin America and Asia.
The colonization Africa took place between 1880 and 1914. Before 1880, little of Africa was under direct European rule. Before colonization of Africa, Europeans were mainly interested in gold and black gold (slave) trade (which created various slave towns up and down the Western Coast of Africa).
Major colonizers in Africa included Britain, France, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Spain. By 1902, the political boundaries of modern Africa had been defined by these colonizers.
Different colonizers had different attitudes regarding local governance. For instance, British let local African rulers maintain their positions as long as they bowed to the colonial government. French, on the other hand, wanted to assimilate Africans into the French way of life. They dismantled
indigenous governments and taught only French in schools. They encouraged the local population toward total identification with French culture.

Discussion. Colonizers established a great number of cities in Africa and displaced internal networks of trade and influence which had developed over many centuries. Portuguese, for example, demolished the east coast cities and destroyed the trade alliances that linked these cities to the Persian Gulf, India, and the Far East. Similarly, in other parts of Africa, Europeans destroyed many political alliances that had kept African tribes and empires in balance with one another. Like colonial cities Europeans built in Latin America and Asia, colonial cities in Africa were centers of commerce and administration (which was designed to strengthen the ties between the colonial territory and the mother country), and they were often located on or near the coast (or a major waterway).

Colonization in Africa led to powerful currents of rural-urban population. African populations were moving around the continent for centuries (mostly in response to commercial opportunities, variations in environmental conditions, political upheavals, and the depredations resulting from the slave trade). However, colonial regimes raised the level of migratory activity to a much higher level. The main reason here was that there were more opportunities after cash economy and wage labor was introduced for African laborers to migrate. They could work in mines, plantations, and urban areas.

City Building. The most striking aspect of African colonial city was a form of apartheid: the partition of urban space into two zones: European or White City and Indigenous or Black City. The two cities hardly blended. In some cases, entry of Africans into the European sections were restricted in the evening (vice versa restrictions existed too). Segregation was made possible through strict legislation in South and East Africa while it was less formal in West Africa (possibly because of smaller numbers of settlers involved).

White city reflected European urban design principles and had good infrastructure. It was built on a grid iron pattern and organized around the CBD. The CBD included stores, businesses, administrative offices of the colonial government (residences of Europeans were nearby). Black city had poorer infrastructure and higher densities compared to the White city (because of overcrowding). It was strictly demarcated and well removed from the White City. In some cases large vacant land separated the two cities (Remember our discussion on Asian colonial cities here). Because of this separation, Africans had to commute long distances for work.

In sum, planning was a tool used by colonizers to dominate and control the local people (the dark side of planning-planning as control).

SOURCE: Geography of Development: Africa <http://www-scf.usc.edu/~yucekus/africa.html>